Dell Dimension 2400 Will not boot. Does not detect HDD or DVD RW drives..

[milmat1]

Ok Gats more confusing here,

Setup CD drive as Master and connect it Alone to MB..   

POST still shows Primary drive 0 Not Found However the  BIOS  shows Primary drive 0 as   "CD-DEVICE" 

AND I set the other optical drive (dvd) as Master and POST shows Not Found and BIOS shows  "UNKNOWN DEVICE"..


Is this telling me that the DVD and the HDD are defective ?? Seems unlikely......

[Raptor]

Also the Battery Voltage = 2.97VDC !

Depending on how much the hard drive confuses the system, there's a chance it doesn't detect it. Only one way to find out.

2.97 should be O.K. I'd still replace it just so you can say you did.

AND I set the other optical drive (dvd) as Master and POST shows Not Found and BIOS shows  "UNKNOWN DEVICE"..
Is this telling me that the DVD and the HDD are defective ?? Seems unlikely......

Bad PSU's can wreck hardware. Weakest hardware goes first.

So it detects one DVD-drive properly? Can you boot from it?
Does it work on the other PATA channel?

[milmat1]

Depending on how much the hard drive confuses the system, there's a chance it doesn't detect it. Only one way to find out.

2.97 should be O.K. I'd still replace it just so you can say you did.

Bad PSU's can wreck hardware. Weakest hardware goes first.

So it detects one DVD-drive properly? Can you boot from it?
Does it work on the other PATA channel?

Well One of them will show up in BIOS as CD -device. The other as UNKNOWN DEVICE...

Can't boot from the drive (no disc) AND POST still shows it as Not Found !

 

[Raptor]

Does it work on the other PATA channel?

[patio]

Can't boot from the drive (no disc) AND POST still shows it as Not Found !

Is there a bootable CD in the drive when you are testing this ? ?

[milmat1]

Is there a bootable CD in the drive when you are testing this ? ?

No because I cant find the disc,  Sorry for the confusion !

I am thinking maybe the DVD drive could have been defective and not noticed,  since it is rarely used on this machine. My next step will be to stick this HDD into another PC (Daughters )  as a Slave And see if it will detect it.....I just can't help my instincts telling me MOTHERBOARD !!......

Will update results as soon as I try that...( she's not home at moment)..


.....Matt

[patio]

I hope on your end your instincts are wrong...but it's starting to sound that way...
Good L uck on the slave experiment...

[Raptor]

No because I cant find the disc,  Sorry for the confusion !

So how do you know the ROM-players won't work?

[patio]

That was initially why i asked but he didn't answer...

[milmat1]

OK Sorry for confusion, I didn't think it matters whether the disc was in the drive or not for the POST / BIOS to detect it..

I found the Windows XP disc and drivers etc for this PC and heres where it stands.

  I connected ONLY the CD drive as master connected to primary port, With the Windows disc inserteed, PC WILL BOOT to the windows install !   And will load and run up until it looks for the HDD !  So I  think the HDD took a hit.

However her's what is funny If I connect the HDD back even as Secondary or if i leave the other optical drive connected it wont boot !

 So the defective drive(s) Are preventing the pc from detecting the Good Drive that has the disc ??  Is This Correct ?

[patio]

So the defective drive(s) Are preventing the pc from detecting the Good Drive that has the disc ??  Is This Correct ?

No...
This means 1 or the other drives is jumpered/connected improperly.
It can also mean the BIOS isn't retaining boot order cahanges...usually a sign of a failing CMOS battery.

[milmat1]

No...
This means 1 or the other drives is jumpered/connected improperly.
It can also mean the BIOS isn't retaining boot order cahanges...usually a sign of a failing CMOS battery.

It will only detect the one (CD) drive no matter how I configure it. And if either of the other drives (dvd,hdd) are connected it will fail to see any drive.  This is with each drive configured with jumpers. I can have it working with the CD drive connected alone, power down and connect the other dvd drive OR the HDD  and it will fail to see anything again....

BTW : The original config was the two optical drives on daisy chain ribbon cable connected to Secondary Port. and the HDD connected seperately with single ribbon to Primary port. With Everything set to "Cable Select"....

I will Change battery and recheck jumpers etc. But I'm sure the HDD is dead now so I'll snatch another one and test some more....

[Raptor]

If you can boot from the CD, there's a good chance the mainboard is O.K.

You might want to swap around those data cables as well, just in case they got damaged from all the pulling out and putting back in.

[geek hoodlum]

How about this...

1st - connect only your DVD drive, boot up and go to BIOS, check if BIOS will detect that drive

2nd - connect only the HDD, boot up and go to BIOS, check if BIOS will detect that drive

compare the result

[milmat1]

How about this...

1st - connect only your DVD drive, boot up and go to BIOS, check if BIOS will detect that drive

2nd - connect only the HDD, boot up and go to BIOS, check if BIOS will detect that drive

compare the result

This is exactly how I have determined the failed HDD, However only one of the optical drives will be detected and boot etc..So I still think I have a failed HDD AND have a bad DVDCD drive as well....I should have another HDD to try today and I Agree at this point the MB must be working fine. Just that two drives acting up at sam time really confused the problem...

THANK YOU !!!