Can't Detect HDD
 

Hi

I inherited a computer but I'm having trouble installing any OS as it can't detect a primary or secondary HDD. It tried to and hangs for a while but then continues without any detected. Then the following appears...

(Sometimes) Updating ESCD Sucess
Verifying DMI Pool Data.....
Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk Then Press Enter

What's going on here? It's an old system PIII 500 with 128MB RAM 32MB Vid WD40Gb HDD that has been tested at work and is fine. I have also tried other HDD's with no sucess.

The BIOS is dated 1999 and the code is i440BX 8671 2A69KGOEC-00. Having a bit of truoble finding an update for the BIOS but I'm not sure if this is what I should be looking for anyway.


Any help appreciated.

cheers

---------Does it configure hardware automatically? If it doesn’t then you will have to configure it manually. By pressing the button it tells you to if you want to get into the system settings.


---If the brand pops up when you turn it on you will have to press or hold esc or ctrl. Than press F1 (most common system key).

-----Another thing….If it configures it automatically and this message comes up it might be because you don’t have an operating system or a command prompt installed on it.

-------To see if this is the case download dos 6.22 startup disk from http://www.mirrors.org/archived_soft...m/original.htm
and extract it to a floppy and insert it into the floppy drive of the computer and hit enter. Wait…………… type c:
If it goes to c:\ than the hard drive is probably installed.

It may be that the drive is jumpered as a slave, when it should be master, or vice versa. Additionally, you might want to disconnect and re-seat the ribbon cables (both ends) If you know the drive is good, and it's jumpered correctly, then it may just be a bad connection. -- J.W.

It's set to auto config but when it tries to find the hdd it fails but continues. The disk is not faulty (have checked it on another system) and the jumpers are set correctly. I have not however checked the cables so I might do that tonight.

I was alos thinking, the BIOS is a very old one (1999) and until recently it had a 7GB HDD. The one I'm having problems with is a 40GB so it might not be suported. I tried to download the BIOS for it released 2001 that supports up to 75GB HDD but when I went to flash it it kept giving me errors saying the files don't match. I'm certain I have the right mobo model and the right BIOS.

Funny thing is I tried to boot the system with the HDD that it originally had and it came up with the same error.

Might be time to rip the whole thing apart and start testing everything but I want to try to flash it first.

Any other ideas?

cheers

Different thought - have you tried booting this machine using a Live CD such as Knoppix? Since that runs entirely off the CD, and it has some really amazing hardware detection capabilities, it may be able to give you some additional clues.

Overall though, if both the new and the old drive generate the same error, then I'd agree it is more likely to be an issue with the machine itself rather than the drives. I'd recommend checking the cables before making changes to the BIOS, as that is both the easiest and least risky action. If it works, great, if not, you can resort to other steps. Good luck with it -- J.W.

The 440BX is a PII chipset. I've never seen a PIII with that.

Sounds like you are trying to boot to a non system disk. (not a formatted disk with system I/O files on it.) Maybe someone formatted the disk to remove any files on it.

Can you set your BIOS to boot from a floppy? Insert a system disk in the diskette drive and boot the machine, partition and format the hard drive. Fdisk only supports 32 gig drives. XP uses Diskpart to access big drives. The Linux distro's will allow you to part and format as part of the install routine. I use Mandrake and it is a snap.

You can also boot from a cdrom if your BIOS supports it. Your cdrom will most probably need to be a master drive on the IDE channel to boot from it.

2000, XP, 2003, Mandrake ect. will boot from the install cd.

<<<when formmating it is a good idea to format with this command>>>

format C: /s

<<<It copys system files (the command.com file) and alows your system to boot by its self after you have formated it(To get a system disk refer to my link above).>>>

I'm at work atm where I've brought the PC in for the IT guys to look at. If they can't figure it out I have no idea what I'm going to do. :scratch: I'll mention all the suggestions in this thread.

Keep you posted.

cheers

All sorted. Had to d/l the bios again and it worked just fine.

Thanks for your help :)

Re: Can't Detect HDD
 

Looks like you may need to boot up your WD Data Lifeguard floppy that came with the drive and set the drive to ATA/33. As shipped they are configured for ATA/100 for the newer motherboards. If it won't reconfigure you may need to either invest in an ATA/100 card or upgrade your mobo/processor.

Hope this helps.