Sony Problem

I have a problem with a SONY desktop - model PCV-RX370DS. This unit has one 60GB hard drive and I recently added RAM to upgrade to 256MB. (added 2 64MB RIMMs) These symptoms started a couple of weeks after I installed the RIMM's.

The PC fails to boot because the primary drive - hard drive - is not seen as available. I cannot run the system restore or any other program. This is a hardware problem, because the unit will sometimes boot (after shutting down for several hours - like overnight) it is apparent that the hard drive is actually OK. Can this be a power supply problem? Or a RAM problem?

The symptoms are:- The PC will not boot after a shutdown. Two relevant messages appear; first "Primary Master Disk" indicates NONE. Second: There is a warning that there is a Hardware problem - under the Power heading there is a list of voltages - all are within parameters except the "- 5.00 volts" which shows a voltage of "+3.55" volts.

Lastly, when I hit F1 to continue the warning "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" appears. When I put a system disk in the floppy and do a diagnostic there is no hard drive indicated - so nothing to fix. It must be hardware.

I will be very grateful for any comments or advise.

Best regards,

Ian Goddard
thespear@optonline.net
Mobile 732 766 2477

Maybe, but do check out that power supply.

All the things I really like to do are either illegal, immoral, or fattening.