Question

bios tells me atapi drive incompatible

Asked by: ciaranfarrell

My primary master hard drive cannot be recognised by BIOS.

On boot, no drive whatsoever is recognised. I go to BIOS.

In BIOS there is an option to autoconfigure the Hard drive parameters. I try this, but the answer I get is "Primary Master - not installed".

I try to configure all drives automatically, which is another BIOS feature. Again "not installed" is the answer.

I check the jumper settings on the harddrive. It is set to the default correct settings for a single drive master.

It is probably irrelevant, but the OS is XP Pro (but not for much longer!)

Appreciate any help

Ciaran

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Asked On
2003-10-22 at 04:50:10ID20774403
Tags

incompatible

,

primary

,

atapi

,

drive

,

master

Topic

General Computer Systems

Participating Experts
4
Points
100
Comments
4

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Answers

 

by: kronostmPosted on 2003-10-22 at 06:16:04ID: 9598464

Have you tried the hdd in another computer ? Is it working for sure?
Changed the IDE cables? Checked the IDE cable connection on the mobo to be ok?
Tried different jumper configs and let it be theonly drive on the cable?

 

by: PolarhoundPosted on 2003-10-22 at 20:18:03ID: 9604130

Starting right at the beginning:  Is the drive actually getting power?

Once you confirm that the drive is receiving power, try a new cable, and make sure you have pin 1 lined up correctly.

Next up, confirm that the "default" setting doesn't assume that you are using it in a two drive system.  Try the single drive jumper options.  For example, set it as a slave and see if it works.  Even if the drive boots as a primary slave, you will still be able to boot off of it.

Lastly, try the drive in another computer.

 

by: lidskyPosted on 2003-10-23 at 12:34:17ID: 9609519


I'll go along with what  Polarhound said, but would like to add the following.

The drive will also not be recognized if it is not spinning up. This occurs frequently with aging drives.

To check this do the following:
Place the blade of a screwdriver against the casing of the hard drive.
Place your ear against the handle. You should hear a whirring noise if the drive is spinning.
This is not a joke!

 

by: Cube_XPosted on 2003-10-23 at 21:40:58ID: 9612130

To Ciaranfarrell;

Here are some simple steps that might help :

1.) Reseat all the cables on the HDD including the belt & power supply cable.
2.) Set the jumper to cable select not master.
3.) Power down the system, remove the battery on the motherboard for 5 min.
4.) Flea Power the system by pressing the power button of the tower
     for 10 sec w/ no power, meaning remove the power cable while pressing
     on the button of the tower or the cpu.
3.) Restart the computer & reset the defaults of bios.

If this will not work :

Put the HDD on the second connector of the belt cable, add the power cable and restart.
If this works you might probobly having a problem with the " belt cable " of the hdd.

Did not worked ?

Try using another belt cable & other power supply cable then restart the computer.

Proboble  Cause :

Faulty HDD or Hard Drive, Belt Cable or the Motherboard It self.

Try to put your HDD and belt cable to other computer.
If this works then the problem is on the motherboard.


DELL Tech Support :
Cube_X




20120131-EE-VQP-002

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