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OT: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

Guest Martin C

By Guest Martin C
in Windows XP

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Guest Martin C

Guest Martin C

Posted
Posted

This is probably not an XP issue (hence the OT in the subject line), but

someone here may be able to help.

 

Doing nothing special (just selecting the start menu), the PC locked up

totally with the HDD light on permanently. I waited for an hour before

deciding that it was totally locked. Ctrl/Alt/Del would not work either. The

HDD did not sound as if it was accessing, so I performed a hard turn off

with the power button.

 

I now have the following. The HDD light comes on immediately power is

applied and stays on permanently. The BIOS now cannot set either the DVD ROM

drive or my spare IDE HDD. The main drive is a SATA which is seen ok. Not

sure if this went at the same time, but certainly not a long time before.

 

It takes a lot longer to get through the splash screen at the start of the

boot (ASUS BIOS motherboard splash screen) and takes longer to boot into XP,

but it does get there. I can use XP as normal, but things are a fair bit

slower than usual.

 

I have tried the following:

Checked device manager for items listed as failing - none (but DVD drive not

listed)

Disconnected the IDE cable from the DVD and IDE HDD - no change to HDD

light.

Replaced IDE cable with a spare - no change to light or devices

Tried the second IDE port (have both devices on one IDE cable) - no change

to light or devices.

 

I cannot get my DVD or IDE HDD back and the HDD light stays on all the time.

 

I have yet to try resetting the BIOS and cloning the SATA drive and try with

the cloned drive, but thought I would try here first.

 

Thanks for any help you can provide. I have looked on Google, but have not

managed to find a suitable answer yet.

 

Cheers

 

Martin

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Guest DL

Guest DL

Posted
Posted

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

Can be a sign of a failing drive, or mobo, use the test utility available

from HD site, to create the boot floppy/cd test utility.

 

"Martin C" <martinC@invalid.com> wrote in message

news:48746aff$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...

> This is probably not an XP issue (hence the OT in the subject line), but

> someone here may be able to help.

>

> Doing nothing special (just selecting the start menu), the PC locked up

> totally with the HDD light on permanently. I waited for an hour before

> deciding that it was totally locked. Ctrl/Alt/Del would not work either.

> The HDD did not sound as if it was accessing, so I performed a hard turn

> off with the power button.

>

> I now have the following. The HDD light comes on immediately power is

> applied and stays on permanently. The BIOS now cannot set either the DVD

> ROM drive or my spare IDE HDD. The main drive is a SATA which is seen ok.

> Not sure if this went at the same time, but certainly not a long time

> before.

>

> It takes a lot longer to get through the splash screen at the start of the

> boot (ASUS BIOS motherboard splash screen) and takes longer to boot into

> XP, but it does get there. I can use XP as normal, but things are a fair

> bit slower than usual.

>

> I have tried the following:

> Checked device manager for items listed as failing - none (but DVD drive

> not listed)

> Disconnected the IDE cable from the DVD and IDE HDD - no change to HDD

> light.

> Replaced IDE cable with a spare - no change to light or devices

> Tried the second IDE port (have both devices on one IDE cable) - no change

> to light or devices.

>

> I cannot get my DVD or IDE HDD back and the HDD light stays on all the

> time.

>

> I have yet to try resetting the BIOS and cloning the SATA drive and try

> with the cloned drive, but thought I would try here first.

>

> Thanks for any help you can provide. I have looked on Google, but have not

> managed to find a suitable answer yet.

>

> Cheers

>

> Martin

>

Guest Martin C

Guest Martin C

Posted
Posted

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

Thanks for the quick response. Sorry, should have mentioned already. I

downloaded the SeaTools diagnostic tool for my Seagate drive. It reports

everything as fine.

 

I, too, am beginning to suspect the motherboard. I will try re-installing

the drivers for the motherboard, just in case.

 

Martin

 

 

"DL" <address@invalid> wrote in message

news:eF05vJa4IHA.5052@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

> Can be a sign of a failing drive, or mobo, use the test utility available

> from HD site, to create the boot floppy/cd test utility.

