Hard Drive Not Being Recognized

DMorris · 05-03-2008, 12:03 AM

I have a bit of a problem. I booted up my PC in the morning as I usually do only to have it hang after POST. I restarted it and checked the POST screen to notice that when it got to the SATA drive it showed nothing. Not "nothing" as in no device but there was a literal blank spot where there should have been something. It's the same in the BIOS. When I switch the HD to another SATA port it does the same thing. I disconnected all other drives and checked and triple checked the connections so my question is: What is there left to do? Do I give it up for lost or is this something that can be fixed by updating the BIOS or SATA controller?

Oh, also the MoBo is an Asus P5n-e SLI and the HD is a 500GB Western Digital Caviar GP.

Anyways, thanks in advance.

Update: The drive appears to be spinning in pulses. And gives a disk boot failure after about a minute.

johnhook · 05-03-2008, 01:20 AM

DMorris,

Without knowing anything else about your hardware config, my initial guess is that your SATA drive has failed. Do you have any other SATA drives to plug into your MB? This would be helpful in isolating the problem to either your motherboard's SATA controller or the SATA drive NOT BEING RECOGNIZED in question.

How old is your SATA drive? How old is your motherboard? Have you made any BIOS setup changes, BIOS upgrades or hardware configuration changes prior to this drive NOT being recognized by your motherboard? Have you checked the physical connections of both the SATA cables between your motherboard and hard drive(s) as well as the power-supply connectors? Have you tried plugging your SATA hard drive into a DIFFERENT connector on your power supply?

I would first confirm that your SATA drive is connected properly and working and has good power from your PSU before pursuing your motherboard as the problem. Having another SATA drive would be helpful. If THAT SATA drive is not recognized by your MB, I would check the PSU next. If a known good SATA drive, cable and PSU are still not recognized by your motherboard - then I would look at the motherboard as the source of the problem.

Reply with more details and someone here should be able to further assist you.

- John

DMorris · 05-03-2008, 01:50 AM

The SATA drive is not that old. About 2 or 3 months. Same with the motherboard. I built the computer from scratch a while back.

I have not made any changes to the BIOS prior to the failure and I've checked the connections multiple times. I've tried different connectors for the power but they're all on the same string. I'll try a different SATA cord next.

The HD seems like it's getting power. At least I can hear it spinning. It will spin up then slow down and then repeat.

Unfortunately I don't have any other SATA drives I can test with or another computer with SATA.

What I can't get past is why there is a blank spot in the BIOS. If it were an outright failure I'm almost certain it would show that no device were detected, instead it detects something but can't comprehend what it is.

johnhook · 05-03-2008, 02:24 AM

DMorris,

It's still possible that your SATA drive has simply died. I've seen hard drives last 6-10 years and others die within their first year of life.

I would check out BOTH ASUS's tech support site for your MB:

http://support.asus.com/faq/faq.aspx?SLanguage=en-us

Pick product=Motherboard, Socket 775, P5N-E SLI. From here you can view FAQ's, drivers, etc.

If your motherboard was working with this hard drive and you changed NOTHING, then you're probably not going to find some driver or BIOS update on the ASUS site that can help you.

Also, check on your Hard Drive's MFG site at:

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....er/std_alp.php

Search by your Internal Hard Drive, type, etc. and see if there are any FAQs or downloads that might help you resolve this issue.

Again - but gut reaction is that your HD has died, become unreadable or unrecoverable. Check out both of these sites to see if there is any utility you can use in an attempt to resurect your drive. If not, and your drive is new, you should be able to get an exchange or RMA repair/return for a new drive of the same model.

- John

05-03-2008, 12:03 AM	#1 (permalink)
DMorris Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3 OS: Win XP	Hard Drive Not Being Recognized I have a bit of a problem. I booted up my PC in the morning as I usually do only to have it hang after POST. I restarted it and checked the POST screen to notice that when it got to the SATA drive it showed nothing. Not "nothing" as in no device but there was a literal blank spot where there should have been something. It's the same in the BIOS. When I switch the HD to another SATA port it does the same thing. I disconnected all other drives and checked and triple checked the connections so my question is: What is there left to do? Do I give it up for lost or is this something that can be fixed by updating the BIOS or SATA controller? Oh, also the MoBo is an Asus P5n-e SLI and the HD is a 500GB Western Digital Caviar GP. Anyways, thanks in advance. Update: The drive appears to be spinning in pulses. And gives a disk boot failure after about a minute. Last edited by DMorris; 05-03-2008 at 12:23 AM.

05-03-2008, 01:20 AM	#2 (permalink)
johnhook Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 810 OS: MS SBS 2003 SP2	Re: Hard Drive Not Being Recognized DMorris, Without knowing anything else about your hardware config, my initial guess is that your SATA drive has failed. Do you have any other SATA drives to plug into your MB? This would be helpful in isolating the problem to either your motherboard's SATA controller or the SATA drive NOT BEING RECOGNIZED in question. How old is your SATA drive? How old is your motherboard? Have you made any BIOS setup changes, BIOS upgrades or hardware configuration changes prior to this drive NOT being recognized by your motherboard? Have you checked the physical connections of both the SATA cables between your motherboard and hard drive(s) as well as the power-supply connectors? Have you tried plugging your SATA hard drive into a DIFFERENT connector on your power supply? I would first confirm that your SATA drive is connected properly and working and has good power from your PSU before pursuing your motherboard as the problem. Having another SATA drive would be helpful. If THAT SATA drive is not recognized by your MB, I would check the PSU next. If a known good SATA drive, cable and PSU are still not recognized by your motherboard - then I would look at the motherboard as the source of the problem. Reply with more details and someone here should be able to further assist you. - John

05-03-2008, 01:50 AM	#3 (permalink)
DMorris Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 3 OS: Win XP	Re: Hard Drive Not Being Recognized The SATA drive is not that old. About 2 or 3 months. Same with the motherboard. I built the computer from scratch a while back. I have not made any changes to the BIOS prior to the failure and I've checked the connections multiple times. I've tried different connectors for the power but they're all on the same string. I'll try a different SATA cord next. The HD seems like it's getting power. At least I can hear it spinning. It will spin up then slow down and then repeat. Unfortunately I don't have any other SATA drives I can test with or another computer with SATA. What I can't get past is why there is a blank spot in the BIOS. If it were an outright failure I'm almost certain it would show that no device were detected, instead it detects something but can't comprehend what it is.

05-03-2008, 02:24 AM	#4 (permalink)
johnhook Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 810 OS: MS SBS 2003 SP2	Re: Hard Drive Not Being Recognized DMorris, It's still possible that your SATA drive has simply died. I've seen hard drives last 6-10 years and others die within their first year of life. I would check out BOTH ASUS's tech support site for your MB: http://support.asus.com/faq/faq.aspx?SLanguage=en-us Pick product=Motherboard, Socket 775, P5N-E SLI. From here you can view FAQ's, drivers, etc. If your motherboard was working with this hard drive and you changed NOTHING, then you're probably not going to find some driver or BIOS update on the ASUS site that can help you. Also, check on your Hard Drive's MFG site at: http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....er/std_alp.php Search by your Internal Hard Drive, type, etc. and see if there are any FAQs or downloads that might help you resolve this issue. Again - but gut reaction is that your HD has died, become unreadable or unrecoverable. Check out both of these sites to see if there is any utility you can use in an attempt to resurect your drive. If not, and your drive is new, you should be able to get an exchange or RMA repair/return for a new drive of the same model. - John