Deleted090308

Looks correct.
What does BIOS say about the number of cylinders on the drive?

mcd50s

Cylinders 16383
Head 16
Precomp 0
Landing zone 16383
Sector 63

Deleted090308

Is the drive a WD2000BB or a WD2000JB?

If it's a WD2000JB the number of heads (16) is correct - the WD2000BB has 6 heads.
That can be changed in BIOS.

mcd50s

It is a WD2000JB - I checked WD website and cylinders and heads appear to be correct - just wrong model # and size reported in BIOS...

Deleted090308

The reason I'm asking is that in posts #1 and #8 you say it's a WD2000BB and in posts #7 and #9 it is 250GB.
It's a bit confusing.

mcd50s

I see, let me try to explain.

Although I had the HDD out of the old machine and could see in bold letters that it was a WD 200g Caviar I didn't realize the model number was right there on the drive. So I went to the WD website, to find info about the drive and the only 200g caviar it listed was a WD2000BB. (I have learned a lot throughout this adventure!) One of the links Linderman sent me showed me where to look for the model # on the drive itself. More research told me it is is a WD2000JB (it is a Caviar special edition and there's a difference between a SE and not SE - who knew?). That's when I found out the cylinders and heads were right. The 250g reference was unintentional - I believe I had seen it "found" in the BIOS as a WDC2500 so misquoted it as a 250g instead of 200g. It is assuredly a 200g WD2000JB.

Sorry to be so confusing - wish I could go back and edit those earlier posts...Thank you for your determination!

Deleted090308

OK, so the BIOS readings are correct (not the size, of course).
Try booting with the CD drive "alone" on one IDE channel.
The "bad" HDD should be alone on the other channel with the jumper(s) removed.

mcd50s

OK,
200g as primary master (jumpers removed), CD as secondary master
both seen in BIOS, CDROM only one in boot sequence
won't boot to CD
black screen with blinking cursor
have to manually shut off

200g as secondary master (jumpers removed), CD as primary master
both seen in BIOS, CDROM only one in boot sequence
won't boot to CD
black screen with blinking cursor
have to manually shut off
....

(check your PMs)
Judy

Deleted090308

I've read your PM.
Good luck, and please keep us updated.

linderman

does the drive spin up ????? the fact you can find the number of cylinders and such from the bios information is very promising / provided the info is coming from the bios ?????



I am now beginning to wonder if it was not your motherboard that got spiked by the power problem you had


we will know all that in just a few days

mcd50s

Yes, the drive spins up, in the latest scenarios, the readings I am giving you are out of the BIOS - It does not recognize bad HDD at first boot, but when I enter BIOS, I select whatever position I have it in and tell it to detect, it comes up with the wrong model and size but right cylinders, heads, etc.

Don't know enough about it to make an intelligent observation, but if the MB was fried in the original power outage, that would have been the old Gateway and since I removed it from the Gateway (that was an adventure in itself), we are now testing in a completely different machine, if the MB was the problem, would it still boot up the test computer's 30g HDD in the primary master position??? - 'cause it does...

"time will tell what success we achieve"


Oh, here's another one for y'all "Even a stopped clock is right two times a day"

Judy

linderman

good observations Judy




I didnt realize the old motherboard was removed from the equation


but you have many promising things here, the fact the bios can read the cylinders and heads and it spins and its recognised are all excellent things to achieve

I am optimistic >>>>>


BTW: I liek the broken clock thing !


thanks

mcd50s

You, Sir, are a gentleman and a scholar
(you must get used to these southern colloquialisms)

mcd50s

Well, it has been a long, educational experience but it is over.

After all the troubleshooting I could do, Linderman graciously offered to look at it. He worked all his magic on it - to no avail. He then contacted the person I bought the replacement PCB from who offered to look at it for a nominal fee - again to no avail. The HDD is dead and unrecoverable unless I go with one of those expensive recovery services (over $1500). So, I made the decision to let it go.

On a positive note, I was able to restore some of my most cherished data from a 2004 WinXP "files settings and transfer" CD I made when I originally bought the computer and just happened to still have in a box.

You guys are the greatest. Words can not express how much I appreciate the help, support, troubleshooting and especially Linderman for going way above and beyond my basic expectations which started with a simple request for a little advice....

You guys are awesome!!!

Thanks again,
Judy

linderman

Thanks for the kind words; Judy


it was our pleasure to assist, I regret nothing could be done.


dont be a stranger, hope to see you around the forum.


best regards'


joe

Deleted090308

Nice job Joe.