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Secondary HD = Not enough Power?

Last response: in Storage
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Quick question for you guys out there. I recently purchased a 2TB internal Barracuda Low Power drive, but when I installed it in my system, I couldn't boot past my bios post message. I've got my main HD plugged into SATA[1] on my motherboard, the one I just purchased on the SATA[2] port, and my cd/dvd drive on SATA[3]. I've been switching them around, but for some reason, the PC simply won't boot in full when the second HD is attached. Could my power supply not be enough to power another drive?

Specs....
PSU: Antec EarthWatts 650W - 45AMPS

Processor:
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Deneb Black Edition (4 CPU's), OC 3.7GHz

*Corsair H50 cooling

Memory:
3.842MB RAM Corsair/Samsung/SpaceTek DDR2-800

Hard Drive #1:
Samsung 160GB 5,400RPM SATA

Hard Drive #2:
Barracuda 2TB LOW POWER 5,900RPM SATA

Video Card:
PNY GTX 460


Operating System:
Windows 7 Home Premium 32Bit

Motherboard:
ASUS M4A78 PRO 780G HDMI

Computer Case:
Antec 900

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Hey zodiac949,

Verify that the SATA cables are secure and the power connectors as well. I don't think that the issue is with the PS(unless theres an issue with it already), it should be enough to power both drives. I presume that the SATA ports are enabled in BIOS? If not just double check. The other possibility is that the HDD is DOA, one way to check would be to connect it to an external enclosure or another computer. This will let you know whether the issue follows or not.

Hope this helps you with your question!

icy dock said:
Hey zodiac949,

Verify that the SATA cables are secure and the power connectors as well. I don't think that the issue is with the PS(unless theres an issue with it already), it should be enough to power both drives. I presume that the SATA ports are enabled in BIOS? If not just double check. The other possibility is that the HDD is DOA, one way to check would be to connect it to an external enclosure or another computer. This will let you know whether the issue follows or not.

Hope this helps you with your question!



It's weird that when I have the drive plugged in at all, the system won't boot when I try the power button, my LED's will either flicker, or the system won't be responsive at all. Would a DOA secondary data drive be able to cause that to a whole system?

*All sata ports enabled as well.

Hey Zodiac,

I see...that is weird that it is displaying the symptoms you just mentioned. So there is power, but it hangs right when it tries to post?

Also, the BIOS has to read each drive, so when it is reading the data from the second HDD, it seems to not like it. I have seen this happen, and sometimes it will work on a different system, but not on a specific one. Maybe this is the case with your issue. Try changing SATA cables(with a new one), sometimes this can be a culprit. But I think your CD/DVD drive is working right?

See if the above suggestions work..if not post back, hopefully someone else has experienced this sort of problem and can help!

icy dock said:
Hey Zodiac,

I see...that is weird that it is displaying the symptoms you just mentioned. So there is power, but it hangs right when it tries to post?

Also, the BIOS has to read each drive, so when it is reading the data from the second HDD, it seems to not like it. I have seen this happen, and sometimes it will work on a different system, but not on a specific one. Maybe this is the case with your issue. Try changing SATA cables(with a new one), sometimes this can be a culprit. But I think your CD/DVD drive is working right?

See if the above suggestions work..if not post back, hopefully someone else has experienced this sort of problem and can help!



It's weird behavior. It was hanging at the bios post before, now it's not booting at all when the drive is connected, regardless of the sata cable or port. It really makes me wonder about being a power supply related issue - Like I was "On edge" with my current setup, and this final HDD was overkill for it.
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