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HARD DRIVE MISSING IN BIOS WHEN BOOTING

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by aldiefenbach

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Often When I boot my Laptop the systems hangs - in the BIOS the hard drive does not appear. Eventually if I restart enough times the system boots and the hard drive is now in the bios settings. Some times I Get a message that the media is missing - check the cable. I have an Acer Aspire 51000 160 gig eide HD - brand new - this happened with my old drive also - thats why I got a new one. System event ID 7 and 51 appear all the time - even with the new drive. Any ideas? Disabling disk caching didn't hep. Running Windows XP media Edition

Thanks

12 replies

by the scummy one

is most likely the issue. However, you may check the Acer site for a BIOS update (if it lists this problem).

Otherwise, since it is new, backup your data and contact Acer support

by aldiefenbach

I am leaning towards this solution as the drive is new and I had the same issue with the older drive - I did update the BIOS and had the same result. This was helpful thank you in confirming what I thought the issue is. How difficult is it to replace the controller in a NB or the board for that matter?

by older mycroft

I thought the Aspire 5100s came with a 120GB HDD.

It might be that the HDD is too big.

by the scummy one

I thought he meant the system was new. A new HDD -- that makes sense.
I am even more sure of a BIOS update to fix now.
good catch

by aldiefenbach

I had the same issue with the old HHD which was a 120 gb - that's why I originally replaced it

by oh smeg

To test the HDD here? If not you can download it from here

http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287

By clicking on the makers name. Then run the test on your NB if the HDD fails the test remove it and try it in another computer with the same test. If it still fails the test the HDD is faulty but if it passes the test on the second system either the M'Board or the Data Connection is faulty and need replacing.

Here my personal opinion would be a failing controller on the M'Board that requires a new M'Board to be fitted here.

Col

by thumbsup2

If the power supply isn't producing enough power to get the HDD spinning fast enough to be discovered by the BIOS on the first/second/third try, then eventually provides enough power so the BIOS can then see it.... it's possible the power supply needs to be replaced.

If the laptop is still under warranty, I would back up my data and send the whole thing off to Acer so they can see what it's doing.

by aldiefenbach

When booted the NB runs for hours - I do get a BSOD every once and while but it flashes by so quickly that I can't read it and I have to rely on the event logs -which usually show EVENT ID 7 or 51

by thumbsup2

After it's booted, the HDD has gotten up to speed. It's the process of getting it started in the first place, having to reboot several times to get it up to speed that I'm questioning.

What happens (on a cold system) when you press and hold the power button for 10 seconds, then release it. Will the HDD get discovered the first time then?

by aldiefenbach

Sometimes - as I said it is random when it will find the drive - also it doesn't see the DVD Drive either

by the scummy one

remove the pattery, plug in the AC adapter. When booting is the same thing happening?

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