Added 2nd HD... can't Boot.

[NoDellFan]

Hi Everyone:

I have a Dell Dimension 8300 running Windows XP Pro. The computer has a Seagate Ultra ATA 80gb hard drive and I wanted to replace it with a Seagate Ultra ATA 120GB Hard Drive. My plan was to install the new HDD as a Slave, use the Seagate Utilities to copy the files to the new HDD.

The original HDD was jumpered at "Cable Select" I changed that to Master and the new HDD as Slave. I made sure the cable connections were correct and powered up the system. The computer goes thru POST and then gives me a black screen with the following message... "strike F1 to reboot F2 for setup".

I have gone into setup and tried every combination of Drive Configuration "OFF"... "ON"..."AUTO" and NOTHING seems to work! I have even tried putting it back to the original setting (removing the new HDD) with the old 80gb drive jumpered as "Cable Select"... No Help!

I even went to F12 and ran the IDE Diagnostics... It said there were "No Hard Drives Installed". Yes, the Cable connections are good. I know this because when I strike F2 and go to setup and then drill down to drive configuration, the Primary Master Drive correctly shows the model # of the drive and its capacity as well as the Primary Slave Drive correctly shows the model # of the drive and its capacity.


Can Somebody PLEASE Help Me?

[ski]

See if replacing the CMOS battery helps.
If no luck, then with all drives disconnected reset CMOS with a MB jumper.
If still no luck, then make sure the IDE controllers are enabled in BIOS. If so, then connect the original HD to the IDE 2(secondary) controller. If that works, then the IDE 1 controller may be bad.
If the HD is not seen on IDE 2, then replace the IDE cable with a known working one, and connect a different power lead to the HD.
If that does not work, then see if either drive is seen on another system.

[Paul Komski]

Follow ski's advice but maybe also (or in place of the last suggestion) run the seatools diagnostics. Unlikely that both drives have blown their PCBs at the same time (which could leave them invisible to an OS but visible in the F2 BIOS setup) but not unheard of if both drives got some sort of "shock" at the same time while on the same cable.

[NoDellFan]

Paul:

I followed Ski's advice about the Battery... But there was no change. Thank you BOTH for replying. I ran Seatools Diagnostics and it can't find the drives. I tried reinstalling Windows XP, by booting from CD and Windows can't find the Drives. Now here is the Puzzler... I have an old Maxtor 3gb drive with Windows installed on it. I removed the 2 other drives and put in the Maxtor and the system goes thru POST and recognizes the drive and boots up Windows!

What the Heck? That would indicate that the Controller and the Cable are OK and the BOIS are functioning?

Follow ski's advice but maybe also (or in place of the last suggestion) run the seatools diagnostics. Unlikely that both drives have blown their PCBs at the same time (which could leave them invisible to an OS but visible in the F2 BIOS setup) but not unheard of if both drives got some sort of "shock" at the same time while on the same cable.

[ski]

Sounds like both HD's are toast.
If possible, install them as Slaves on a different system. If they're not seen, then they're probably both bad.

[NoDellFan]

Ski:

I would never had guessed that BOTH Drives would get burnt at the same time! I went and got another HD and SeaTools recognized the drive and formatted it no problem.

BUT, to add insult to injury, I reinstalled Win XP Pro and when I went to activate it MS gave me a message that I had already activated the software and to call their 1-800 #. I called and got someone from INDIA (who spoke broken English) and she told me that I had to buy and additional Lic. I explained that my HD crashed and I was reinstalling the OS on the same computer... She didn't seem to understand what I was explaining to her. Grrrr

Thanks for all your Help!

Sounds like both HD's are toast.
If possible, install them as Slaves on a different system. If they're not seen, then they're probably both bad.

[ski]

You're welcome.
Good to hear that you found the cause of the problem.

[Paul Komski]

I would never had guessed that BOTH Drives would get burnt at the same time!
I remember once using a new drive to try and get data of a failing drive. The failing drive then went out totally and took the new one with it. As a result I now try to avoid ever having two HDDs on the same ribbon cable.

I explained that my HD crashed and I was reinstalling the OS on the same computerI would have given as few details as possible; just that it was a Dell that needed reactivation and a request to speak to her manager if she didn't seem to understand you. AFAIK as long as the PC has the same mobo (especially if it has a NIC with a unique MAC address) there is a strong case to say that it is the same PC.