SATA drive not recognized, Windows can't boot

Edit: I tried moving some RAM modules around, and now the computer won't start at all, even after putting the modules back in their original positions. When I turn on the power, the fans will spin and whir, but the monitor doesn't appear to get any signal. The computer doesn't beep at all, either. I'm not sure how to diagnose this.

I have a computer with two SATA hard drives (not in a RAID setup) that used to work perfectly fine. However, it recently became unbootable.

A RAID BIOS recognizes that one of the SATA drives is connected, however once it tries to boot I get the message: "Disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter." It does not recognize the other hard drive at all. However, I'm only concerned with getting the computer to run again for now.

I can insert the Windows XP disk, and even after attempting to install the motherboard's SATA drivers, neither the installation setup nor recovery console will recognize the drive. If I try to install, it lists four "Unknown Disks" each labelled with "(There is no disk in this drive.) ". If I try to delete a partition, I get a STOP error complaining about setupdd.sys. The stop code has varied. Once I got 0x0000008E, another time I got 0x00000050.

I've tried using a bootable CD with the hard drive (the one that is seen by the BIOS) manufacturer's (Maxtor) diagnostic tools, and it does not find the drive either. I'm not sure what to do here. Any suggestions?

 

Sata

Hi,
have you tried pressing F6 and installing driver !? is your bios recognise it both properly !? have you tried installation with the one detected !?


Regards

 

the fact that u'r system appears dead usually means that the MB needs to be cmos cleared and reset. read u'r MB docs as they usually detail a few methods to do this. most go this way:

1) jumper CMOS clear on MB for 5 secs or so. reseat it to default and power up.

2) do number 1 and hold some key combo down while powering up

3) pull all power cables from MB, jumper as in 1 and reseat all power cables. power up.

3) same as 3 but also pull CMOS battery for 30 mins and reseat before proceeding


in any event, given u've got some MB docs - the details should be there on 'how to reset CMOS'

if all above fails, then something is broken/bad - like the MB itself or something isn't quite snug. eg - a CPU or it's HSF not being seated proper will produce 'dead' system effect. bad ground or shorts can do the same. like a loose metal ***** that crawled under the MB and shorted out


seems that ***** is a 'bad' word ... a pointy inclined plane bolt? hehe

 

shot in the dark...

Make sure the connections on the SATA drives are properly secured. They may have come loose when you moved the RAM.

B

 

Thanks for the suggestions, but none of the above worked. I didn't find anything that could be shorting the board, and the heatsink and fan seem to be secured.

 

hahaha ... that's the ticket

 

seem isn't verified really but ... curious if u tried CMOS clear

 

Well, I tried all of those before posting here.

As for that, I was just trying to switch out some RAM to see if it fixed any problems. I don't know whether it's a problem or not. Installing RAM is pretty straight-forward; putting it in the slots such that the groove aligns properly. The computer doesn't display anything to the monitor so I can't enter the BIOS.