- May 6, 2014
- 2
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- 4,510
I've troubleshooted PCs for many years, but I've never come across a problem quite like this one.
A family member of mine has an Asus M2N SLI Deluxe motherboard, an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400 CPU, 4 GBs DDR2-667 RAM, a GeForce 8800GT PCI-E video card, an OCZ 750w power supply, and an Intel SSD and three SATA hard drives.
The PC works well until I try disconnecting the data SATA drives so that the OS SSD is the only drive in preparation for updating Windows 8 to 8.1 (removing the data drives being a precaution). Unless all four hard drives are hooked up, the PC will freeze in the BIOS right at the point of detecting the connected drive(s). I've tried each drive individually, but the BIOS freezes regardless...they ALL have to be hooked up together or the PC won't complete POST. It won't even let me into the BIOS menu as it freezes before I can get in.
Also, Windows 8 was initially installed with the other drives disconnected, so everything worked at one point. This was over a year ago, so something changed in the meantime.
Things I've tried:
1. Tried each drive by itself and none connected at all (including the DVD drive)
2. Tried each RAM stick individually
3. Resetting the CMOS
Things I haven't tried:
1. I haven't tried a PCI video card (need to find one)
2. I haven't updated the BIOS, as for some reason, the motherboard won't let me as it won't recognize any new BIOS file (this may be related to the freezing problem...possibly an issue with the board itself as it's about 8 years old)
3. I haven't tried replacing the CMOS battery
Obviously, this becomes a major problem if one of the hard drives dies, as it then means that the PC will no longer boot. I have done a ton of research, but I have come across no one that has had this problem. Has ANYONE had experience with a PC that will only POST with a certain number of hard drives connected and that will freeze during POST otherwise?
Is there anything that jumps out at anyone what the problem could be?
A family member of mine has an Asus M2N SLI Deluxe motherboard, an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400 CPU, 4 GBs DDR2-667 RAM, a GeForce 8800GT PCI-E video card, an OCZ 750w power supply, and an Intel SSD and three SATA hard drives.
The PC works well until I try disconnecting the data SATA drives so that the OS SSD is the only drive in preparation for updating Windows 8 to 8.1 (removing the data drives being a precaution). Unless all four hard drives are hooked up, the PC will freeze in the BIOS right at the point of detecting the connected drive(s). I've tried each drive individually, but the BIOS freezes regardless...they ALL have to be hooked up together or the PC won't complete POST. It won't even let me into the BIOS menu as it freezes before I can get in.
Also, Windows 8 was initially installed with the other drives disconnected, so everything worked at one point. This was over a year ago, so something changed in the meantime.
Things I've tried:
1. Tried each drive by itself and none connected at all (including the DVD drive)
2. Tried each RAM stick individually
3. Resetting the CMOS
Things I haven't tried:
1. I haven't tried a PCI video card (need to find one)
2. I haven't updated the BIOS, as for some reason, the motherboard won't let me as it won't recognize any new BIOS file (this may be related to the freezing problem...possibly an issue with the board itself as it's about 8 years old)
3. I haven't tried replacing the CMOS battery
Obviously, this becomes a major problem if one of the hard drives dies, as it then means that the PC will no longer boot. I have done a ton of research, but I have come across no one that has had this problem. Has ANYONE had experience with a PC that will only POST with a certain number of hard drives connected and that will freeze during POST otherwise?
Is there anything that jumps out at anyone what the problem could be?
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