>

> "Martin C" <martinC@invalid.com> wrote in message

> news:48746aff$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...

>> This is probably not an XP issue (hence the OT in the subject line), but

>> someone here may be able to help.

>>

>> Doing nothing special (just selecting the start menu), the PC locked up

>> totally with the HDD light on permanently. I waited for an hour before

>> deciding that it was totally locked. Ctrl/Alt/Del would not work either.

>> The HDD did not sound as if it was accessing, so I performed a hard turn

>> off with the power button.

>>

>> I now have the following. The HDD light comes on immediately power is

>> applied and stays on permanently. The BIOS now cannot set either the DVD

>> ROM drive or my spare IDE HDD. The main drive is a SATA which is seen ok.

>> Not sure if this went at the same time, but certainly not a long time

>> before.

>>

>> It takes a lot longer to get through the splash screen at the start of

>> the boot (ASUS BIOS motherboard splash screen) and takes longer to boot

>> into XP, but it does get there. I can use XP as normal, but things are a

>> fair bit slower than usual.

>>

>> I have tried the following:

>> Checked device manager for items listed as failing - none (but DVD drive

>> not listed)

>> Disconnected the IDE cable from the DVD and IDE HDD - no change to HDD

>> light.

>> Replaced IDE cable with a spare - no change to light or devices

>> Tried the second IDE port (have both devices on one IDE cable) - no

>> change to light or devices.

>>

>> I cannot get my DVD or IDE HDD back and the HDD light stays on all the

>> time.

>>

>> I have yet to try resetting the BIOS and cloning the SATA drive and try

>> with the cloned drive, but thought I would try here first.

>>

>> Thanks for any help you can provide. I have looked on Google, but have

>> not managed to find a suitable answer yet.

>>

>> Cheers

>>

>> Martin

>>

>

>

Guest Anna

Guest Anna

Posted
Posted

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

>> "Martin C" <martinC@invalid.com> wrote in message

>> news:48746aff$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...

>>> This is probably not an XP issue (hence the OT in the subject line), but

>>> someone here may be able to help.

>>>

>>> Doing nothing special (just selecting the start menu), the PC locked up

>>> totally with the HDD light on permanently. I waited for an hour before

>>> deciding that it was totally locked. Ctrl/Alt/Del would not work either.

>>> The HDD did not sound as if it was accessing, so I performed a hard turn

>>> off with the power button.

>>>

>>> I now have the following. The HDD light comes on immediately power is

>>> applied and stays on permanently. The BIOS now cannot set either the DVD

>>> ROM drive or my spare IDE HDD. The main drive is a SATA which is seen

>>> ok. Not sure if this went at the same time, but certainly not a long

>>> time before.

>>>

>>> It takes a lot longer to get through the splash screen at the start of

>>> the boot (ASUS BIOS motherboard splash screen) and takes longer to boot

>>> into XP, but it does get there. I can use XP as normal, but things are a

>>> fair bit slower than usual.

>>>

>>> I have tried the following:

>>> Checked device manager for items listed as failing - none (but DVD drive

>>> not listed)

>>> Disconnected the IDE cable from the DVD and IDE HDD - no change to HDD

>>> light.

>>> Replaced IDE cable with a spare - no change to light or devices

>>> Tried the second IDE port (have both devices on one IDE cable) - no

>>> change to light or devices.

>>>

>>> I cannot get my DVD or IDE HDD back and the HDD light stays on all the

>>> time.

>>>

>>> I have yet to try resetting the BIOS and cloning the SATA drive and try

>>> with the cloned drive, but thought I would try here first.

>>>

>>> Thanks for any help you can provide. I have looked on Google, but have

>>> not managed to find a suitable answer yet.

>>>

>>> Cheers

>>>

>>> Martin

 

> "DL" <address@invalid> wrote in message

> news:eF05vJa4IHA.5052@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> Can be a sign of a failing drive, or mobo, use the test utility available

>> from HD site, to create the boot floppy/cd test utility.

