Lost IDE drives

I have a gateway 3250S system that all of a sudden lost the PATA IDE drives. I have been into the BIOS and upgraded the chipset software as well as the BIOS but to no avail. If anyone has had a similar problem please let me know and let me what if any resolution you came up with. The BIOS version was EV91510A.15A.0123 and I upgraded it to EV91510A.86A.0482, if that helps out any. I have also checked all cables and they are plugged in right and the power is there as well. Thank you for any assistance you can give me.

 

Have you tried going to Device Manager, open the branch for the IDE Controller drivers, highlight the main controller driver, right-click and choose Uninstall (or go to Properties and try rolling back the driver)?

If you uninstall, the main IDE controller driver will be automatically reinstalled when you reboot the computer (if the Add New Hardware wizard asks where to find the drivers, which I doubt, direct it to the Gateway drivers CD). You can cancel out of the drivers installation and run the drivers installation (IDE driver controller) from the drivers CD.

Must add, not that I am familiar with Gateway driver installation Edit: maybe check around the Gateway website, especially the FAQs.

Matt

 

MATTMAN, no I have not tried device manager as you mentioned although if the BIOS does not see the drive either I don't think this method would help. It is not just XP that does not see the drive (sorry for any confusion there) the system itself does not see anything on the IDE channel anymore. I was hoping the BIOS update may have been the answer but it was not.

If you have any other things to check out I would be most happy with any assistance you might have.

Thank You

P.S. the chipset software I used was INF.ALLOS.8.3.0.1013_PV.EXE and teh BIOS update used went from the EV915A.15A.0123 to the EV91510A.86A.0482. The flash worked just fine but the drives still do not appear in the BIOS as well as the OS

 

KK, you have implied that multiple drives are involved so if they are on the same IDE channel have you tried testing them individually? One drive can fail in such a way as to render the other one dead also.

Have you tried a replacement data cable?

If none of that is applicable, I think it may be time to consider the possibility of a MOBO failure. To test that, switch the data cables at the MOBO end and see if you get different results.

I'm assuming from what you posted that you have a drive on the other channel that contains the OS and it is still working. Moving that to the other channel will not allow it to boot but will at least tell you if the channel is operating properly and communicating with the controller board on the HD.

 

Unplug everything - dvds , cd, hard drives
Then boot up , shut off
Plug in the cables
Reboot
See if it finds the ide drives
You may have to reset the bios to factory defaults
You may have to do this process adding one hardware item at a time
A lot of time it makes no sense as the cables are all plugged in
You might also try taking out the watch battery for several minutes to reset the bios
But you will have to set the clock on boot up