Bios can't detect harddrive

mecharmor23 · May 12th, 2001

Just to let you know I'm on another computer.

When I turned on my computer one day the bios said it can't detect a harddive in existance. I tested that harddrive on another computer and it worked which means the hard disk is safe and stable. Secondly I haven't tweaked anything yet but it was working perfectly. The next day it couldn't detect the harddrive.
The bios can detect everything else though (floppy, video, ram etc.) but the harddisk. Is it a hardware problem?? I went through the trouble shooting on my computer manual but to no anvail.

Your reply would be appreciated.

bobotns · May 12th, 2001

I think, the IDE-Cable is defect. Try another cable!

cairey · May 12th, 2001

Try manually selecting it in your BIOS.

**Betamax** · May 12th, 2001

The most obvious thig to check first is if the drive is powering up (Clicking when switching it on). If so then the power is ok. After that as bobotns said check the cable. If its one of the new fancy Udma66/100 cable make sure that is plugged in the right way round (ie blue section to the mobo) otherwise it won't work or will be problematic. Then check that the jumpers are set correctly. Next unplug any other devices to see if these are causing conficts. Then try it on the other ide channel in case that one is faulty.

If all else fails swap the drives in the 2 machines over.

May 12th, 2001	#1 (permalink)
mecharmor23 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2001 Posts: 63	Bios can't detect harddrive Just to let you know I'm on another computer. When I turned on my computer one day the bios said it can't detect a harddive in existance. I tested that harddrive on another computer and it worked which means the hard disk is safe and stable. Secondly I haven't tweaked anything yet but it was working perfectly. The next day it couldn't detect the harddrive. The bios can detect everything else though (floppy, video, ram etc.) but the harddisk. Is it a hardware problem?? I went through the trouble shooting on my computer manual but to no anvail. Your reply would be appreciated.

May 12th, 2001	#4 (permalink)
Betamax Resident Movie Critic Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland Posts: 9,480	The most obvious thig to check first is if the drive is powering up (Clicking when switching it on). If so then the power is ok. After that as bobotns said check the cable. If its one of the new fancy Udma66/100 cable make sure that is plugged in the right way round (ie blue section to the mobo) otherwise it won't work or will be problematic. Then check that the jumpers are set correctly. Next unplug any other devices to see if these are causing conficts. Then try it on the other ide channel in case that one is faulty. If all else fails swap the drives in the 2 machines over. __________________ Superior marketing of an inferior product will always win over inferior marketing of a superior product.

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May 12th, 2001	#2 (permalink)
bobotns Registered User Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Germany Posts: 179	I think, the IDE-Cable is defect. Try another cable!

May 12th, 2001	#3 (permalink)
cairey Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: England Posts: 215	Try manually selecting it in your BIOS.