 

 

"Martin C" <martinC@invalid.com> wrote in message

news:4874836c$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...

> Thanks for the quick response. Sorry, should have mentioned already. I

> downloaded the SeaTools diagnostic tool for my Seagate drive. It reports

> everything as fine.

>

> I, too, am beginning to suspect the motherboard. I will try re-installing

> the drivers for the motherboard, just in case.

>

> Martin

 

 

Martin:

1. Did this problem arise just "out-of-the-blue"? One day the system was

working just fine, the next day the problem(s) you describe just occurred?

Do you have any clue whatsoever what might have caused this problem? Any

hardware/software changes occurring just before the problem(s) arose?

 

2. I assume from your description that your system's boot drive (what you

call your "main" drive) was (is) the SATA HDD and your secondary

(non-booting) HDD is a PATA HDD. And you've indicated you've checked out "my

Seagate drive" (presumably the SATA HDD, yes?) with Seagate's diagnostic

utility. What about the PATA HDD, the one you call your "spare"? Have you

checked that out as well?

 

3. Setting aside the HDD "light", if you boot to the SATA HDD with the PATA

HDD disconnected, does the system boot without incident and properly

function? Or still the same problem you describe?

 

4. What do you mean by "resetting the BIOS". What makes you think BIOS

settings may be involved here?

 

5. You mention cloning the SATA HDD. I assume you would be cloning the

contents of that drive to your secondary PATA HDD. Is that right? And that

PATA HDD currently contains data (used as a backup?) and is a non-bootable

drive, right? Your point would be that at least you would have a cloned copy

of a "good" drive so that you could manipulate the other HDD and be secure

you have a "fallback" in case things go awry. Is that right?

 

6. So how could the PATA HDD serve as the recipient of the clone since you

indicate that drive is not recognized in the system? You have a bootable

"Startup Disk" of your disk-cloning program that you could use for the

disk-cloning operation? Is that it?

 

7. You're considering a Repair install of the OS once you have a clone of

the "good" HDD, is that it?

 

8. You've checked the ASUS site to determine if any BIOS update is

available? What model is the motherboard?

 

9. I don't think "re-installing the (motherboard) drivers" is the solution

to your problem(s), but it can't hurt especially if there are updated

drivers offered by ASUS.

Anna

Guest Patrick Keenan

Guest Patrick Keenan

Posted
Posted

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

"Martin C" <martinC@invalid.com> wrote in message

news:4874836c$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...

> Thanks for the quick response. Sorry, should have mentioned already. I

> downloaded the SeaTools diagnostic tool for my Seagate drive. It reports

> everything as fine.

>

> I, too, am beginning to suspect the motherboard. I will try re-installing

> the drivers for the motherboard, just in case.

>

> Martin

 

Drivers for the motherboard are loaded by the OS, and if the problem exists

in the BIOS, drivers aren't going to help. Your system seems to have

hardware problems.

 

I would suggest focusing at the lowest level to either establish or rule out

hardware failure.

 

HTH

-pk

 

>

>

> "DL" <address@invalid> wrote in message

> news:eF05vJa4IHA.5052@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...

>> Can be a sign of a failing drive, or mobo, use the test utility available

>> from HD site, to create the boot floppy/cd test utility.

>>

>> "Martin C" <martinC@invalid.com> wrote in message

>> news:48746aff$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...

>>> This is probably not an XP issue (hence the OT in the subject line), but

>>> someone here may be able to help.

>>>

>>> Doing nothing special (just selecting the start menu), the PC locked up

>>> totally with the HDD light on permanently. I waited for an hour before

>>> deciding that it was totally locked. Ctrl/Alt/Del would not work either.

>>> The HDD did not sound as if it was accessing, so I performed a hard turn

>>> off with the power button.

