tech help: HD not reading

A

At0mic

Veteran X
Hey Guys,

I'm now at the point where I need other opinions.

I can't get my HD to read for the life of me. I have a abit ax8 mobo, WD 80GB, windows xp. (PATA, on master end of the IDE cable, no jumper)

I've now RMAed the board once, so now having this same problem on 2 of the same board.

I've tried the HDD on other computers, and it worked fine. I've tried the IDE cables on other computers, they've worked fine. I can get my DVDRW to read without any issues, on all of the IDE slots, however, my HD does not want to at all.

I can get it to read VERY rarely, by sure luck it seems, but of course never at the time I need it to.

Anyone have any ideas? Thanks!
 
Western Digital drives are quirky with their jumper settings. I can't remember if most drives leave the jumper off for master and they use a jumper for master, or vice versa. But I remember when I worked in a PC shop we'd run into this problem a lot. Make sure that you're not supposed to be putting a jumper on in a master position somewhere.
 
DrJonez said:
Western Digital drives are quirky with their jumper settings. I can't remember if most drives leave the jumper off for master and they use a jumper for master, or vice versa. But I remember when I worked in a PC shop we'd run into this problem a lot. Make sure that you're not supposed to be putting a jumper on in a master position somewhere.
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:huh:

No jumper = standalone

Jumper = master with slave

If there is no other drive attached to the WD, TAKE THE JUMPER OFF.

It's not rocket science or quirkyness. WD has been the same way for years and years.
 
I've tried jumper in all positions and off (where I've continued to try it). Off/removed was also suggested at Abit forums.
 
Ronnie Dobbs said:
then if you add another hd down the road you have to seach for where you put your jumper. leave it on cs
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better make sure it's on the right connector on the cable then

Might want to mention this when telling people to use cable select.
 
At0mic said:
I've tried jumper in all positions and off (where I've continued to try it). Off/removed was also suggested at Abit forums.
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ok

you never answered the power supply question
 
Vlasic said:
ok

you never answered the power supply question
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I don't have immediate access to an extra power supply. I've disconnected my DVDRW, and just used the HD previously, still no go.
 
At0mic said:
I don't have immediate access to an extra power supply. I've disconnected my DVDRW, and just used the HD previously, still no go.
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A failing power supply can cause issues like this. If your 5v or 12v rail is failing, it may manifest itself as a hard drive problem.

You'll want to try a power supply before anything else.
 
Or try a different molex connector on the power supply.

I had my video card go out, a BFG 6800 Ultra. Sent it back, got another, still wouldn't work until I switched the molex connectors around.

No one talks about this on the gaming sites, but power supplies do wear out, especially with the video cards that often need two molex connections. I think the new video cards mess up power supplies more than people think.
 
NoGodForMe said:
Or try a different molex connector on the power supply.

I had my video card go out, a BFG 6800 Ultra. Sent it back, got another, still wouldn't work until I switched the molex connectors around.

No one talks about this on the gaming sites, but power supplies do wear out, especially with the video cards that often need two molex connections. I think the new video cards mess up power supplies more than people think.
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Wow, somebody actually came up with a good suggestion in this thread finally.


What do you mean when the HD does not read? Is this your primary drive? Can you not boot into Windows? What errors are you getting? Etc.
 
NoGodForMe said:
Or try a different molex connector on the power supply.

I had my video card go out, a BFG 6800 Ultra. Sent it back, got another, still wouldn't work until I switched the molex connectors around.

No one talks about this on the gaming sites, but power supplies do wear out, especially with the video cards that often need two molex connections. I think the new video cards mess up power supplies more than people think.
Click to expand...

People generally slack when it comes to buying powersupplies and cases, all they see is "400W" or "500W" powersupply and assume they are all equal :shrug:
 
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