Hard drive failure

RazorDXRazorDX
edited March 2005 in Hardware
I have just come across a problem that I have never seen before, and it is extremely annoying. My hard drive isn't being detected at all. First off... here are some specs on my system (self-built).

AMD Athlon XP 1700+
Albatron KX400 Pro motherboard
Maxtor Fireball 20GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Disk


Now the problem I am having as that it just won't boot. The system has run flawlessly for about a year now, which is when I reformatted to update to XP. Now today I come home and try to boot my PC... and it sticks at "Detecting IDE Drives". The on-board diagnostics goes off, with a voice repeating "Your hard disk may have a problem". I checked the cable connections and all, everything seems fine. Yet, when I turn the computer on I notice that the hard disk LED light on the case is stuck on. I doubt it needs reformatted, since the drive isn't even being detected. The only thing I have done in the past week was to change the BIOS settings from instant off to a Soft-Off. That really wouldn't have any kind of affect on it, though. Does anyone have any ideas on what is wrong? Any help is greatly appreciated.


EDIT: The CMOS setup screen shows that it does detect a hard drive, yet it won't boot from it or even load it. I've changed the IDE cable, and it does the exact same thing. I also tried loading the BIOS defaults, and it doesn't make a difference. Is the hard drive gone? Or would it be something with my motherboard?

Comments

  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2005
    Get the PowerMax test program, make a bootable floppy, and run the diagnostic from there.

    The first step is to verify the physical integrity of the drive. If the drive tests good, you may have a mbr problem. There are ways to find and fix that, too. :)
  • RazorDXRazorDX
    edited March 2005
    I tried that and it didn't work, since the hard drive wasn't read at all. I have switched out the drive and it turns out the drive was just fried somehow. Looks like it's dead... I'll try to use my professor's equipment to recover some of the data, but I highly doubt it will work.
  • RazorDXRazorDX
    edited March 2005
    Turns out my hard drive is actually a Quantum Fireball? I'm confused here... a non-maxtor drive sold by Newegg as a maxtor, in a maxtor box. What the hell?

    Anyway... Powermax won't work for this drive, but is there any equivilent that can save my hard drive? I've kept it instead of re-formatting with hopes that I can try to recover it.
  • NiGHTSNiGHTS San Diego Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    Funny that you bring up Quantum. I just tested a computer in my parent's house with a 7.5Gig Quantum Fireball. After about 30 minutes of searching I realized that Maxtor owns Quantum, which is probably why newegg listed it as a Maxtor drive.

    Powermax worked for what I wanted to use it for, the drive passed a burn-in test and read-write error test. However, if BIOS isn't recognizing the drive, they I think it may be dead.

    If you have another hard drive, hook your fireball up as a slave. If you don't have it, find a friend that will allow you to hook it up to his and try to pull any and all information you want off the drive. However if it IS dead and the BIOS won't recognize it, I don't think there's anything you can do.

    Try the freezer trick.
  • profdlpprofdlp The Holy City Of Westlake, Ohio
    edited March 2005
    Listen to NiGHTS - that's all good advice. :thumbsup:

    Here is a link to Maxtor's (including Quantum) page where you can get support for specific models. There is a section right at the top to pick from the Quantum line.

    Good Luck. :)
  • TexTex Dallas/Ft. Worth
    edited March 2005
    Try changing the cable and the plug on the PSU that powers it.

    I have one that sometimes isnt detected and I turn it off for 10 minutes and wiggle the psu plug etc.. and it pops back in.

    Scary but its also worked for 2 years this way.

    Tex
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