RANT: Asus P4B266 & WD 400BB Playing Hide & Seek... HELP!!!

[littlezipp]

Hey guys, got a little problem here, and don't know what to make of it.

Started up my computer today, and it did not find the hd. Went into bios and made sure that it could see it, it could not! (Does off and on though)
Used a different cable with the hd to rule out cable problems, and a no go.
Tried known good cable on secondary IDE channel and a no go, but secondary channel will see the cd drives.
Tried hd on a PCI IDE controller, no go.
So this would drawn you too the conclusion that the HD was bad right?

Well, went out and bought a hd at FRY's (IBM 120gxp) and expected that to work, well it didn't.

What the $%@^ is going on!

 

[Spikesoldier]

<< Hey guys, got a little problem here, and don't know what to make of it.

Started up my computer today, and it did not find the hd. Went into bios and made sure that it could see it, it could not! (Does off and on though)
Used a different cable with the hd to rule out cable problems, and a no go.
Tried known good cable on secondary IDE channel and a no go, but secondary channel will see the cd drives.
Tried hd on a PCI IDE controller, no go.
So this would drawn you too the conclusion that the HD was bad right?

Well, went out and bought a hd at FRY's (IBM 120gxp) and expected that to work, well it didn't.

What the $%@^ is going on! >>


Are you overclocking?

And try seeing if you can see your cd devices on the primary channel.

 

[littlezipp]

Was ocing, but put everything back to stock and even loaded bios defaults. Yes, the cds do work on the primary channel. Go figure

 

[THUGSROOK]

is bios set on auto for HD?

might try user define LBA too.

i dont know if there is a HD size limitation on this board or not.

make sure turbo1 is enabled in bios.

...and why arent you buying maxtor drives?
IBM - are you crazy?

 

[littlezipp]

Yes, bios is set for auto, the LBA should not apply, all I'm trying to do is get the drive recognized!
The WD drive was a 40gb, so a size limitation if any would not effect it.

 

[Spikesoldier]

do you hear it spinning when you start up?

 

[Willoughbyva]

Try playing around with your memory.

Make sure your heatsink/fan are working ok.

Try different power connector cables to hard drives.

 

[littlezipp]

<< do you hear it spinning when you start up? >>

Now that's another thing...
It sometimes makes noise, and sometimes not?!
The PS is an Enermax, almost brand new, and I know that it is working.
But I do not always hear the hd kick in.

 

[Willoughbyva]

Might also try hooking to ide2 and see if it recognizes it.

 

[littlezipp]

Memory is at SPD (Brand new Corsair PC3000).
Heatsink and fan are working fine.
And I've tried all the power connectors.
I've done a lot of troubleshooting over the years, but this one takes the cake by a landslide!

 

[littlezipp]

<< Might also try hooking to ide2 and see if it recognizes it. >>

I tried the secondary channel (IDE 2), and it was a no go.

 

[Willoughbyva]

If you don't hear the hard drives spinning up then there might be a problem with your ps.

 

[Spikesoldier]

try putting it into another psu (computer)

 

[Willoughbyva]

Try drives in another puter.

What is your ps rated at? 300watt or more?

 

[littlezipp]

<< Try drives in another puter.

What is your ps rated at? 300watt or more? >>

Yes, I am testing the drives in another computer tonight.
The PS (or POS as it may be) is rated at 350.
I do hear the HD spinning up (sometimes). I was using 3 different drives to figure out the problem, maybe I have one bad drive and a bad mobo?

 

[Willoughbyva]

Dis connect the power cables to the cdroms and other hard drives. Hook one hard drive up to ide1 by itself and see if it gets detected.

Also if you are hooking up the led for the case (hard drive light on front of case), then don't.

You could see if there is a newer bios for your comp. (Or older if you want to see if it would do any good. As long as it will stay on and not blackout during a bios flash use at your own risk)

Will

 

[littlezipp]

Thanks for all of your help Willoughbyva, I appreciate it!
I did try clearing the bios, and flashing it, but still no good.
Testing the drives in a few minutes.

 

[Willoughbyva]

Try clearing cmos by jumper.

 

[Willoughbyva]

Do you use jumpers or is your mb jumper free. *Double check* to make sure you are not overclocking.

What is the hardware inside your comp? mind listing it?

 

[littlezipp]

Well, it is in jumperfree mode, and I know for sure it is not oc'ed.
Cleared bios so many times it is at default for sure.

Hardware:
Asus P4B266 (USB 2.0, onboard sound)
Retail 1.6A (with Alpha 8942 cooler)
Lian Li case
PNY Geforce 4 4400
SBLive
Corsair PC 3000 CAS 2
TDK burner
Pioneer DVD
3com net
WD, IBM, and Maxtor HD's all used for testing, but the WD was/is the master.
Enermax PS

 

[Willoughbyva]

If the drives are ok in another machine (which they probably are) then you might try that suggestion of switching power supplies.

Wish I knew of a sure fix for ya.

Going to bed now.

Will

Double check the ps is not set to 220v, but at 110.

EDIT: That is if you use 110 power

good night

 

[littlezipp]

Interesting... The brand new drive is bad in a different computer!

 

[littlezipp]

And old primary drive does work in a different computer!
Wow, that can sure throw off a troubleshooting attempt.
Final results? Well, My initial thought that the primary hd was bad got me to go out and buy a new one. The new one never worked though, so that made me think that the mobo was bad, and at this hour I'm sticking to that!