>>>

>>> I now have the following. The HDD light comes on immediately power is

>>> applied and stays on permanently. The BIOS now cannot set either the DVD

>>> ROM drive or my spare IDE HDD. The main drive is a SATA which is seen

>>> ok. Not sure if this went at the same time, but certainly not a long

>>> time before.

>>>

>>> It takes a lot longer to get through the splash screen at the start of

>>> the boot (ASUS BIOS motherboard splash screen) and takes longer to boot

>>> into XP, but it does get there. I can use XP as normal, but things are a

>>> fair bit slower than usual.

>>>

>>> I have tried the following:

>>> Checked device manager for items listed as failing - none (but DVD drive

>>> not listed)

>>> Disconnected the IDE cable from the DVD and IDE HDD - no change to HDD

>>> light.

>>> Replaced IDE cable with a spare - no change to light or devices

>>> Tried the second IDE port (have both devices on one IDE cable) - no

>>> change to light or devices.

>>>

>>> I cannot get my DVD or IDE HDD back and the HDD light stays on all the

>>> time.

>>>

>>> I have yet to try resetting the BIOS and cloning the SATA drive and try

>>> with the cloned drive, but thought I would try here first.

>>>

>>> Thanks for any help you can provide. I have looked on Google, but have

>>> not managed to find a suitable answer yet.

>>>

>>> Cheers

>>>

>>> Martin

>>>

>>

>>

>

>

Guest Martin C

Guest Martin C

Posted
Posted

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

Responses included inset to your questions below:

 

"Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message

news:%23Ww%23Vgd4IHA.3804@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>

>

>

> Martin:

> 1. Did this problem arise just "out-of-the-blue"? One day the system was

> working just fine, the next day the problem(s) you describe just occurred?

> Do you have any clue whatsoever what might have caused this problem? Any

> hardware/software changes occurring just before the problem(s) arose?

>

Yes, this was completely 'out of the blue'. I had not made any hardware

changes. I had installed a media converter application a few days earlier,

but it had been alright and I was not using it when the problems started.

>

> 2. I assume from your description that your system's boot drive (what you

> call your "main" drive) was (is) the SATA HDD and your secondary

> (non-booting) HDD is a PATA HDD. And you've indicated you've checked out

> "my Seagate drive" (presumably the SATA HDD, yes?) with Seagate's

> diagnostic utility. What about the PATA HDD, the one you call your

> "spare"? Have you checked that out as well?

>

My main drive (C drive plus extensions D,E,F) are on the SATA drive. The

PATA is used for backups. I used the SeaTools diagnostic to check out the

Seagate SATA drive as this was the one that has the HDD light on constantly.

I have not checked out the PATA drive, but it is disconnected now anyway.

Disconnecting it has had no effect.

>

> 3. Setting aside the HDD "light", if you boot to the SATA HDD with the

> PATA HDD disconnected, does the system boot without incident and properly

> function? Or still the same problem you describe?

>

I have disconnected both the PATA drive and DVD RW from the IDE channel. The

HDD light is still on. I have had no problems with getting the machine to

boot. It just does not see any of the devices on the IDE cable. With just

the DVD RW removed, the PATA drive is not seen by BIOS and vice versa.

>

> 4. What do you mean by "resetting the BIOS". What makes you think BIOS

> settings may be involved here?

>

My BIOS has the option to return all settings to a default setup. It might

get round the BIOS not auto detecting the IDE components, but I am not too

hopeful about that.

>

> 5. You mention cloning the SATA HDD. I assume you would be cloning the

> contents of that drive to your secondary PATA HDD. Is that right? And that

> PATA HDD currently contains data (used as a backup?) and is a non-bootable

> drive, right? Your point would be that at least you would have a cloned

> copy of a "good" drive so that you could manipulate the other HDD and be

> secure you have a "fallback" in case things go awry. Is that right?

>

I have another SATA drive I was going to install into the computer, that is

the same size as my main SATA drive. I was going to clone the drive onto the

new SATA drive and then swap them over. This would test if the old SATA

drive was at fault. If it worked ok with the cloned drive, then it would

mean that the original SATA drive was faulty. The PATA drive has nothing to

do with it.

