Second Hdd stops boot

joluk44

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Jun 28, 2012
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Hey guys

I recently perm-loaned my mate my old gaming computer so that he had something besides his phone to use the net on, and could store all his music.

It was running windows xp (cant remember what version) with the following specs (all from memory)

Intel dg31pr motherboard
Intel e4600 core 2 duo @2.2ghz
Gtx550 ti (just put in when i gave to him to hang onto my 9800gtx+ for sli)
4gb ram
60gb sata hdd

Now the 60gb hdd is obviously obsolete in todays world, so i got hold of a second hand 500gb western digital green (model WD5000AAVS) to expand his storage.

I have built computers before, but have always used new hdd's so im unsure why it now says (having been running at his place for a month waiting for the new hdd to arrive) that it has a boot error whenever i try to start it from the second after i tried to install the new hdd as a secondary.

How do i try to resolve this, as im just trying to help out a mate
 
Solution
Although I used the term "Optical Drive", that is intended to include CD, DVD, CD-RW, Blu-Ray, etc. In your case it appears the BIOS uses the "CD/DVD" label for this. Next thought: sometimes the BIOS won't let you change something if it (even temporarily) creates a bad situation. Try this: set it to boot from the FLOPPY drive first. If it lets you do that, then try to get the CD/DVD drive second, and the 60 GB drive last. By the way, how do you do that? Many BIOS's do things like let you use cursor-up and -down keys to choose which line you are trying to work on, then Tab or Cursor-left - and -right, or space keys to change the line you're on. Others have you move to the line, then hit "Enter" to pop up a menu of choices for that line...

Paperdoc

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Not clear exactly what you mean by: "... it has a boot error whenever i try to start it from the second after i tried to install the new hdd as a secondary." You certainly should be able to install a second SATA HDD in the machine and use it for data storage.

First, are you sure the old 60 GB HDD is SATA? On some mobos (don't know on this one for sure) if you have an IDE boot drive and add a SATA unit, the BIOS will default to trying to boot from the SATA unit. That can't work, of course, it the SATA unit is empty.

BUT whether or not that is your situation, I suggest you boot directly into BIOS Setup and verify that both HDD's are detected properly. Next, go to where the SATA drive(s) are configured and make sure they both are Enabled. Now look close by for a line to set the SATA Port Mode. I expect the older HDD is set to IDE Emulation or something like that, and not to SATA or AHCI. The new drive also should be set that way if it is not. Win XP, you see, does not have a SATA device (really, an AHCI device) driver built in, so this setting in BIOS Setup has the BIOS make that actual SATA device look like an older IDE drive that Windows DOES know how to use. NEXT, find where you specify the Boot Priority Sequence and make sure the machine will boot from the older 60 GB unit, and will not ever try to use the new 500 GB unit as a boot source. When you've made changes, Save and Exit and that should work.
 

joluk44

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I went into BIOS and all the sata ports are coming up as empty, so i went through the drive configs and got told that

smart is enabled

ata/ide is native

automatic mode is enabled

primary master is HL-DT-STDVD-ROATAPI

primary slave is not installed

hard disk pre-delay is 0


im starting to think the motherboard is had it because its not letting me back into bios when i power it up
 

Paperdoc

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OP, Everything below assumes you can get into BIOS Setup and make changes. Your last post indicates you can't even do that. If you really can't enter BIOS Setup, the mobo or something has a serious problem. You could try Resetting the BIOS - if you want to, post here and we can advise the full process - not difficult. BUT on the chance that you can enter BIOS Setup, proceed to ....

You say, "primary master is HL-DT-STDVD-ROATAPI" is displayed. That looks like an OPTICAL drive, not the old IDE HDD. If you have both an optical unit and an HDD sharing the IDE port and cable, you should set them up so that the HDD is the port's Master unit. This is because on some older machines, optical drives did a poor job of being the Master on a 2-device port.

This means doing 4 things:
1. Set the jumper on the HDD to be Master.
2. Set the jumper on the optical to be Slave.
3. Plug the Black END connector of the ribbon cable into the HDD so the Master unit is on the end.
4. Plug the Grey middle connector into the optical unit.

