Hard drive access problem continued...works on one computer, not the other

[jbclem]

My 40gb IBM/Hitachi Deskstar will not work on it's original computer, after
working well for 6 months. The bios takes a long time to recognize it, and
the only other thing that's been able to recognize it is my
EBCD(EmergencyBootCD), a free russian program. EBCD recognizes and tests
the hard drive and doesn't find any problems with it. But one of it's
modules shows that the BIOS recognizes 0 mbs on this hard drive. I've tried
Spinrite and Lost and Found and Easy Recovery Pro but none will recognize
this hard drive. I've replaced the cable, and also tested the hard drive
controller(via EBCD). No problems there. I've booted up in Dos but can't
access the C: drive or any drive on this hard drive.

I moved this hard drive to my other computer and it works perfectly, booting
up Win2000, acting as if nothing had happened.

I'm really puzzled...I don't get how the bios is recognizing this hard drive
(and it takes a long time to do so) and I think it's just pulling the
information that it had stored when the hard drive was working ok. That may
be confirmed by the EBCD module listing that the BIOS is recognizing zero
MBs.

Can someone suggest some other troubleshooting proceedures...could it be the
motherboard and the hard drive controller?
How else can I test that? Am I missing something obvious?

John

 

[Rod Speed]

My 40gb IBM/Hitachi Deskstar will not work on it's
original computer, after working well for 6 months.

The bios takes a long time to recognize it, and the only
other thing that's been able to recognize it is my EBCD
(EmergencyBootCD), a free russian program. EBCD recognizes
and tests the hard drive and doesn't find any problems with it.

But one of it's modules shows that the
BIOS recognizes 0 mbs on this hard drive.

So there is obviously a problem.

I've tried Spinrite and Lost and Found and Easy Recovery Pro
but none will recognize this hard drive. I've replaced the cable,
and also tested the hard drive controller (via EBCD). No
problems there. I've booted up in Dos but can't access
the C: drive or any drive on this hard drive.

I moved this hard drive to my other computer and it works
perfectly, booting up Win2000, acting as if nothing had happened.

I'm really puzzled...

Everything points to some sort of failure in the original PC.

I don't get how the bios is recognizing this
hard drive (and it takes a long time to do so)

Presumably there is a fault in the controller.

and I think it's just pulling the information that it
had stored when the hard drive was working ok.

Clearly it isnt if it reports 0GB.

That may be confirmed by the EBCD module
listing that the BIOS is recognizing zero MBs.

Can someone suggest some other troubleshooting proceedures...

Try a different power connector for the drive. The
metal tunnels the pins go into can open up a bit
over time and so the drive doesnt get good power.

Try a different ribbon cable, they can fail.

could it be the motherboard and the hard drive controller?

Yep, and that is the most likely possibility.

How else can I test that?

You cant basically. See if that drive is visible to the bios
on the other controller, but some faults can affect both.

Am I missing something obvious?

Nope.

 

[jbclem]

Turned out I was missing something obvious...my #2 hard drive had been
working erratically, sometimes it would work well for weeks, then it would
start making repetitive noises and couldn't be recognized. That was the
case just before this problem with my 1st hard drive. Well, since I had the
jumpers on the 1st hard drive set to a setting "master plus force the
slave", when I lost the slave this jumper setting became incorrect, and the
drive became unrecognizable(except to the EmergencyBootCD). It took a few
days before this occurred to me, but that's all it took to solve the
problem, and of course explains why the hard drive worked normally on a
different computer. I still don't know why the bios was even "detecting"
the hard drive but I'll worry about that some other time.

Thanks for the suggestions.

John

 

[Rod Speed]

Turned out I was missing something obvious...my #2 hard drive had
been working erratically, sometimes it would work well for weeks,
then it would start making repetitive noises and couldn't be recognized.
That was the case just before this problem with my 1st hard drive.
Well, since I had the jumpers on the 1st hard drive set to a setting

"master plus force the slave", when I lost the slave this jumper setting

became incorrect, and the drive became unrecognizable(except to
the EmergencyBootCD). It took a few days before this occurred to
me, but that's all it took to solve the problem, and of course explains
why the hard drive worked normally on a different computer.
I still don't know why the bios was even "detecting" the hard drive

Thats not that unusual, that a bad jumper config half works.

Strictly speaking you arent supposed to have just a slave
on a ribbon cable, but that works almost all the time.

but I'll worry about that some other time.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Thanks for the feedback.