>

> 6. So how could the PATA HDD serve as the recipient of the clone since you

> indicate that drive is not recognized in the system? You have a bootable

> "Startup Disk" of your disk-cloning program that you could use for the

> disk-cloning operation? Is that it?

>

I refer you to the answer above for (5)

>

> 7. You're considering a Repair install of the OS once you have a clone of

> the "good" HDD, is that it?

>

That is an option, but not one I have got to yet.

>

> 8. You've checked the ASUS site to determine if any BIOS update is

> available? What model is the motherboard?

>

I have not looked at BIOS updates yet. I rather think the motherboard is

dying slowly anyway.

>

> 9. I don't think "re-installing the (motherboard) drivers" is the solution

> to your problem(s), but it can't hurt especially if there are updated

> drivers offered by ASUS.

>

The idea behind this was that the HDD controllers may be faulty - although

Windows Device Manager seems to think they are ok. I am in desperation times

here before I decide it is time to upgrade my PC.

> Anna

>

Guest Anna

Guest Anna

Posted
Posted

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

Martin:

Before going any further let me precisely understand just what your problem

is...

 

Forgetting about the HDD "light" being constantly on...

 

What *exactly* is your problem?

 

Are you indicating that there's no problem with your SATA HDD in that it

boots without incident and properly functions?

 

But that there's some sort of non-recognition problem affecting your

secondary PATA HDD and/or your optical drive? Is that the heart of your

problem? Or is your *only* "problem" the fact that your SATA HDD "light" is

continuously on?

Anna

 

 

"Martin C" <martinC@invalid.com> wrote in message

news:487735a8$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...

> Responses included inset to your questions below:

>

> "Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message

> news:%23Ww%23Vgd4IHA.3804@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>>

>>

>>

>> Martin:

>> 1. Did this problem arise just "out-of-the-blue"? One day the system was

>> working just fine, the next day the problem(s) you describe just

>> occurred? Do you have any clue whatsoever what might have caused this

>> problem? Any hardware/software changes occurring just before the

>> problem(s) arose?

>>

> Yes, this was completely 'out of the blue'. I had not made any hardware

> changes. I had installed a media converter application a few days earlier,

> but it had been alright and I was not using it when the problems started.

>>

>> 2. I assume from your description that your system's boot drive (what you

>> call your "main" drive) was (is) the SATA HDD and your secondary

>> (non-booting) HDD is a PATA HDD. And you've indicated you've checked out

>> "my Seagate drive" (presumably the SATA HDD, yes?) with Seagate's

>> diagnostic utility. What about the PATA HDD, the one you call your

>> "spare"? Have you checked that out as well?

>>

> My main drive (C drive plus extensions D,E,F) are on the SATA drive. The

> PATA is used for backups. I used the SeaTools diagnostic to check out the

> Seagate SATA drive as this was the one that has the HDD light on

> constantly. I have not checked out the PATA drive, but it is disconnected

> now anyway. Disconnecting it has had no effect.

>>

>> 3. Setting aside the HDD "light", if you boot to the SATA HDD with the

>> PATA HDD disconnected, does the system boot without incident and properly

>> function? Or still the same problem you describe?

>>

> I have disconnected both the PATA drive and DVD RW from the IDE channel.

> The HDD light is still on. I have had no problems with getting the machine

> to boot. It just does not see any of the devices on the IDE cable. With

> just the DVD RW removed, the PATA drive is not seen by BIOS and vice

> versa.

>>

>> 4. What do you mean by "resetting the BIOS". What makes you think BIOS

>> settings may be involved here?

>>

> My BIOS has the option to return all settings to a default setup. It might

> get round the BIOS not auto detecting the IDE components, but I am not too

> hopeful about that.

