Blade_Jones

I have 3 drives on my computer that have been running fine for about a year, until one could not be recognized. I tried reseating the cable connections but that didn't work. My next step (trying to isolate the problem) is to pull it out and seat it in an external enclosure. If that doesn't work then I know it's become a bad drive. Right? Hope it ain't a mother board related failure.

ceri sheeran

Hi,

Three hard drives.

Presumably plus a CD or DVD drive or CD DVD Writer.

Take anti static precautions.

Replace the IDE ribbon cable.

Are the drives recognised in BIOS

If SATA then replace the SATA leads.

Replace the BIOS battery.

hth

Ceri

Done_Fishin

What are the locations of the drives that are working .. IDE SATA Master slave IDE0 or IDE1 and where is the faulty drive?

Before you reset BIOS, Check that your BIOS setting hasn't changed and that it's set to auto. If you put a CD ROM in its place does it see it?

Blade_Jones

Yes a SATA hard drive is problem drive. 3 hard drives and a DVD/CD-ROM. Asus P4C800 E Deluxe motherboard. I don't know where to turn BIOS to "auto detect".

Do you mean replace the DATA cable? I've reconnected but not replaced.

Primary IDE = DVD/CD ROM
Primary IDE Slave = not detected
Secondary IDE = not detected
Secondary IDE Slave = not detected
3rd IDE master = Hard Drive #1
4th IDE master = 2Hard Drive #2

Never done that before. I'll poke around and see what I can find.

Done_Fishin

Forget battery for now, looks like you need to enable SATA in BIOS>
Restart or power on your PC
Press DEL to enter BIOS SETUP.
On the first page "MAIN" there should be an option to enable SATA.



restart and see if you can see the drive now.

Also it seems that you may have mixed up your IDE cables since you say

Normally the hard drives are connected to Primary ..

Power off your PC after fixing the SATA problem
swap over the IDE cables by removing one, then removing the second and placing it immediately into the other connector. Seat the loose connector.
Power on and see if everything boots up normally.

Blade_Jones

There is no "OnChip SATA controller" item (to turn on and off) that I can see. I'm using Win XP w/ Asus motherboard.

Do settings in the BIOS just change on it's own like that? What causes that? I just turned on my computer one day and my 3rd hard drive was suddenly not recognized.

Done_Fishin

This is nothing to do with XP it has to do with BIOS. For reasons unknown your BIOS looks as though SATA has been disabled. IF you don't re-enable it the CPU will not look for it.
I aso have a ASUS mobo but the manual doesn't show me the same views as are on screen when I enter BIOS. Check your Manual and see if the views are the same. Fllow instructions for setting up SATA drives in BIOS.
If the views are the same then let me know and I will track down a copy of your manual to help if you have problems.


Unfortunately yes it can & does happen. Fortunately, it is rare and rarely happens again to the same user. You can help stop it by ensuring that the "BIOS" is locked, however it's the physical way that "memory" works which allows the situation to happen.

linderman

replace your sata cable they are well known trouble makers