Detolin

I'm having an issue with my slave HDD, whenever i connect it and plug in the power to boot up it freezes at the Windows splash screen each time, then resets with the screen "Windows did not boot properly... boot in Safe mode, Safe Mode with Networking... etc." . It boots fine when the slave is not connected though.

After trying every which way to plug it in (safely) i got a little frustrated and tried a slightly more dangerous approach. I plugged the power cable into it, plugged in the power to the computer, booted up, logged in, and with the "My Computer" window open, i plugged in the SATA Data cable to the slave. Nothing happened at first, but suddenly my computer would freeze for 20 seconds, then unfreeze for 5, freeze again for 20 sec, unfreeze for 5, etc. it did this all the way until i was able to shut-down through the start menu.

Both my Main and Slave are SATA, and when i went to the BIOS both with slave plugged in and unplugged, it didnt recognize a 2nd HDD

To reassure that this isnt some virus (i hope), the problem started when i moved to my new place a few days ago. Both HDD's were running smoothly when i shut-down and packed up my computer, but when i unpacked it and set it all back up i was faced with this problem. I'm hoping it's just something inside that was rattled and can be set back into place, i've pulled and cleaned/re-fastened all of the internal hardware to ensure everything was connected.

ANY help would be greatly appreciated, this slave was my back-up that i've been slowly moving ALL of my music/photos/documents to from my main HDD (not copied)

Technical Data if it'll help:
Slave HDD
Western Digital, 500 GB, SATA, 16 MB Cache, 7200 RPM
Master HDD
Western Digital, 74 GB, SATA, 8 MB Cache , 10,000 RPM
Motherboard: AV8 (VIA K8T800P-8237)
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 Processor 4000+
RAM: 4 GB DDR2
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra

raptor_pa

What are the model numbers of the WD drives? Can you feel the slave drive spin up? How are the jumpers set on each drive....

Detolin

HDD Model Numbers:
Slave: WD5000AAKS
Master: WD740

The Slave had the jumper set for "Power Up In Standby"
The master has no jumpers on it, though it describes the PUIS as a jumper option on it as well.

Sorry i forgot to mention i played with those jumper options as well, I tried it with and without the PUIS b on both

Checking if the drive spins or not (gotta shut this comp down) will post an Edit/update when i have the results

raptor_pa

OK the jumper on the master must be master with slave ( no jumper on WD is master- stand alone drive ) With no jumper the drive doesn't try to manage a slave since you told it there is none. The slave must be jumpered as slave, remove the PUIS jumpers on both drives.

Detolin

The Slave HDD is not spinning on boot-up, i just don't understand why Windows freezes at the splash screen if it's plugged in?

Unfortunately, neither drive shows how to set the jumpers to master/slave but their pin set-up is:
7531
8642

both PUIS jumpers removed.

raptor_pa

http://www.wdc.com/en/library/eide/2579-001037.pdf do not use the cable select options It may also be screened onto the PCBoard right behind the jumpers MA/SL/CS. If the drive isn't spinning then that would explain why it is keeping the machine from booting - two possibilities 1) a failure of a TVS diode is loading the power supply or more likely 2) a firmware or PCBoard failure on the drive is allowing the drive to be recognized as something but not initializing correctly. How is the drive identified in BIOS?

explosive

You don't master/slave SATA drives.

Try different power rails (plugs) from the PSU. Avoid using plugs on the same cable for both HDDs.

raptor_pa

Duh, I completey missed the SATA part in the first post... - sheesh.....