>>

>> 5. You mention cloning the SATA HDD. I assume you would be cloning the

>> contents of that drive to your secondary PATA HDD. Is that right? And

>> that PATA HDD currently contains data (used as a backup?) and is a

>> non-bootable drive, right? Your point would be that at least you would

>> have a cloned copy of a "good" drive so that you could manipulate the

>> other HDD and be secure you have a "fallback" in case things go awry. Is

>> that right?

>>

> I have another SATA drive I was going to install into the computer, that

> is the same size as my main SATA drive. I was going to clone the drive

> onto the new SATA drive and then swap them over. This would test if the

> old SATA drive was at fault. If it worked ok with the cloned drive, then

> it would mean that the original SATA drive was faulty. The PATA drive has

> nothing to do with it.

>>

>> 6. So how could the PATA HDD serve as the recipient of the clone since

>> you indicate that drive is not recognized in the system? You have a

>> bootable "Startup Disk" of your disk-cloning program that you could use

>> for the disk-cloning operation? Is that it?

>>

> I refer you to the answer above for (5)

>>

>> 7. You're considering a Repair install of the OS once you have a clone of

>> the "good" HDD, is that it?

>>

> That is an option, but not one I have got to yet.

>>

>> 8. You've checked the ASUS site to determine if any BIOS update is

>> available? What model is the motherboard?

>>

> I have not looked at BIOS updates yet. I rather think the motherboard is

> dying slowly anyway.

>>

>> 9. I don't think "re-installing the (motherboard) drivers" is the

>> solution to your problem(s), but it can't hurt especially if there are

>> updated drivers offered by ASUS.

>>

> The idea behind this was that the HDD controllers may be faulty - although

> Windows Device Manager seems to think they are ok. I am in desperation

> times here before I decide it is time to upgrade my PC.

>> Anna

>>

>

>

Guest Martin C

Guest Martin C

Posted
Posted

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

The SATA drive boots without incident, but everything is slower than it used

to be. I can do everything I used to do in Windows, but at a slower pace -

and occassionally locks up totally. The main problem (forgetting about the

HDD light) is that the BIOS does not see any of the devices on the IDE port.

I therefore cannot see my DVD or PATA drive in Windows. This all started,

however, when the HDD light problem started. May be a red herring, or maybe

related somehow.

 

Martin

 

 

"Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message

news:u%232b9b24IHA.4988@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

> Martin:

> Before going any further let me precisely understand just what your

> problem is...

>

> Forgetting about the HDD "light" being constantly on...

>

> What *exactly* is your problem?

>

> Are you indicating that there's no problem with your SATA HDD in that it

> boots without incident and properly functions?

>

> But that there's some sort of non-recognition problem affecting your

> secondary PATA HDD and/or your optical drive? Is that the heart of your

> problem? Or is your *only* "problem" the fact that your SATA HDD "light"

> is continuously on?

> Anna

>

>

> "Martin C" <martinC@invalid.com> wrote in message

> news:487735a8$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...

>> Responses included inset to your questions below:

>>

>> "Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message

>> news:%23Ww%23Vgd4IHA.3804@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...

>>>

>>>

>>>

>>> Martin:

>>> 1. Did this problem arise just "out-of-the-blue"? One day the system was

>>> working just fine, the next day the problem(s) you describe just

>>> occurred? Do you have any clue whatsoever what might have caused this

>>> problem? Any hardware/software changes occurring just before the

>>> problem(s) arose?

>>>

>> Yes, this was completely 'out of the blue'. I had not made any hardware

>> changes. I had installed a media converter application a few days

>> earlier, but it had been alright and I was not using it when the problems

>> started.

>>>

>>> 2. I assume from your description that your system's boot drive (what

>>> you call your "main" drive) was (is) the SATA HDD and your secondary

>>> (non-booting) HDD is a PATA HDD. And you've indicated you've checked out

>>> "my Seagate drive" (presumably the SATA HDD, yes?) with Seagate's

>>> diagnostic utility. What about the PATA HDD, the one you call your

>>> "spare"? Have you checked that out as well?

