Setup did not find any hard drive installed...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mill
  • Start date Start date
John Doe said:
You need to brush up on your rhetoric JAD. You use the extremes like
"stupidest ever" way too much. That makes for bad writing.
Click to expand...

sad little girl...................................where's the 'ever' dipstick?


NOT A THROUGH THREAD
DEAD END
NO OUTLET
Boring bullshit ahead
 
Have you cleared the CMOS (pull the battery / short the jumper yet)?
Click to expand...

Great thought, I will try that.

HOWEVER, I should say that I bought a new drive today, put it in my system
to
format, then put it in the dell and get the same error message!!
 
Mill said:
Great thought, I will try that.

HOWEVER, I should say that I bought a new drive today, put it in my
system to format, then put it in the dell and get the same error
message!!
Click to expand...

To spell it out again. If the device works "so well" in one system,
that means the device is okay. There probably are exceptions, but
that's the rule. Now you know.
 
I have been though the BIOS too many times to count.
I did find that when I reset CMOS that drive changed from
ATA setting to ACHI but I did fix that each time before trying
to install OS.
 
Mill said:
I have been though the BIOS too many times to count.
I did find that when I reset CMOS that drive changed from
ATA setting to ACHI but I did fix that each time before trying
to install OS.
Click to expand...

Is this drive partitioned already?
What size partition?
What's the date of the BIOS or Bios version?
 
Is this drive partitioned already?
What size partition?
What's the date of the BIOS or Bios version?
Click to expand...

Yes, partitioned - just one big partition 298 GB.
Dell DXC051 Model 200 BIOS version X05 (07/14/05)
 
Great thought, I will try that.

HOWEVER, I should say that I bought a new drive today, put it in my system
to
format, then put it in the dell and get the same error message!!
Click to expand...
Very wild guess. Try the other controller port.
 
I used F12 to access Boot Device Menu on the new hard drive
and selected Hard Drive Diagnostics. It sees the right drive in
Drive 0 and it says it passed the test.

BUT, it doesn't find it.

I've had it!!! I'm ready to toss this computer. I can always use
another hard drive so that isn't a big deal. But man am I p_____!
off.

Also, disgusted. I will wait a day or two to salvage parts - actually,
I will probably stick it in a closet. Arggggggggg!!!
 
Mill said:
Yes, partitioned - just one big partition 298 GB.
Dell DXC051 Model 200 BIOS version X05 (07/14/05)
Click to expand...
I can't find that particular setup in Dell forums however MUCH talk of the 137 GIG barrier
with many Dells that had a "generic" BIOS version such as the X05
 
Mill said:
I used F12 to access Boot Device Menu on the new hard drive
and selected Hard Drive Diagnostics. It sees the right drive in
Drive 0 and it says it passed the test.

BUT, it doesn't find it.

I've had it!!! I'm ready to toss this computer. I can always use
another hard drive so that isn't a big deal. But man am I p_____!
off.

Also, disgusted. I will wait a day or two to salvage parts - actually,
I will probably stick it in a closet. Arggggggggg!!!
Click to expand...
Did you try it on the second IDE port (if you have one)? Did you test
with known good cable?

Mike.
 
Very wild guess. Try the other controller port.
Click to expand...

This slimline computer only has one SATA port (which is the only port).
Otherwise, I certainly would have tried that first thing. Hmmm, I wonder
if I can get a half-length pci sata extension. I hate to throw more money
at this thing but that is a thought.
 
Michael Hawes said:
Did you try it on the second IDE port (if you have one)? Did you test
with known good cable?
Click to expand...

No second port and yes I did sub out the data cable. No extra power
cables to use on it but since the cd player spins and reads, I figure the
power is good.
 
JAD said:
I can't find that particular setup in Dell forums however MUCH talk of the
137 GIG barrier with many Dells that had a "generic" BIOS version such as
the X05
Click to expand...

How can I update the BIOS if it can't find the drive? I guess I could put
the OS on a flash drive
and boot from it..... never done that before. I really have a hard time
believing that the BIOS version
is going to change this problem... but I am on the verge of giving up
anyway...
 
Mill said:
How can I update the BIOS if it can't find the drive? I guess I could put
the OS on a flash drive
and boot from it..... never done that before. I really have a hard time
believing that the BIOS version
is going to change this problem... but I am on the verge of giving up
anyway...
Click to expand...

USB floppy and flash the BIOS - no OS necessary AFAIK

Why did you start swapping drives in and out in the first place?


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You said the drive works very well in your system. That provides basic
troubleshooting knowledge. If a device works in a different system (in
this case yours), the problem isn't with the device. There might be
exceptions, but that's the rule. It's so obvious, I thought you were
making fun of JAD's conclusion that the drive is bad even though "it
works so well in your system".
Click to expand...

I also said I found bad sectors on it. So it could be that the mbr had
a bad sector that was not used when I tested it as an aux storage
device. That would mean that it might not show up as a drive in the
dell but would work fine (as long as I didn't use a bad sector) for
storage.
 
USB floppy and flash the BIOS - no OS necessary AFAIK

Why did you start swapping drives in and out in the first place?
Click to expand...

The drive that was there would not boot. I ran a test - showed bad
sectors, fixed the bad sectors, still would not boot. Ran Dell diagnostics
and it said code 7 (usually a bad drive). The drive did show in my
main computer and I could use it for storage. I figured maybe the mbr
was bad with bad sector. Bought a new drive, formatted it and then
tried to boot it in dell. Once again, in the OS install procedure, I get
the
message that the system
cannot find a hard drive even though it does show in the bios setup.
 
I used BartPE to make a live XP and used that to update my BIOS.

Amazingly that worked. This BIOS does allow boot from USB which
was a big help since I have a Corsair 16GB flash drive. It makes me
realize that I could use this new drive I bought in an external case (just
happen to have one) that is USB. I'm fairly certain that will work. I
can already tell (from my use of my flashdrive) that it will label it drive
C.

It still does not see the hard drive. I am thinking the SATA port is dead.
I could get a pci card (slim profile needs half height) but those puppies
are
expensive and I wouldn't use it in the normal course of events - so if it
doesn't
work, I am out that much as a total waste.
 
Mill said:
The updated BIOS appears to have fixed it. The OS
is installing on the new drive!!!
Click to expand...

I am finishing the OS install on the new drive. As soon as it finishes,
I will try it on the old hdd and let you know the results.
 
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