HDD and DVD drive no longer recognized by BIOS

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ML81

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Mar 13, 2014
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I am updating my mother's computer and added a new Kingston SSD and installed windows 8.1 on it. I was short a SATA power cable, though, so in order to format and use the old drive as a secondary drive, I had to unplug the DVD drive for the time being. All was well until I received the new molex to sata adapter and then tried to hook up all three drives.After doing so the computer no longer recognizes the HDD or DVD drive.
I've put everything back the way it was originally, and it only sees the SSD.
I've swapped cables to make sure the cable is not faulty, tried hooking the SSD to different sata ports and those do not seem to be the problem either. I've removed the battery to reset the BIOS. No dice. I can't get the bios to see either drive.

Please help!

mobo is Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3L v1



 
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ML81

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Mar 13, 2014
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I've made sure all cables are connected correctly. I've swapped both power and data cables between the different drives and ports and it makes no difference.
 
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Alec Mowat

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Jan 8, 2014
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Did you put the power converter on upside down by chance?

Remove any accessories connected to the PSU (like converters), and try just the DVDROM first. See the light on the front is on and whether or not it can open.
 
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ML81

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Mar 13, 2014
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Please explain how this would even be possible given that all cables are notched or shaped so that they can only fit one way... or perhaps I am misunderstanding what you mean?

DVD does not respond even when it it the only drive connected.

A dead SATA controller doesn't seem likely seeing that the SSD works fine on any port.

I am starting to believe this is not so much a bios problem anymore but more likely a problem with the drives. But if that's the case, it seems very unusual that both might be dead...
 
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Alec Mowat

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It means you may have shorted something and broke it. I am wondering if you forced it on the wrong way or something.

Need to eliminate everything.

Can you boot off only the DVD, with even the OS drive removed?
Can you boot of the DVD if it's attached to the OS Drives sata cable?

Did you disable some of the sataports, or change their settings in the BIOS? Should be on AHCI.
 
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ML81

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Mar 13, 2014
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I did try booting with just the dvd and not the OS drive per your last suggestion with no luck. The drive doesn't even open.
I had also tried both the DVD and the HDD on the SSD (os drive) data cable, and that did not work either.

I appreciate the suggestions, but I can assure you that I did not force anything on the wrong way. I am not one of those people who think that if something doesn't fit they should just push harder. Very much the opposite actually.

My old desktop has just been sitting in the basement, so I pulled the sata HDD out of it and tried it on this computer, and it works fine. I tried the non working drive on the old computer as well, and it doesn't recognize it, so I think it's dead.

I am trying to understand how I might have fried the drives. I unplug everything before I work on it, and I have been careful to ground myself before I touch anything, and I did not force anything on backwards. What am I missing or what else could explain it? I'd like to make sure it doesn't happen again.
 
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Alec Mowat

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Jan 8, 2014
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I can only suspect that the 4pin to SATA converting cable had a short and fried the drives. That why I asked if you put it the wrong way to cause that short.

The HD may not be lost, you can replace the back plate with a matching drive if you absolutely need the data.
 
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