>>>

>> My main drive (C drive plus extensions D,E,F) are on the SATA drive. The

>> PATA is used for backups. I used the SeaTools diagnostic to check out the

>> Seagate SATA drive as this was the one that has the HDD light on

>> constantly. I have not checked out the PATA drive, but it is disconnected

>> now anyway. Disconnecting it has had no effect.

>>>

>>> 3. Setting aside the HDD "light", if you boot to the SATA HDD with the

>>> PATA HDD disconnected, does the system boot without incident and

>>> properly function? Or still the same problem you describe?

>>>

>> I have disconnected both the PATA drive and DVD RW from the IDE channel.

>> The HDD light is still on. I have had no problems with getting the

>> machine to boot. It just does not see any of the devices on the IDE

>> cable. With just the DVD RW removed, the PATA drive is not seen by BIOS

>> and vice versa.

>>>

>>> 4. What do you mean by "resetting the BIOS". What makes you think BIOS

>>> settings may be involved here?

>>>

>> My BIOS has the option to return all settings to a default setup. It

>> might get round the BIOS not auto detecting the IDE components, but I am

>> not too hopeful about that.

>>>

>>> 5. You mention cloning the SATA HDD. I assume you would be cloning the

>>> contents of that drive to your secondary PATA HDD. Is that right? And

>>> that PATA HDD currently contains data (used as a backup?) and is a

>>> non-bootable drive, right? Your point would be that at least you would

>>> have a cloned copy of a "good" drive so that you could manipulate the

>>> other HDD and be secure you have a "fallback" in case things go awry. Is

>>> that right?

>>>

>> I have another SATA drive I was going to install into the computer, that

>> is the same size as my main SATA drive. I was going to clone the drive

>> onto the new SATA drive and then swap them over. This would test if the

>> old SATA drive was at fault. If it worked ok with the cloned drive, then

>> it would mean that the original SATA drive was faulty. The PATA drive has

>> nothing to do with it.

>>>

>>> 6. So how could the PATA HDD serve as the recipient of the clone since

>>> you indicate that drive is not recognized in the system? You have a

>>> bootable "Startup Disk" of your disk-cloning program that you could use

>>> for the disk-cloning operation? Is that it?

>>>

>> I refer you to the answer above for (5)

>>>

>>> 7. You're considering a Repair install of the OS once you have a clone

>>> of the "good" HDD, is that it?

>>>

>> That is an option, but not one I have got to yet.

>>>

>>> 8. You've checked the ASUS site to determine if any BIOS update is

>>> available? What model is the motherboard?

>>>

>> I have not looked at BIOS updates yet. I rather think the motherboard is

>> dying slowly anyway.

>>>

>>> 9. I don't think "re-installing the (motherboard) drivers" is the

>>> solution to your problem(s), but it can't hurt especially if there are

>>> updated drivers offered by ASUS.

>>>

>> The idea behind this was that the HDD controllers may be faulty -

>> although Windows Device Manager seems to think they are ok. I am in

>> desperation times here before I decide it is time to upgrade my PC.

>>> Anna

>>>

>>

>>

>

>

Guest Anna

Guest Anna

Posted
Posted

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

> "Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message

> news:u%232b9b24IHA.4988@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>> Martin:

>> Before going any further let me precisely understand just what your

>> problem is...

>>

>> Forgetting about the HDD "light" being constantly on...

>>

>> What *exactly* is your problem?

>>

>> Are you indicating that there's no problem with your SATA HDD in that it

>> boots without incident and properly functions?

>>

>> But that there's some sort of non-recognition problem affecting your

>> secondary PATA HDD and/or your optical drive? Is that the heart of your

>> problem? Or is your *only* "problem" the fact that your SATA HDD "light"

>> is continuously on?

>> Anna

 

 

"Martin C" <martinC@invalid.com> wrote in message

news:48777bcb$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...

