Help with HP Mini 110 - 1160SA - pleeeease

dantheman2010

Hi all

My partners HP Mini 110 - 1160SA which was purchased in Dec 2010 has decided to go on the blink.

I have tried following some instructions on the HP website to no avail.

Basically, when we turn the computer on the following happens......

HP Screen with options;
<F9> Change Boot Device Order
<F10> BIOS Set up Options

Followed the websites advice and clicked ESC, then F10.

This got me in to BIOS Set Up, pressed F9 to load default configuration and then F10 to save changes.

This then brings us to another screen where it is "auto detecting pri master....IDE Hard disk" after a few minutes it then says "Primary Master Hard Disk Error" and says Press F1 to resume.

We press F1, it goes back to the start at the HP screen with F9 & F10 options. After a couple of minutes it then goes to a black screen and says;

Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in select boot device and press a key.

And we cant get any further than this.

It was working fine on Friday.

Please can someone help.

Note - The HP Mini Series has no disk drives or system restore disks.

We dont mind if the whole memory is wiped as she only uses it for the internet anyway so can easily get it back and running again.

Thanking any of you in advance.

Thanks

robmar0se

Sounds like yr HP Mini's hard drive is corrupted, and of course from what you have told us we don't know the cause. whether it is a software error, eg the MBR is missing/corrupted, whether ther is a virus on it, or whether there is a physical (hardware) fault.

As you don't need any of the data currently on it, if you key F11 during the initial start-up/boot it should get you to HP's Backup & Recovery system. If the problem is softeare related you should be able to follow the prompts to re-install XP (remember to install an AV first, and run the WIndows Updates).

If it is a hardware error. the HP recovery will fail at some point, then a seperate process will be required.

Figment

"Primary Master Hard Disk Error" is telling you that it is unable to detect / read the hard disk.

What has happened to it between Friday and now - i.e. has it been dropped/knocked etc or had a power failure?

First step would be to reset the BIOS, (which you've already tried)

Next step is to reseat the hard drive

These errors may occur if the computer has been jarred and the drive's connections are loose. To determine if this has occurred and to correct this issue, do the following:

• Press and hold the power switch for 5 - 15 seconds to turn off the notebook.
• Disconnect and reconnect the internal hard drive. Details on how to complete this procedure can be found in the Maintenance and Service Guide for your notebook mode. Go to HP Software & Driver Downloads web page.
• Once the hard disk has been reconnected and the notebook is completely re-assembled, attempt to start the notebook normally.

Other things to try can be found on this page

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01443463&tmp_task=solveCategory&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en&product=4033960#N162

dantheman2010

robmar0se wrote: »

Sounds like yr HP Mini's hard drive is corrupted, and of course from what you have told us we don't know the cause. whether it is a software error, eg the MBR is missing/corrupted, whether ther is a virus on it, or whether there is a physical (hardware) fault.

As you don't need any of the data currently on it, if you key F11 during the initial start-up/boot it should get you to HP's Backup & Recovery system. If the problem is softeare related you should be able to follow the prompts to re-install XP (remember to install an AV first, and run the WIndows Updates).

If it is a hardware error. the HP recovery will fail at some point, then a seperate process will be required.

Tried pressing F11 and it does nothing, no option in the BIOS section to do a recovery either.

Any ideas?

dantheman2010

Figment wrote: »

Next step is to reseat the hard drive

I couldnt find the manual bit they refer to to be able to try and reseat the hard drive?

dantheman2010

Have located and removed and reseated the hard drive. Didnt make any difference.

robmar0se

Try page 46 of the following:

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c01757458.pdf

PS Its under the keyboard, so you would need to remove that first - its in the manual tho'

dantheman2010

Didnt make any difference.

robmar0se

I assume that you mean that reseating the hdd didn't make any differnce?

There are 2 probs with netbooks with hdd faults. 1) no optical drive to load bootable software, & 2), they rarely provide the recovery cds. This makes it virtually impossible for DIY hdd repairs.


It should be possible for a good repair outfit to check whether the hdd is beyond reasonable repair. Supply a new hdd if necessary, and re-install the system as per factory settings.

debitcardmayhem

IF you have a USB flash drive you could try using something like systemrescuecd or hiren's to check on the hard disk

TakeThis

As it probably has a SATA HDD installed, you may need to change some settings in the BIOS to reflect this.