Is my SATA HD dead?

[DevilsPGD]

In message <[email protected]> "tpow"

that would only result in SATA 2 running at 1 speed

In an ideal world. In this one, several older SATA/150 chipsets have
been shown to fail to function correctly with modern SATA/300
implementations.

As a result, current generation SATA/300 drives have jumpers to force
the drive back to SATA/150 mode.

 

[SteveH]

Lets start again.............have you attempted to load the OS.

He has already said the BIOS isn't seeing the drive properly, so installing
the OS is academic isn't it?

SteveH

 

[tpow]

Hi All,

Just put together a new system but BIOS does not detect drive. It
knows SOMETHING is installed because it tells me which of 4 SATA ports
it's inspecting while trying to detect, but it can't identify the
drive. The drive does vibrate as the PC posts as if it is
running, but falls silent and motionless and cold when the
"auto-detecting 3rd master" begins. Is the drive dead? Or is it
the motherboard?

Thanks for any insight (This is my first experience with SATA.)

Dennis

return to supplier................

 

[philo]

Thanks to all.

Responses:

According to Western Digital (drive is a wd5000aaks) their drives are
shipped formatted to FAT32. Doesn't matter here because BIOS can't
see the drive anyway.


As for loading the SATA drivers during the OS installation -- I don't
understand . . . what does F6 do? In any case how can I install
an OS on a drive that isn't there? What am I missing? The mobo
manual says nothing about any extraordary measures-- just enable SATA,
which I did. BIOS searches for the drive, and in the right place,
but can not identify and load it. WD's DataGuard CD doesn't see it
either. I've tried everything, including stripping down to none
other than the SATA drive and floppy and video.

My past experience with IDEs is that the drives run continually
whether it is detected in BIOS or not. My new WD does not.

You were given *INCORRECT* info I'm afraid.

If the bios cannot detect the drive it has nothing to do with the drive
being formatted or not...
or whether the drivers are loaded.

Bios detection as nothing to do with OS functions!

I'd re-check your bios options

 

[Dennis]

return to supplier................

I assume you mean return the hard drive? Not the mobo.

The mainboard works okay so far as I have determined thus far.
Installed xp pro on IDE. I also used the F6 function in xp
installer, which seemed happy enough with the drivers it had on hand
but insisted there was no SATA drive on the system and stopped.

So I will return the drive to Newegg.

Thanks to everyone. I learned a lot.

Dennis

 

[Dennis]

return to supplier................

return to supplier................

I assume you mean return the hard drive? Not the mobo.

The mainboard works okay so far as I have determined thus far.
Installed xp pro on IDE. I also used the F6 function in xp
installer, which seemed happy enough with the drivers it had on hand
but insisted there was no SATA drive on the system and stopped.

So I will return the drive to Newegg.

Thanks to everyone. I learned a lot.

Dennis>

 

[SteveH]

You were given *INCORRECT* info I'm afraid.

If the bios cannot detect the drive it has nothing to do with the
drive being formatted or not...
or whether the drivers are loaded.

Bios detection as nothing to do with OS functions!

I'd re-check your bios options

And do what I have already suggested and swap out the SATA cable.

SteveH

 

[Dennis]

And do what I have already suggested and swap out the SATA cable.

SteveH

Unfortunately I have only one cable, a new one that arrived with the
new mainboard. I will order a second when I return the hard drive.
I'm 80% convinced now it is no good.

 

[SteveH]

Unfortunately I have only one cable, a new one that arrived with the
new mainboard. I will order a second when I return the hard drive.
I'm 80% convinced now it is no good.

That's a bit odd. I've yet to see any SATA enabled mobo that comes with less
than a couple of SATA cables (hence me having a fair few spare ones!). You
may well be right about the drive being u/s, but it may be worth getting
hold of another cable to try before you send the drive back.

SteveH

 

[tpow]

I assume you mean return the hard drive? Not the mobo.

The mainboard works okay so far as I have determined thus far.
Installed xp pro on IDE. I also used the F6 function in xp
installer, which seemed happy enough with the drivers it had on hand
but insisted there was no SATA drive on the system and stopped.

So I will return the drive to Newegg.

Thanks to everyone. I learned a lot.

Dennis>

so did we...........

lets hope the replacement is better.

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message <[email protected]> "SteveH"

He has already said the BIOS isn't seeing the drive properly, so installing
the OS is academic isn't it?

Probably. However, it depends on where he is looking. On one of my
motherboards (I believe a P5W DH Deluxe), if you're in AHCI mode, one of
the SATA controllers doesn't show up in the BIOS unless you've also
enabled it's BOOTROM.

Now obviously you cannot boot from this controller unless the BOOTROM is
enabled.

However, once an OS is running (which includes Vista's preinstallation
environment) if you install the correct drivers you can successfully
access the drives in this state.

Were the original poster using this motherboard, the options would be to
either enable the BOOTROM option, or move the SATA cable to a port
associated with the primary SATA controller.

 

[pg]

He has already said the BIOS isn't seeing the drive properly, so installing
the OS is academic isn't it?

SteveH

Linux doesn't depend on the BIOS in boot up, so if the SATA hard drive
is okay, Linux should be able to detect it. If the drive is formatted,
then Linux should be able to read and write on it.

Theoretically speaking !

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message
<d1b8ebf3-3945-4f9c-bd78-6d8bf3da6484@s12g2000prg.googlegroups.com> pg

Linux doesn't depend on the BIOS in boot up, so if the SATA hard drive
is okay, Linux should be able to detect it. If the drive is formatted,
then Linux should be able to read and write on it.

Theoretically speaking !

As a secondary drive, yes. However, if a BIOS (or alternate BOOTROM)
can't recognize it, you can't boot from it.

 

[pg]

In message
<d1b8ebf3-3945-4f9c-bd78-6d8bf3da6...@s12g2000prg.googlegroups.com> pg




As a secondary drive, yes. However, if a BIOS (or alternate BOOTROM)
can't recognize it, you can't boot from it.

Yes you can. When you first boot - of course the computer relies on
the BIOS to boot from the CD. But when the CD starts booting, Linux
takes over, and use its own routine to re-scan the system and all the
peripherals. That's what the liveCD is all about.

 

[DevilsPGD]

In message
<[email protected]> pg

Yes you can. When you first boot - of course the computer relies on
the BIOS to boot from the CD. But when the CD starts booting, Linux
takes over, and use its own routine to re-scan the system and all the
peripherals. That's what the liveCD is all about.

Sure -- Which means you're not booting from the harddrive, you're
booting from CD, and bootstrapping over to an OS on the harddrive.

You still can't boot from a device your BIOS can't recognize.

 

[pg]

In message
<[email protected]> pg






Sure -- Which means you're not booting from the harddrive, you're
booting from CD, and bootstrapping over to an OS on the harddrive.

You still can't boot from a device your BIOS can't recognize.

The exercise is to see whether that drive is okay. If Linux can see
and read and write to that drive, that means, the drive isn't the
problem. It's the BIOS that needs to be fixed.

 

[Dennis]

The exercise is to see whether that drive is okay. If Linux can see
and read and write to that drive, that means, the drive isn't the
problem. It's the BIOS that needs to be fixed.

I tried to boot UBUNTU from CD but ubuntu didn't load, but sent me to
BusyBox prompt instead. I don't know much about linux commands yet
so I was stuck there, but this is consistent with other behavior.
Can't boot from IDE drive either if the SATA is hooked up. The SATA
drive itself is cold as wet baby's ass under power. I RMA'd it.

Thanks again to all of you.