> The SATA drive boots without incident, but everything is slower than it

> used to be. I can do everything I used to do in Windows, but at a slower

> pace - and occassionally locks up totally. The main problem (forgetting

> about the HDD light) is that the BIOS does not see any of the devices on

> the IDE port. I therefore cannot see my DVD or PATA drive in Windows. This

> all started, however, when the HDD light problem started. May be a red

> herring, or maybe related somehow.

>

> Martin

 

 

Martin:

So when you access Disk Management, there's no listing of either the PATA

secondary HDD or the optical drive, right?

 

And you've indicated the SATA boot HDD checks out OK with the HDD diagnostic

utility, right? And no problem other than the one above when you boot to the

SATA HDD except that the system seems sluggish, right?

 

And if you connect *only* the PATA HDD to the system and not the optical

drive, the same non-recognition problem?

 

And the same non-recognition problem if you disconnect the PATA HDD and

connect only the optical drive?

 

Assuming your motherboard contains two IDE channels have you tried

connecting the PATA/IDE devices to different channels as well as changing

the Master/Slave relationships? And, of course, you've checked all your

connections to ensure they're proper, right?

 

Device Manager shows all is well?

Anna

Guest Martin C

Guest Martin C

Posted
Posted

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

Re: HDD drive light on permanently and IDE drives not seen

 

I am more and more convinced now that the problem is motherboard related.

 

In answer to your questions:

Disk Management does not show either the PATA or DVD drive.

The SATA is indeed ok, but slow

I have tried no devices on the IDE cable, just PATA, just DVD and have tried

the other IDE port. On each occassion, all problems remain of no IDE devices

detected.

Device manager shows that all is well, apart from the PATA and DVD not being

present in the list.

I have also checked out the PSU voltages - and they are all ok. I have also

checked that a supply is present on the IDE devices.

I tried resetting the CMOS by removing the battery, changing the jumper to

reset the BIOS and started again. No change.

 

I rather think that it is time for an upgrade.

 

Martin

 

"Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message

news:ujyxnD44IHA.4492@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>

>> "Anna" <myname@myisp.net> wrote in message

>> news:u%232b9b24IHA.4988@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...

>>> Martin:

>>> Before going any further let me precisely understand just what your

>>> problem is...

>>>

>>> Forgetting about the HDD "light" being constantly on...

>>>

>>> What *exactly* is your problem?

>>>

>>> Are you indicating that there's no problem with your SATA HDD in that it

>>> boots without incident and properly functions?

>>>

>>> But that there's some sort of non-recognition problem affecting your

>>> secondary PATA HDD and/or your optical drive? Is that the heart of your

>>> problem? Or is your *only* "problem" the fact that your SATA HDD

>>> "light" is continuously on?

>>> Anna

>

>

> "Martin C" <martinC@invalid.com> wrote in message

> news:48777bcb$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...

>> The SATA drive boots without incident, but everything is slower than it

>> used to be. I can do everything I used to do in Windows, but at a slower

>> pace - and occassionally locks up totally. The main problem (forgetting

>> about the HDD light) is that the BIOS does not see any of the devices on

>> the IDE port. I therefore cannot see my DVD or PATA drive in Windows.

>> This all started, however, when the HDD light problem started. May be a

>> red herring, or maybe related somehow.

>>

>> Martin

>

>

> Martin:

> So when you access Disk Management, there's no listing of either the PATA

> secondary HDD or the optical drive, right?

>

> And you've indicated the SATA boot HDD checks out OK with the HDD

> diagnostic utility, right? And no problem other than the one above when

> you boot to the SATA HDD except that the system seems sluggish, right?

>

> And if you connect *only* the PATA HDD to the system and not the optical

> drive, the same non-recognition problem?

>

> And the same non-recognition problem if you disconnect the PATA HDD and

> connect only the optical drive?

>

> Assuming your motherboard contains two IDE channels have you tried

> connecting the PATA/IDE devices to different channels as well as changing

> the Master/Slave relationships? And, of course, you've checked all your

> connections to ensure they're proper, right?

>

> Device Manager shows all is well?

> Anna

>

>

>

>

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