Hard drive not found in bios [IBM T30]

Hi folks, It's been along time since I have been on this site, I've even had to reactivate.

Any way to my troubles.
I have two IBM T30 note books, one which is setup for Vehicle diagnostics. It had been working great till the other week when I switched it on and all I got was a black screen with, [PXE-E61: MEDIA TEST FAILURE, CHECK CABLE,
PXE-M0F: EXITING INTEL BOOT AGENT, OPERATING SYSTEM NOT FOUND.

Now we will call this system unit 1 & the other T30 system unit 2 for ease of explanation. Now unit 2 works fine with same OS but is used as normal notebook (Not diag)

Now I have searched for days on the Net and different forms regarding this fault. So I have tried various rectifications.

1. I removed the HD from unit one and installed it in unit 2 but still with same result.
2. I installed the HD that was in unit 2 into unit 1 and the system works fine.

This you would say points at HD failure, but this so called faulty HD I installed it into an external caddie and connected it via USB to my main system and I can access all partitions on the HD.

Q. If HD was total failure, I should not be able to access this way, would I?

There is much talk of Recover console and repair of MBR and Boot record, but none of this is any good when the HD does not appear in the BIOS.

I have tried various boot and recovery softwares, but I don't get very far as the Message comes up FIXED DRIVE IS REQUIRED FOR THIS OPERATION.
The HD is installed!!

Q. If MBR is corrupt, is it possible to correct this when HD is in external caddie?

All Help most welcome.

FAULTY SYSTEM.
OS WIN XP PRO
IBM T30 TYPE 2367-GG2
512 RAM


Neil.............

 

The HD is dead or dying. This is your business, do not take chances or waste time with it. Connect it to the caddy, back off your important data, replace the drive and get back to making money.

Not of which I am aware. In theory, you could run a "debug" routine to wipe the MBR to zeros, but if it is not being seen in BIOS, this will not really help you.
I suspect the media is fine, but there is a chip on the controller board which has failed. If you really wanted to, you could possibly find a used and working drive with the same or similar "Run" numbers and swap the boards (I have not checked the part number so I am not sure there is an externally accessible board)(I would NOT suggest using the one working drive you have as this can be a risky undertaking). However, the only business viable reason for doing this would be to get the drive in a readable state and then back it up and toss it. Since you can already get it in a readable state, I would not worry with it. Just back it up via the caddie, replace it, and be done with it.

 

Hi Guys, Thanks for the quick response Bilbo & PeteC.
Good to hear from you PeteC.
Yes the HD is Hitachi.
Yes HD 1 is visible in MY COMPUTER and is accessible via the caddie in unit 2.

One more thing, some time ago I was sent a Hitachi HD with certain diagnostic software on it which I was supposed to copy onto my own HD.

I tried this drive into unit one as well and got the same result, but also put this drive in unit 2 and also got same result (OPERATING SYSTEM NOT FOUND), but it is accessible via external caddie.

What do you make of this?


Neil...........

 

I am certain a component on the controller board on the HDD has failed.

I would bet large that you could spend hours with utilities in a fruitless effort to save it and still have a busted HDD.

The various manufacturer utilities may not even want to run if it is not being seen in BIOS.

What size or P/N on the HDD?

I'm not finding a specification for the GG2 varient on the Lenovo site.

 

Hi, Bilbo

Unit 1 HD is 80gb Hitachi HTS541680J9AT00 P/N 0A28417
The other HD which I mentioned that came with software on it and has the same fault is the same but with P/N. 0A50680

Hope this helps.

Neil...........

 

NIELMAC,

Now you know what can happen when you stay away from the BBS for so long. Just kidding! You've gotten some excellent guidance and advice and would be well advised to follow it immediately. Copy your important data off of drive 1 while you still can. There's no telling when your ability to read this drive in an external caddy may cease.

I'm more inclined to suspect something other than the hard drive controller because of the fact that this drive is still readable in your external caddy. My experience with HDD controllers is that they either work or they don't work but Billb0 could be right on the money. Regardless, you need to follow his advice sooner rather than later.

 

I must have mis-read one of your earlier posts, but I' not certain it make much material difference in the end.

