Missing secondary internal hard drive... HELP!

[writhziden]

Similarly the shutdown/unplug/replug procedure would result in being sure there is no power applied to the drive

It actually depends on the process. What most people do not realize is just unplugging the computer is not enough to drain current/power. There can be enough juice left in the computer to kill a person after it has been unplugged; this is similar to how the old televisions used to work and how dangerous they were to repair without using appropriate precautions for the capacitors to drain.

On a computer, the proper procedure to make sure there is no residual current is to hold down the power button for 30 seconds after unplugging the computer. Computers have been designed so that this closes the circuit and allows all components to drain. If this was not done, it is possible that the unplugging and plugging in of the hard drive caused damage due to the residual current. However, I doubt this is the case since the hard drive was experiencing issues before the power was released and reapplied.

My question for slugger7 is: are you still having issues through the BIOS where the drive takes a long time to load or does not load at all? If this is still the case, and your hard drive works fine in an external enclosure connected via USB, I would start thinking this is a Motherboard related issue. Possibly a BIOS update needs to be applied, or the hard drive connector is bad.

You could also test by taking out your OS drive and connecting the other drive with the same connector if they use the same type. If you still have issues, that would rule out the connector, in which case you could contact Seagate and see if they have any troubleshooting steps as this would most likely be an issue with their drive. The drive may not be bad, but how it interfaces with your particular motherboard could be at fault, for instance.

 

[slugger7]

Well irmts definitely not the conector or the sata port or the hdd unless my luck is so bad that the second replacement hdd is also bad.

There is no need to unplug anything any more and replug. It just needs to shut down and boot up again. Its getting quite irritating.

Interesting about the power ill remember that in the future.

Usualy when it the bios takes a while to load the hard drive is missing. When the pc is up and running and i go to the manage computer where new drives appear it is not even there at all.

Can you maby show me to a page on steps on how to do a bios update seeing as i have never done this befor.

Sent from my HTC Desire S

 

[TVeblen]

Did you check your power supply with a multimeter to determine that there is correct voltage on each of the rails?

A hard drive uses both 12v and 5v so you want to know that the supply is putting out the specified voltage on the hard drive connectors while the system is booting and again while it is running. The range can vary a percent or 2, but should optimally be at 5v+ or 12v+, not under voltage.

You can do a more crude test by looking in your BIOS under Hardware Monitor (or similar) to see what voltages are being read on the motherboard, but that is not as good as knowing the voltages on the actual connector.

What brand and model # is your motherboard? If you wish to risk flashing the BIOS as a possible fix it would be good to know that (and your current BIOS brand and version). Different manufacturers have their own flash utility that makes the process less risky, like Asus EZ Flash 2 utility.

 

[slugger7]

Guys it was like i thought. My motherboard is a gonner. Doesnt boot from cd after getting the blue screen.

What do u guys recommend for a new gaming motherboard?

Thanx for all the help once agen.

Sent from my HTC Desire S

 

[writhziden]

Guys it was like i thought. My motherboard is a gonner. Doesnt boot from cd after getting the blue screen.

What do u guys recommend for a new gaming motherboard?

Thanx for all the help once agen.

Sent from my HTC Desire S

Were you able to find a good replacement for your motherboard? If you still need help, just drop us a line.

 

[slugger7]

Well im looking into a Asus Rampage but dont realy know whats good for gaming.

Sent from my HTC Desire S

 

[writhziden]

If you start a new thread in this forum (Hardware & Devices) telling people what you are willing to spend and what you are looking for, people on here are very happy to help others build good systems that cost a reasonable price. If you want to reuse some of your current hardware, let them know which parts, too, so they can find something compatible.