Unable to boot with two SATA hard disks on A7N8X-E Deluxe motherboard

[Arjen Hoekstra]

Hello all,

Two weeks ago my S-ATA Maxtor hard disk (120 GB, 7200 rpm) crashed. I have
bought a new hard disk (Western Digital, also 120 GB, also S-ATA) and
installed Windows XP on it. Now, I want to try to get the data from the
crashed hard disk back with a software program.
So, I plugged in the Maxtor and tried to boot. It get's to the Windows XP
Logo screen, but then I get a blank screen and nothing happens. When I
unplug the Maxtor it boots just like normal. I doublechecked from which disk
is booted, and I'm sure that it's from the new disk. My motherboard is a
ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe. Does anyone know what could be the problem? Thanks in
advance for your response!

Greetz,
Arjen

 

[MrGrumpy]

If the hd has failed it often is not possible to boot a sys with it
connected - even as a slave.
I recollect there is a bootable floppy utility on bootdisk.com which *may*
be able to see the drive and copy data.

 

[Pat Coghlan]

Hello all,

Two weeks ago my S-ATA Maxtor hard disk (120 GB, 7200 rpm) crashed. I have
bought a new hard disk (Western Digital, also 120 GB, also S-ATA) and
installed Windows XP on it. Now, I want to try to get the data from the
crashed hard disk back with a software program.
So, I plugged in the Maxtor and tried to boot. It get's to the Windows XP
Logo screen, but then I get a blank screen and nothing happens. When I
unplug the Maxtor it boots just like normal. I doublechecked from which disk
is booted, and I'm sure that it's from the new disk. My motherboard is a
ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe. Does anyone know what could be the problem? Thanks in
advance for your response!

I may have to stand corrected, but the 2 SATA ports are treated like the
3rd and 4th IDE channels, except that there is only one device (master)
supported on each SATA channel.

Are you sure you have the new drive on SATA 0 and the old drive on SATA
2 (I think they're both even-numbered, you'd have to check the silk
screening on the motherboard)? One of the following probably applies:

1. New drive is on SATA 2 (boots okay when it is alone), but old
drive is on SATA 0 when connected, resulting in mobo trying to
boot from the old drive.
2. Old drive is on SATA 2, but it's presence interferes with the
signalling on SATA 0, preventing the mobo from addressing the new
drive properly.

I'd double-check which SATA port the new drive is connected to and, if
even if you're sure its SATA 0, try switching the cable connections just
to see what happens.

-Pat

 

[Arjen Hoekstra]

Thank you for your suggestion. I tried NTFSreader for DOS, when I scan the
failed disk, it comes until twothird of the progressbar, but then stops.
Does anyone know other utilities that might work or does someone have other
suggestions?

Greetz, Arjen

 

[Arjen Hoekstra]

Hello Pat,

Are you sure you have the new drive on SATA 0 and the old drive >on SATA 2
(I think they're both even-numbered, you'd have to >check the silk
screening on the motherboard)? One of the following >probably applies:

New drive is on SATA 2 (boots okay when it is alone), but old drive >is on
SATA 0 when connected, resulting in mobo trying to boot from >the old
drive.
Old drive is on SATA 2, but it's presence interferes with the >signalling
on SATA 0, preventing the mobo from addressing the new >drive properly.
I'd double-check which SATA port the new drive is connected to >and, if
even if you're sure its SATA 0, try switching the cable >connections just
to see what happens.

Thanks for your response.
I tried switching the cables, but the only thing that changes, is that my
computer tries to boot from the other (failed) hard disk, so that doesn't
work. Do you have other suggestions, or is it a helpless case now?

Greetz, Arjen

 

[chad]

Hi Arjen,

Sounds like a hardware failure. Does the drive make a distinct
clicking noice after it hangs? You might be soon looking for a data
recovery service to crack that baby open.

If so, you might look at Nationwide in Miami. Just fedex them your bad
disk together with a new one and they'll rescue the platters and ghost
the data over. Price $100-$500 and no charge if no data recovery. Good
luck,

- Chad
http://free-backup.info