Am I to understand that Hitachi or Lenovo sent you an actual Hard Drive with utilities on it, or a CD with utilities on it?

If a hard drive, I find that quite unusual.
Was there some stated reason for sending it?
Did you report an issue with the original and they were replacing it?
Was it part of a "recall "?

If it was an actual hard drive and that drive has failed as well, this poses questions with regard to the actual laptop in which you installed them so I have a few additional questions:
1. When it was received, was the "utility drive" installed in unit 1 and/or unit 2?
2. Was the "utility drive" installed in unit 1 before unit 1's original drive failed or after it failed?
3. Did the "utility drive" ever work in either laptop?
4. Is the "utility drive" accessible via the caddie through unit 2?

Where I'm going wth this is that the original unit 1 drive is certainly failed (since it does not work in unit 2) but there could also be an issue with the laptop. Answers regarding the "utility drive" would be helpful in ascertaining this.

I have looked up your actual part numer for the original unit 1 drive and exact replacements can be had for about $50.00 US plus shipping.
PeteC is completely correct in that drive prices are certainly low and an even larger one can be had for not much more money than the exact replacement part.

However, I might suggest caution in that regard if ther is a question as to the possible cause of the drive(s) failure(s).

I have not been able to locate a picture of the bottom of the drive, so I cannot be certain if there is an external board.
I have seen similar failures before.
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine had a HD fail POST and he was distraut because he had just transferred a bunch of family pictures to it and had not yet run a back up.
I located a drive of the same model and similar run numbers and swapped out the controller board and it came right up in BIOS without issue.
I was able to retrieve the pictures and he was thrilled.
Later, I had another friend having an issue with his external USB drive caddie and on a whim I used that first friend's drive (with its original controller board) in the caddie and it spun up fine.

So, if your drive has an externally accessible board, PERHAPS you could replace it on the cheap if you were willing to wait to locate a cheap used drive.

HOWEVER, and AGAIN, this makes no practical sense to me since you have the ability to spin it up via the caddie in unit 2 and can retrieve any data that way.

 

Rockster2U,

Technically, you are almost certainly correct. Not being entirely sure of all the sub-systems contained on the "controller board ", I just use the technically inaccurate description.

However, I have seen this failure before, and have had limited success in replacing the "controller board ". It does not always work, but if there is important data, and it it a "last shot" effort, it can be worth a few bucks to try it.

 

Sorry Bilbo,

I didn't make myself very clear on that one.
The HD I received with software was from another company with Vehicle diagnostics which I was supposed to copy onto HD 1 But never got round to it. Not quite sure why they sent a HD, it maybe because the software is around 40gb. I did notice although the drive is 80bg my base system only See's it as 43gb via the caddie.

At the moment this drive am on about, I am trying to copy the files on it via the caddie, via my base system to a 60gb external IDE drive which is also in a caddie. Problem is even the smallest file I try to transfer I get the message THERE IS NOT ENOUGH FREE DISC SPACE
External IDE drive is empty.

Something else to chew over.

Today is getting more stressful

Neil..............

 

PeteC,
I have been trying to do that, I have a 500gb multi partitioned drive with plenty space on all partitions, but I keep getting the message NOT ENOUGH DISC SPACE. But there is!!

I have cloning software, but I take it the original drive has to be working to use this?

Neil..........

 

Hmmm, this certainly does not bode well...

Have you tried to write a file to original Drive 1 via the caddie when connected to Laptop 2?

It is sounding like the FAT may also be inaccessible/damaged/corrupted.

If not for the data loss, I'd be curious to know if it would pass a format.

 

Hi, Yes I get the message if I try to HD on base system and if I try to copy via base to external drive connected to base system.

Just to let you know I managed to copy 3 files with a total of 4.5gb to external drive but then when I tried to copy a file with 5gb the message appeared again and there is 25gb left on external drive hmmmmmmmm!

Neil.............

 

YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD PeteC. THANK YOU
All my drives on the systems I have been using are FAT32.
I have another 3 systems which are not and am just backing to one of these systems with no probs.

I had totally forgotten about that rule with fat32. But is there a work around


Neil...........

 

Will be back with update soon

thanks everybody

neil.........