New SATA hard drive not detected even in bios

[foolyourself]

I have a new 500gb western digital WD5000AAKS hard drive I want to work with my computer. I already have one SATA and one IDE hard drive and this new hard drive is also SATA. The problem is that it doesn't show up in the bios or memory management once the computer is started. The hard drive spins when I give it power so I don't think it's broken.

How do I get it to work/what is wrong with it?


These are some of my system specifications
ASRock AOD790GX/128M motherboard
AMD athlon 64 X2 dual core processor 3800+ 2.2 ghz
4 gb ram
ATI hd 4770 graphics card

 

[gracefully]

Try using some of the other SATA ports from the motherboard. Maybe the one you tried is faulty. Also, try using other SATA cables.

 

[sub mesa]

Did you set your SATA controller to AHCI in the BIOS?

Could we get full specs like what controller you use and what OS?

 

[apache_lives]

AHCI may disable or corrupt the OS if its in a compatible mode before windows is installed etc

different data port, power connector otherwise its more then likely a DOA hdd

 

[sub mesa]

How would it 'corrupt' the OS if the OS can't even access the harddrive?

If you use Windows XP, then switching between AHCI and IDE will give u a BSOD at boot, but it wouldn't corrupt anything. Also anything later than XP would support AHCI out of the box.

 

[jitpublisher]

Double check the cable, try another one, or another port.
And lastly, even if it is spinning, the drive could still have a problem.

 

[Prescott_666]

The user needs to disconnect the current SATA drive, and connect the new drive to that port using that SATA cable. Then when booting up he needs to go into the BIOS and check that port and see if it detects a drive, and if it does if it can correctly identify the drive. If the BIOS correctly identifies the drive, then the problem is with the other port, if it doesn't, it's probably a dead drive.

 

[plasmastorm]

Check that your motherboard supports SATA II and that the jumper header is in the right position.

If your bored does not support SATA II that may well be the cause.

 

[Paperdoc]

plasmastorm has a good idea. IF you verify that your mobo only supports the original SATA spec, check the WD website for the method of forcing the new drive to conform to that lower communication speed. It probably requires setting a jumper on pins on the HDD's back edge.

 

[foolyourself]

I tried using different sata cables and power connectors. I don't think the hard drive is dead because it spins when I supply power to it and turn the computer on. I also tried different sata sockets. Also I confirmed that my motherboard does support both SATA and SATA II. I was just going to use this hard drive for extra storage space, and the hard drive I boot my operating system from is connected by SATA cable as well. I also checked the AHCI in bios. I tried starting the system with only the new drive plugged in and it still didn't show up, although while it was starting up my computer did scan for drives and it sat there hung up on the port that the drive was plugged into then decided after a couple of minutes that there was no drive. Right now my best guesses are that the hard drive is moving even though it doesn't work for some reason or that there is some kind of driver problem. I think I will try to plug the drive into a different computer to see if I get a reaction.

Here are some specs for my system, I put this together a year or two ago:
Windows 7 64 bit OS
ASRock AOD790GX/128M motherboard
AMD athlon 64 X2 dual core processor 3800+ 2.2 ghz
4 gb ram
ATI hd 4770 graphics card

 

[Paperdoc]

The fact that it turns is only part of proper function. It's also possible for there to be malfunctions in the controller board on the HDD unit.

Download and install from WD's website their diagnostic utility package, Data Lifegard. I prefer the version that has you burn your own diagnostic CD. Then you boot from this CD in your optical drive and it runs a mini-DOS installed in RAM to let you use all its tools in a menu-directed system, completely independent of whatever OS is on your hard drives. Use this to test all the functions of your drive. It will tell you what problems it finds. If your unit is faulty and needs replacement under warranty, WD's Tech Support people probably will want to know just what all those tests say, so note down the answers.