strange BIOS issue - any ideas?

martyp

Hi all,

I'm hoping to get possible ideas on this issue I'm trying to fix for someone. I work in IT support myself and I'm thinking my last option here is going to be swapping out the mobo or possibly HDD although it seems more likely the mobo.
Basically, the PC goes through BIOS and gets to a hard drive error 'run setup', no F1 option though. I went into the BIOS and it sees the primary (IDE) HDD when I go in and select Auto as something like 'WD HD ROM' as opposed to the specific model of HDD that it would normally show. As well as this the HDD doesn't appear in the list of boot devices when selecting boot order. It shows 'Disabled' where it used to show the HDD. I also tried setting the CD and Floppy drive as 1st and 2nd in boot order but it wouldn't boot from either. Microsoft indicate this is a damaged BIOS. After switching off the power to the PC off and back on a few times it would then boot. I could go into the BIOS and it would then recognise the HD model and it would also display in the boot device list ok. At that point XP failed due to a corrupt registry so I repaired that ok and also fixed the user profile which had also got corrupted.
I made a bootable flash disk and flashed the BIOS to the latest version as well once it recognised the FDD and CDROM to boot. It then also worked ok for S.M.A.R.T. and said the HDD was fine in POST. All seemed well but then today the PC's done exactly the same thing after being powered off overnight, the HD run setup error.
I thought it could be a HD issue but then why would it fail to utilise the other boot devices?
My other thoughts were using the clear CMOS jumper, replacing the CMOS battery, test the PSU voltages etc or just swap out the mobo. I didn't think it would related to the CMOS battery as it holds the time and date info in the BIOS fine.
The HDD isn't that old so I would be surprised if that was playing up already.
Any thoughts anyone?

custardy

checked the power feed to the hard drive?

fuzzball172

I had a similar problem which turned out to be the CMOS battery

martyp

Thanks all, I have a PSU tester so was going to test the voltage rails from the PSU with that to see if it's some kind of power issue. That could explain also why the HD/FDD/CDROM all wouldn't boot and also the main BIOS screen stuck for a while before the wireless keyboard and mouse lit up. Could be the 5v rail of the PSU having problems.
I think I've got a spare CMOS battery to try so I'll give that a go too.

DatabaseError

make sure the jumpers on the drive are set to CS (cable select) rather than master/slave and try again...

martyp

Well...here's what happened.
I opened the case to test the voltage going to the HDD and that seemed ok.
Most distinctive was the click...click...click...click...
That might explain the corrupt registry, constant hard drive activity and freezing up in Windows as well as the corrupt profile...(also 16kb bad sectors found in a chkdsk)
I tried a working HD and it was detected fine in the BIOS and booted straight away...
I'm now taking my chances to try and trying to boot the thing on an IDE adaptor cable to USB on my laptop to see if I can recover anything on it.
The last time I swapped the PCB board from a similar model, this time it sounds like a bad mechanical fault...

PROLIANT

martyp wrote: »

Well...here's what happened.
I opened the case to test the voltage going to the HDD and that seemed ok.
Most distinctive was the click...click...click...click...
That might explain the corrupt registry, constant hard drive activity and freezing up in Windows as well as the corrupt profile...(also 16kb bad sectors found in a chkdsk)
I tried a working HD and it was detected fine in the BIOS and booted straight away...
I'm now taking my chances to try and trying to boot the thing on an IDE adaptor cable to USB on my laptop to see if I can recover anything on it.
The last time I swapped the PCB board from a similar model, this time it sounds like a bad mechanical fault...

Possible a controller fault, try swapping out the PCB on the bottom of the faulty HDD with another from a working model.

Lil306

PROLIANT wrote: »

Possible a controller fault, try swapping out the PCB on the bottom of the faulty HDD with another from a working model.

Would a controller fault really cause the Hard Drive platters to make the distinctive clicking noise for when they fail ?

I'm unsure if the controllers do anything else then provide the communcations and data reads, but if it was clicking I'd assume the HDD is caput more than anything else. Not sure if a controller could cause this, but as I say I don't know the ins and outs of HDD's just my opinion.

MartyP - connect it up with the USB reader, and try running Unstoppable Copier and Recuva on it, they're excellent programs

PROLIANT

Lil306 wrote: »

Would a controller fault really cause the Hard Drive platters to make the distinctive clicking noise for when they fail ?

I'm unsure if the controllers do anything else then provide the communcations and data reads, but if it was clicking I'd assume the HDD is caput more than anything else. Not sure if a controller could cause this, but as I say I don't know the ins and outs of HDD's just my opinion.

MartyP - connect it up with the USB reader, and try running Unstoppable Copier and Recuva on it, they're excellent programs

The controller does what it says on the tin..It controls the motors, armature, parking of the heads, data flow etc etc.
I have recovered several HDD units in this fashion. It may well be a hardware fault however the scrambled electronic signature leads me to think it may be electronic rather than mechanical.

martyp

Good ideas, I thought the same about the way the BIOS was unable to properly identify the drive, that does seem more PCB related on that part.
As it stands I've managed to connect it to my laptop ok using a USB to IDE adaptor and am backing up the contents now. As it's only an 80GB drive it won't be a major loss to scrap it rather than try and get it working with a PCB board. My main aim really is just to ensure I've backed up the data on it.
It was a bit of hassle to get it working, I found that after the initial 20 seconds of making clicks and disconnecting and reconnecting the power about 5 times it suddenly would work so I made the most of it.
Reading about what is sometimes referred to as the 'click of death' for HDs it seems to suggest a mechanical fault within the drive, possibly like you say as a result of a PCB fault not controlling the mechanical parts properly?

Lil306

PROLIANT wrote: »

The controller does what it says on the tin..It controls the motors, armature, parking of the heads, data flow etc etc.
I have recovered several HDD units in this fashion. It may well be a hardware fault however the scrambled electronic signature leads me to think it may be electronic rather than mechanical.

Learn summat new everyday, I'll have to remember that :T