win xp desktop - sata won't start-HELP

Da Mail Man

Da Mail Man

Active Member
greetings all,

....unique problem i ran into here..... i have a friend that has a generic computer (win xp, 1g ram, 80gb sata hard drive)....... he got an error on the computer yesterday that said (to the effect) hard drive failure or hd failure save all data, drive failure immanent, etc).....

.....well, i have the computer in front of me now and i have unplugged all cables and attempted to restart the computer..... at this point it is saying that it doesn't find a hard drive at all.....

.... so, i reset the cmos (pin jumper at battery) and restarted the computer and i pretty much get the same thing. i have a brand new 320gb sata wd hard drive and connected it up and the computer does "squat"!......could the batter be dead or so low that it would cause this to happen?...any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
 
he got an error on the computer yesterday that said (to the effect) hard drive failure or hd failure save all data, drive failure immanent, etc).....
Click to expand...
If it was SMART failure predicted (something like that anyway) then his best bet is to buy a new drive and image the failing drive to the new one.
.....well, i have the computer in front of me now and i have unplugged all cables and attempted to restart the computer..... at this point it is saying that it doesn't find a hard drive at all.....
Click to expand...
That should be expected ;)
.... so, i reset the cmos (pin jumper at battery) and restarted the computer and i pretty much get the same thing. i have a brand new 320gb sata wd hard drive and connected it up and the computer does "squat"!......could the batter be dead or so low that it would cause this to happen?...any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
Click to expand...
If the drive does not have windows or another OS installed then the computer will not boot. If it has windows installed but was taken from another machine then it should be bluescreening when you try to boot.
 
**THANKS FOR THE REPLY!

Quote:
he got an error on the computer yesterday that said (to the effect) hard drive failure or hd failure save all data, drive failure immanent, etc).....

If it was SMART failure predicted (something like that anyway) then his best bet is to buy a new drive and image the failing drive to the new one.
***yes, it appears that way and at this point i cannot start the computer. i have a brand new sata hd here and have imaged the drive a week or so before failure and w/out a "recogniozable" hd, it won't work. i have measured the battery voltage and it is 3.0 volts +/-. i checked the power supply with a tester and it checked good

Quote:
.....well, i have the computer in front of me now and i have unplugged all cables and attempted to restart the computer..... at this point it is saying that it doesn't find a hard drive at all.....

That should be expected
***agreed

Quote:
.... so, i reset the cmos (pin jumper at battery) and restarted the computer and i pretty much get the same thing. i have a brand new 320gb sata wd hard drive and connected it up and the computer does "squat"!......could the battery be dead or so low that it would cause this to happen?...any ideas would be greatly appreciated!
If the drive does not have windows or another OS installed then the computer will not boot.
***it doesn't even recognize the NEW hard drive so, that may be a moot point.

If it has windows installed ***yes it does but was taken from another machine **no it wasn't then it should be bluescreening when you try to boot.
**no blue screens
 
Last edited:
could be the motherboard's SATA ports are bad. if even a new hdd doesnt work then i doubt its an hdd problem. when you say "battery" youre talking about the small round CMOS battery,correct? If so,that shouldnt play any role in whether or not the hdd would work. In resetting the CMOS you could have turned the SATA ports off in the BIOS by setting everything back to default.
 
d3adpoetic said:
could be the motherboard's SATA ports are bad. ***could be as i have tried both sata ports if even a new hdd doesnt work then i doubt its an hdd problem.
***i will try a used good ie hard drive and see if i can get some "recognition of that hd.

when you say "battery" youre talking about the small round CMOS battery,correct? **correct If so,that shouldnt play any role in whether or not the hdd would work. **but woudn't that determine as to where/if the computer should even look for one and where
?
In resetting the CMOS you could have turned the SATA ports off in the BIOS by setting everything back to default.
Click to expand...
well, at this point, i cannot get it to turn on at all to enter the bios/cmos.
 
all that battery does is save CMOS settings,and keep the clock going when the comp is off. although, im not sure if the computer will even turn on without that battery working. could get a new battery just to check, theyre not expensive at all.

if you cant get it turned on at all thats probably a power supply issue. you said you unplugged everything, did you plug everything back in correctly? couldve missed a power cable somewhere...we've all done it. Is the power supply switch on? just checking.

Try only plugging in the necessities like the motherboard power,a cd drive,a hard drive, monitor, keyboard\mouse, and put the CMOS battery back in + side up,and make sure the jumper is in the right spot.

Just throwing things out there, hopefully we can get this figured out. I hate computers sometimes,haha.
 
