Did my hard drives just die?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Event
  • 12 comments
  • 638 views
Event

Event

Zoom-zoom
Premium
Messages
6,899
Messages
GTP_event / kevinr6287 (farming account)
My SATA RAID 0 array decided to crap out on me last night. I awoke to a cryptic message saying: BOOT FAILURE: PLEASE BOOT FROM CD or something like that. Now, windows won't even load, I can't even get the XP splash screen. It's not recognizing the Hard drives. I tried entering the SATA utility after the POST and it said "No devices found or utility disabled", or something along the lines of that. How can I check to see if the drives are dead? I got one Seagate 80GB in august 04 and the other Seagate 80 a month and a half ago. I can feel them vibrating, I don't hear any noises coming from them, and they seemed to be plugged in correctly. I have no other means to test them in another computer, since all of the other computers in the house are IDE.

This happened for no apparent reason. No thunderstorms, no power surges. I went to sleep with the tunes going and woke up to this mess.

How can I tell if they're dead? Or is it the motherboards SATA controller? I have an ASUS A7N8X-E dlx.
 
I tried reinstalling the SATA controller drivers via windows boot disc, but Windows fails to see any hard drives. When I start up the PC, I can hear 2, very faint, clicks of the hard drive. I can't tell if it just coming from one or two or what...
 
I just found this:

Data corruption problems can occur with nForce-based motherboards such as the Asus A7N8X when multiple hard drives are attached to the SATA controller. This problem is related to an issue with the PCI controller in the nVidia chipset and can be fixed with a system BIOS update.

For the latest BIOS updates for your nForce motherboard that fixes the data corruption problem, please visit the website of your motherboard maker for the appropriate BIOS and flash utilities. Silicon Image cannot provide the solution to this issue since it involves a change to the system BIOS settings on the motherboard. There were no revisions made to the drivers for the SiI3112A so you may use the latest version posted on this website. Please check the Related Articles link on the lower right.

I thought I had the highest BIOS version, but Ill check for a higher one...
 
I just Flashed the BIOS to 1012, but to no avail. Same issue.

Also, once POST is done and after going through the RAID prompt, It goes to the Preboot Execution Environment for some reason. I don't know if that has anything to do with this...

PXE initializes when:
! Remote new system setup. If the client does not have an OS installed on its hard disk, or the
client has no hard disk at all, downloading an NBP from a server can help automate the OS
installation and other configuration steps.
! Remote emergency boot. If the client machine fails to boot due to a hardware or software
failure, downloading an executable image from a server can provide the client with a specific
executable that enables remote problem notification and diagnosis.
Click to expand...
 
If the drives are connected properly and won't POST, then they are dead.
 
Viper Zero
If the drives are connected properly and won't POST, then they are dead.
Click to expand...
Plain and simple? There's no other explanation or reason for them to die? I'm pretty sure they both still spin...
 
Pretty much.

If your motherboard can't "see" the drives, nor will Windows.
 
Viper Zero
Pretty much.

If your motherboard can't "see" the drives, nor will Windows.
Click to expand...
Can I still format these by unplugging one and formatting with the windows setup disc? If possible, I would like to have a hard drive in my comp while I return the other one. Or did one HDD take the other one with it?
 
Yes, you can still format the others, as long as they POST too.

If you have important data, just do a quick install, back up your files to a IDE drive, and then format the drive.
 
I will do that as a last resort.

And some people are telling me to use Seatools. But I have no idea how to use it. No where says how to use it. They say to use it, but not HOW. You wouldn't happen to know how, would you?
 
I don't see how two hard drives (Seagate drives at that) both just die at the same time unless something went wrong with something else (i.e. motherboard, power surge, etc.) ...
 
Jmac279
I don't see how two hard drives (Seagate drives at that) both just die at the same time unless something went wrong with something else (i.e. motherboard, power surge, etc.) ...
Click to expand...
They were on RAID 0, so if one dies, both die. I don't think they are dead, though. I'm thinking the RAID/SATA Controller is the one that died. I may have to RMA the whole motherboard...
 

Latest Posts

Back