 Nforce 790i Ultra Sli Mobo Problems, Not detecting SATA harddrive |
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 Sep 21 2008, 01:01 PM
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#1
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New Member  Group: Members Posts: 6 Joined: 20-September 08 Member No.: 240,242  |
I hope you guys can help me, as I have no where else to turn to! Alright, well this July I built a computer with parts from newegg, including this nForce 790i Ultra SLI motherboard. I have installed on the machine a copy of Windows Vista Ultimate (32-bit). Everything has been fine and great, but last Friday my roommate booted the computer up, only to find that the BIOS was displaying a weird message. When booted, my computer displays "Detecting IDE Drives.." (I have no PATA connections) for about a minute, and then lists my SATA drives currently connected to the computer. It only detects my DVD drive that is connected on one of the SATA ports. This is a problem, as it does not detect my hard drive which has the OS on it, so it has nothing to boot up. After displaying all of these, it tries to boot from CD, and then goes on to some "DHCP..../" message, as if waiting for some file. I have done a few things to try and fix this. I tried downloading the motherboard's bios driver (or...whatever it is) and put it on a CD and tried to boot from CD. The message I got after doing this was "Media Not Supported" from the drive. System Restore isn't a real option here (although, I haven't even attempted to see if the drive will read the OS CD). Another thing I tried was to unplug the system completely for a couple hours to reset the mobo (although I'm not so sure that would have worked or not). I've check all the SATA cables within the computer, and they are all connected. I didn't download any software/firmware/install hardware prior to this error message, so I have no idea what prompted this to occur. So I am totally lost, if anyone has any idea at what I should try, I would really appreciate it! Thank you, and please let me know if there is any information I can provide. Thanks- mojavestorm |
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Sep 21 2008, 02:33 PM
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#2
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Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 6,542 Joined: 3-September 05 From: Killeen, TX Member No.: 33,068 |
Sounds to me like your boot order changed in the BIOS...also kind of sounds like your CMOS battery may need replacing.
My best guess... Louis |
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Sep 21 2008, 11:56 PM
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#3
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 6 Joined: 20-September 08 Member No.: 240,242 |
Hey-
Thanks for the reply. I've done many things to try and fix this problem since last post. I've checked the boot order under BIOS, but I cannot change the setting as it doesn't even detect my HDD as part of the system. I've taken the CMOS battery out for a long period of time, and replaced it, only to have to re-set my time under bios (did not effect the detection of my HDD). I've replaced the sata cables and have tried reordering them. Through that way I've found that the system only hangs up when it starts trying to detect my HDD, saying "Detecting IDE Drives." I flashed my BIOS with the P06 flash (from PO2), and that hasn't changed a thing. I'm really at a loss here, I have no idea what else I can do. Thanks for everyones help. -mojavestorm |
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Sep 22 2008, 04:17 AM
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#4
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Member Group: Members Posts: 87 Joined: 20-April 08 Member No.: 204,168 |
Check/reseat/swap SATA and power cables on your hard drive. plug the SATA cable into a different header on the MOBO, swap HD into another system. That will find the problem be it cable, MOBO, or hard drive.
You know it's not a BIOS/software problem since the hard drive was recognized previously. It is a hardware concern so start swapping. |
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Sep 22 2008, 11:44 AM
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#5
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 6 Joined: 20-September 08 Member No.: 240,242 |
Alright-
So i reseated all of my SATA cables and switched them around, no luck at all. I even tried using new SATA cables. I put the HD on it's on connection to the power supply with a new cable, and that didn't solve the problem. I took the HD out to make sure it was spinning and powering up when the computer was booted, and it did, so I'm not so sure it's a faulty HD. I'm not so sure it's the motherboard either, since it's detecting that something is in the SATA port, just doesn't know what. The reason I say this is that whenever I switched the HD Sata to different ports, the bios would hang up on that port that the HD is plugged into, giving that "Detecting IDE Drives" error message for a period of time. I have no other system with SATA capabilities to plug the HD into, sadly. That would be the true test wouldn't it? I've searched all over the web for a solution, but I find many unsolved threads, unfortunately  It's getting to crunch time too, I have some code on the computer that I have to turn in for a project this week. Great luck, eh? Thanks for all your help guys, let's find a solution!! -mojavestorm This post has been edited by mojavestorm: Sep 22 2008, 11:45 AM |
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Sep 22 2008, 01:11 PM
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#6
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Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 6,542 Joined: 3-September 05 From: Killeen, TX Member No.: 33,068 |
Well...run diagnostics on the SATA hard drive, using the hard drive manufacturer's website to obtain such. That will either indict them or vindicate that piece of hardware.
Louis |
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Sep 22 2008, 02:06 PM
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#7
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 6 Joined: 20-September 08 Member No.: 240,242 |
QUOTE(hamluis @ Sep 22 2008, 01:11 PM)  Well...run diagnostics on the SATA hard drive, using the hard drive manufacturer's website to obtain such. That will either indict them or vindicate that piece of hardware. Louis Is there a way to run the diagnostic software from a disc, or from BIOS? I looked at the Seagate Diagnostic software and I can only find a version that you can run from windows. I can only do this as my OS is on the hard drive that isn't being detected >< --Nevermind, I found a bootable .iso file, going to try that now! I'll let you guys know how it goes. This post has been edited by mojavestorm: Sep 22 2008, 02:09 PM |
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Sep 22 2008, 02:30 PM
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#8
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 6 Joined: 20-September 08 Member No.: 240,242 |
Alright, I tried to run diagnostic software via a CD (I have no floppy drive)
It wasn't able to load the CD, and a message of Media Test Failure, check cable, appeared.. I've gotten this message before sometimes when I tried inserting a .iso disk in there. I burnt it to the CD properly and it should be working, but alas, I can't do anything. Bummer Any other suggestions? -mojavestorm |
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