This morning I decided to internalize my external hard drive. I dismantled the enclosure, retrieved the HDD, and removed my side panel to get to work. Since I never use my DVD drive anymore, I figured I'd just use the SATA cable and power plug from it to connect the new drive until I can go out to buy an extra SATA cable. Hooked it all up, powered on my pc, and it froze at the "Compaq" screen (the one with <F10- Setup>, <Esc- Boot Menu>, etc.)
Okay, so I figured BIOS needed the original disk setup to boot properly. No problem, I just hooked everything up the way it was originally and figured I'd wait until I get the new cable to connect the new drive. Powered on again. Same thing, froze at the Compaq screen. At this point I'm thinking maybe disconnecting everything and reconnecting it screwed up my boot order or something, so I try to hit Esc to enter the boot menu and see what's going on. No dice. I restart the machine, try again. Still nothing. My keyboard is ps2, but I also have a wireless keyboard connected VIA usb dongle. So I flip it on to give it a shot, thinking maybe it's freezing before it has access to the keyboard for some weird reason (and I know usb works, because my mouse is usb and has power during the freeze). No luck.
It makes sense to me that the computer might not boot, since my fiddling around might have screwed that up somehow, or maybe I got my cables mixed up (even though I've switched them out several times since and tried, just in case). What doesn't make sense to me is why I can't get into BIOS to rectify the problem and/or confirm that my devices are properly connected and functioning.
I hear the hard drive motor when I start up, and well as the usual sound from my optical drive, so at the very least I know they're getting power. No unusual sounds to report either. Also, I've frequently run this computer without the external drive connected, so its absence shouldn't be the issue either.
Anyone have any ideas or advice? I'm hoping I goofed in a really obvious and easily rectified way, but something tells me it's more serious than that.
Okay, so I figured BIOS needed the original disk setup to boot properly. No problem, I just hooked everything up the way it was originally and figured I'd wait until I get the new cable to connect the new drive. Powered on again. Same thing, froze at the Compaq screen. At this point I'm thinking maybe disconnecting everything and reconnecting it screwed up my boot order or something, so I try to hit Esc to enter the boot menu and see what's going on. No dice. I restart the machine, try again. Still nothing. My keyboard is ps2, but I also have a wireless keyboard connected VIA usb dongle. So I flip it on to give it a shot, thinking maybe it's freezing before it has access to the keyboard for some weird reason (and I know usb works, because my mouse is usb and has power during the freeze). No luck.
It makes sense to me that the computer might not boot, since my fiddling around might have screwed that up somehow, or maybe I got my cables mixed up (even though I've switched them out several times since and tried, just in case). What doesn't make sense to me is why I can't get into BIOS to rectify the problem and/or confirm that my devices are properly connected and functioning.
I hear the hard drive motor when I start up, and well as the usual sound from my optical drive, so at the very least I know they're getting power. No unusual sounds to report either. Also, I've frequently run this computer without the external drive connected, so its absence shouldn't be the issue either.
Anyone have any ideas or advice? I'm hoping I goofed in a really obvious and easily rectified way, but something tells me it's more serious than that.
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