It maintains BIOS settings as well but if the battery is dead it should just say bad checksum when booting not fail to power on or do anything at all.
if you cant get it turned on at all thats probably a power supply issue. you said you unplugged everything, did you plug everything back in correctly? couldve missed a power cable somewhere...we've all done it. Is the power supply switch on? just checking.
Click to expand...
Good call.
 
all that battery does is save CMOS settings,and keep the clock going when the comp is off. although, im not sure if the computer will even turn on without that battery working. ***that was a major part of my question could get a new battery just to check, theyre not expensive at all.**i am aware of that.

if you cant get it turned on at all thats probably a power supply issue. **seems unlikely as i just ran a tester for power supplies as i previously stated and all cheched ok you said you unplugged everything, did you plug everything back in correctly? **of course i did couldve missed a power cable somewhere **nope...we've all done it. Is the power supply switch on? just checking. **it is not switching on at this point. i was going to see if i had a spar but, possibly i do not.

Try only plugging in the necessities like the motherboard power,a cd drive,a hard drive, monitor, keyboard\mouse, and put the CMOS battery back in + side up,and make sure the jumper is in the right spot. **i've already done that.

Just throwing things out there, hopefully we can get this figured out. I hate computers sometimes,haha. **i went from a screen display of hard disk failure to no start at all!...
 
Cromewell said:
It maintains BIOS settings as well but if the battery is dead it should just say bad checksum when booting not fail to power on or do anything at all.
Good call.
Click to expand...


...obviously i was grasping at a few straws here but, again, won't start...wil see if i have spare power supply and whatever....:(
 
Cromewell said:
It maintains BIOS settings as well but if the battery is dead it should just say bad checksum when booting not fail to power on or do anything at all.
Click to expand...

Learn something new everyday. Wasn't exactly sure what would happen if the battery was bad, never had it happen to me. Thanks.
 
Da Mail Man said:
you said you unplugged everything, did you plug everything back in correctly? **of course i did couldve missed a power cable somewhere **nope...
Click to expand...

could have been something small like that, just trying to rule things out.

Da Mail Man said:
Is the power supply switch on? just checking. **it is not switching on at this point. i was going to see if i had a spar but, possibly i do not.
Click to expand...

i was referring to the switch on the back of the PS itself, not the comp as a whole.

Da Mail Man said:
Just throwing things out there, hopefully we can get this figured out. I hate computers sometimes,haha. **i went from a screen display of hard disk failure to no start at all!...
Click to expand...

I know, and we're trying to help you by suggesting anything that could be an issue.
 
d3adpoetic said:
could have been something small like that, just trying to rule things out.
**i know that



i was referring to the switch on the back of the PS itself, not the comp as a whole.
i know..switch is ok and so is volatge inputs switch on same.



I know, and we're trying to help you by suggesting anything that could be an issue.
Click to expand...
**i already know that..never unplugged anything from the board except the power suppy connectors which only go on one way
 
...still messing with this a bit...installed known good working ide hd and new sata drive with all connectors/connections in proper place and secure..."shorted" battery and placed jumper back to "normal"....turned power supply on and hiot the "on" button....the computer fans came on for a SPLIT second but that was it....no further reactions shutting ps off or on...
 
could be a motherboard issue...what that issue is, i dont know. possibly bad mobo all together.

did you find another PS?
 
...found power supply and connected it...used substitute ide hard drive instead of sata...the substitute supply had no sata connectors....same results...cleared cmos, plugged in power cord...hit switch on back.....pressed power button and fans started for less than 1/2 second.....unable to measure voltage of 4 pin plug that connects to board (black and yellow)..checked pin-out from ft panel power switch to mother board for loose connections (none)...i am worn out...will TRY and check front panel switch tomorrow for momentary continuity as i believe that is how it functions....funny, how this went from getting the "post" that indicated dvd rom seen but no hard drive and now i cannot even start the ba-tard!:mad::mad::mad:
 
.......yup...found that the jumper had a missing/loose "contact" in it...replaced with another...reset bios/cmos to be sure that sata "ports" were on...fired it up and it started....now i have another problem that might require another thread but not that critical...used acronis drive image to image hard drive and when i went to image back to new hard drive, it doesn't seem to want to work....but that is another story...so for now, i think this issue is done...who'd-a-thought!...

....would love to load contents from still bootable old sata hard drive to new but, with only 1 data cable in computer and 2 sata power cables, it doesn't look like that is gonna happen.....
 
Data cables are cheap, you could always go and buy one for a couple dollars. Can't help you with the arconis issue though, I've never used it.
 
Cromewell said:
Data cables are cheap, you could always go and buy one for a couple dollars. Can't help you with the arconis issue though, I've never used it.
Click to expand...


...yeah, i know however, i see no place on the mother board to connect it......that is the initial problem.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top