Now let's sort out the Boot Priority Sequence. This odd process is because, although the display will tell you the names of the device it is using, it remembers things in terms of actual port addresses, and you may have changed them. So, do this sequence:

5. In BIOS Setup go to where you set the Boot Priority Sequence. Delete or un-set ALL of the possible boot devices, if possible. Maybe leave it set to try booting from a floppy drive or a USB port. If you can't do that, set it to boot from the old IDE hard drive only, and no other device. Now Save and Exit, but don't bother letting it boot. Just shut it down.
6. Boot up again and go directly into BIOS Setup and to Boot Priority Sequence. Set it to boot first from your optical drive. The second device should be your old IDE HDD. Do NOT set ANY other device as a boot source. Save and Exit from that.

From now on, what SHOULD happen is the the unit tries to boot from the optical drive first but normally finds it has no bootable disk in it. Immediately it will fall through to the next possible device, the old IDE HDD, find it, and boot from there. On rare occasions if you need to, you can place a bootable disk in the optical drive and it will be found first, so the machine will boot from it.
 

joluk44

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but both hdd's are sata. and before i tried to put the new one in i had it running from only a sata for years. i never bothered with an ide in it. would it just be easier to get a new motherboard?
 

Paperdoc

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Sorry, I misread your stuff - of course you said the old AND new HDD's are SATA, and only the optical drive is IDE. So it make sense there is no Primary Slave device.

So the real problem is now twofold, as I see it. One is that your last post says you can't even get into BIOS Setup. If that is still true, the only suggestion I can make might be a BIOS Reset, which I can describe for you if you need it. But if you CAN get into BIOS, you indicate that it fails to recognize any SATA device. Now, that might mean the mobo SATA controller is shot, and the mobo must be replaced. But before assuming that, you should disconnect power, open the case, and check carefully the power and data cables for each SATA drive, and also at the mobo end of the data cables. Many people have had trouble the the first SATA cables on the market, for they were relatively easy to shake loose (may not look loose!) - especially the data cables at both ends.

If you can get into BIOS Setup and get it to recognize both SATA drives, review how its Boot Priority Sequence is set. It should be optical first, the old 60 GB drive second, and NO mention of the new 500 GB unit that does not have a OS installed on it. If you have to change anything, remember to Save and Exit.
 

joluk44

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i have managed to get it to access bios every time now, and it has started registering that both hdds are in place. however now it just has a black screen after boot. any new ideas?
 

Paperdoc

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Check two things:

1. Boot Priority Sequence - It should be optical first, the old 60 GB drive second, and NO mention of the new 500 GB unit that does not have a OS installed on it.

2. Near where you Enable and configure the SATA ports, look fir a line like SATA Port Mode, with options like "IDE Emulation", SATA, AHCI, RAID". This should probably be set to "IDE Emulation". Win XP in all versions does NOT know how to use AHCI devices (SATA drives) without a suitable driver, so it can;t BOOT from a real SATA drive unless you actually set it up to do that when XP was first installed. However, that IDE Emulation setting has tells the BIOS to intervene and make the actual SATA drive behave like an IDE drive the XP DOES know how to use, so it can boot from that old SATA drive.

If you have to change anything, remember to Save and Exit.
 

joluk44

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im thinking this is a different bios setup, as there is no choice of optical drive anywhere in the boot setup. my 3 options were hdd (currently 1st) followed by cd/dvd and then floppy.

it then gave me boot priority order for hdd's with 60gb on top followed by 500 followed by the dvd drive.

there was an option lower down the bios of "boot to optical drives" which was already enabled.

as a test of responsiveness, i tried to change the hdd and dvd drive for boot priority order, and it wouldnt change the order regardless.
 

Paperdoc

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Although I used the term "Optical Drive", that is intended to include CD, DVD, CD-RW, Blu-Ray, etc. In your case it appears the BIOS uses the "CD/DVD" label for this. Next thought: sometimes the BIOS won't let you change something if it (even temporarily) creates a bad situation. Try this: set it to boot from the FLOPPY drive first. If it lets you do that, then try to get the CD/DVD drive second, and the 60 GB drive last. By the way, how do you do that? Many BIOS's do things like let you use cursor-up and -down keys to choose which line you are trying to work on, then Tab or Cursor-left - and -right, or space keys to change the line you're on. Others have you move to the line, then hit "Enter" to pop up a menu of choices for that line.

Anyway, my machine is set as above: floppy, DVD, HDD. That way I can boot from either uncommon device if I really need to, but normally it just skips to HDD. However, you MIGHT find that setting floppy first causes you a small delay in booting as the floppy drive is checked for a valid bootable disk.

It appears your BIOS uses the terms "Native" for a true SATA drive, and "Legacy" to make that drive behave like an older IDE unit. So try setting that to "Legacy" to see if XP can boot that way.
 
Solution