ASUS G73JH - Reboot and select proper drive

[rotarypwr]

I had to replace both of my stock 500 GB Seagate drives due to chirping and clicking. I bought a 500 GB WD Black HDD and cloned one of the Seagate drives. There were several errors during the cloning, but the computer still booted up fine. I noticed that the WD drive didn't slide into the SATA connector as easily as the Seagate ones (had to push harder). Computer ran fine for a bit, but then I started getting "Reboot and select proper drive" errors on startup. I would generally just wait a bit (hour or so) and it would boot up fine. These errors started to happen more frequently, so I did a clean install on the drive.

The error started happening not too long afterwards, to the point where the laptop wouldn't boot at all, even after waiting. I decided to open it up and try using the secondary port. It started working fine, but not too long afterwards, "Reboot and select proper drive" started appearing again. I then noticed that if I take the HDD out and plug it back in, the laptop boots up fine. But the problem seemed to get worse since I started getting I/O errors in Windows and the computer would slow down almost to a standstill.

My bet is that it is a connection issue since the errors usually occur after moving the laptop (shutting down, moving laptop from desk to living room, booting up again), and because the HDD does not show up in BIOS when the error happens.

What should I do to confirm/fix this?

 

[cl-scott]

These issues are always fun because it could be a bad HDD, it could be a bad motherboard. Since you had errors during the cloning process, the first thing I'd suggest is starting with a fresh install of Windows, not a cloned install.

If that doesn't help the issue at all, then trying with another HDD would be the next step I'd recommend. Mostly because it's cheaper and less invasive. If all else fails, then you're looking at needing to get the motherboard replaced.

 

[rotarypwr]

Is it common to get a bad HDD off the shelf? The errors happened almost immediately after getting the new WD HDD..come to think of it, the errors started with the old Seagate drive..I then bought the WD drive and the problem only went away temporarily..I guess this would point to the motherboard? What would cause it to fail?

Yes, I did do a fresh install of Windows.

Is it possible that this is caused by a connection (port) issue? I mean every single time I remove and plug the HDD back in, it boots up no problem..

 

[rotarypwr]

Also, is there a way to check the motherboard?

 

[cl-scott]

Is it common to get a bad HDD off the shelf? The errors happened almost immediately after getting the new WD HDD..come to think of it, the errors started with the old Seagate drive..I then bought the WD drive and the problem only went away temporarily..I guess this would point to the motherboard? What would cause it to fail?

Yes, I did do a fresh install of Windows.

Is it possible that this is caused by a connection (port) issue? I mean every single time I remove and plug the HDD back in, it boots up no problem..

It's uncommon, but certainly not unheard of. That's why all products sold have warranties, some of them will be DOA, others will die prematurely. It's just an inevitable fact of mass produced products. So if you can get your hands on another HDD, that would be where I would go next. If that doesn't do it, then logically pretty much the only possibility left is the motherboard.