Please help

[Campbell]

Well, I'm basically wanting to reformat. I got the boot disks in, got to the repair screen and it says it can't detect if it has any harddrives.

I'd know how to repair it or format it, but it doesn't detect any hd's!

How do I reformat or get in to Restore Console?

 

[Dan]

Hi Campbell, welcome to AnandTech.

Clear the CMOS. Boot up, go into the CMOS and confirm that the drives are detected.

 

[Campbell]

Thanks for replying.

Anyways, I have no idea what a CMOS is, let alone how to clear it. Is it what you activate when you press the Delete key on start up? Like, the BIOS?

 

[microAmp]

Tell me what mother board you have and I'll find out for you.

Also go into the CMOS and see if it'll detect it in there.

 

[Campbell]

Asus 7M266 DDR, I believe.

 

[microAmp]

Ok, give me a few minutes to find the manual for it.

A7M266, would be correct?

 

[Campbell]

That's the one, and, through pressing Delete on start-up, I've found out that the BIOS or CMOS does not detect the hard drives. I have 2 40 gigabyte harddrives, BTW.

 

[microAmp]

You'll need to open the computer case to get to it. Here is a picture. This picture will help show you where the jumpers are for you to clear the CMOS. It's next to the battery, little bit 'south' of it.

Also, recheck your IDE cables to make sure they are seated correctly in the mother board and in the hard drive.

Edit: Forgot to add.
Make sure the computer is turned off! Unplug it from the power supply too, leave it like that for.... 30 minutes.

 

[Campbell]

Now to solder, all I have to do is "take a flat tip screw driver and short, connect, the 2 points together for a second or two."? (Found it on another message board). Then what? What will that do?

EDIT: And that drawing it extremely unspecific, are they two rods sticking out? Or two flat-looking circle things?

EDIT: And will I have to reinstall the BIOS drivers?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[microAmp]

Originally posted by: Campbell
Now to solder, all I have to do is "take a flat tip screw driver and short, connect, the 2 points together for a second or two."? (Found it on another message board). Then what? What will that do?

EDIT: And that drawing it extremely unspecific, are they two rods sticking out? Or two flat-looking circle things?

EDIT: And will I have to reinstall the BIOS drivers?

Thanks in advance for all your help.

Yes, those are two 'rods'... or pins sticking out. There should be a jumper to the left, on those other two pins, or you could use a screw driver like you said. Just pull the jumper out of the other two pins and jumper both of the two pins to the right.

The two flat looking circle things are the pins.

No, you don't need to reload the CMOS or anything. All it does is set everything back to default settings, like when you first bought the mother board.