Hard drive not detected by BIOS

[BorisandBailey]

Hi. I have looked through some other articles here at TechSpot relating to non-detected hard drives but did not find this peculiar issue. After four months of running just fine,n suddenly the hard drive is not detected in the BIOS but sometimes the Windows logo comes up (it has to see the hard drive from somewhere!) but does not open the operating system.

COMPUTER SPECS--all components were purchased four months ago:
Motherboard: ASUS M2A-VM, a low to mid-range board
DRAM 3 GB Ultra Dual-channel
Power supply: Thermaltake TR2-R1 450-watt
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 2GH
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 320 GB 72 RPM (Nice!)

TESTS:
I tried a different power supply unit.
I ran the Windows CD, pressed R, and it declared that no disk was found.
I ran the Ultimate Boot Disk and it did not see the hard disk.
I connected the hard disk to an MSI motherboard, ran the BIOS, and it detected the hard disk. I did not run Windows as I knew Microsoft would not see it as the original motherboard.

BIOS:
The BIOS on the ASUS computer does not have a listing or selection for PATA. It just has IDE (the DVD drive) and four SATA connections. The hard drive is not detected but it is on SATA connection #1.

I suspect a failed hard drive which is surprising since it's a Seagate. I don't have another SATA hard disk to test that idea with. I haven't tried clearing the CMOS, either, but at this point, I'm not sure what good that would do.

This is a friend's computer that I put together. No, she didn't back up her files. I always tell people to back up their files. Sigh.

So, what do you think?

 

[gavinseabrook]

SATA cables are kinda weird. I had a similar problem, and i replaced the cable with a new one. The problem i had was that the SATA cable was over stretched (the connection part) and was not making a full contact with the cable head. Try replacing it and let us know.

 

[CCT]

In your Bios under Advanced, South OnChip PCI device, you need the Sata controller enabled and Sata type as IDE. ( I believe those are the defaults anyway)

Sata cables can, as stated by another, can be problematic.

You can also try another Sata slot.

 

[raybay]

Seagate drives are good. We use them almost exclusively in our repair shops.
However, any drive can be damaged in shipment. Or dropped by the packer before it was packed into a box.
Whenever you have a hard drive that is not recognized, you have to assume it is a hard drive failure.
There are so many simple, quick tests you can use to analyze it. Put it in another computer as a slave. Install it temporily in am external enclosure... You just don't want to attempt an install as a main drive in another computer because you will make the operating system very angry if it was working.
Low cost SATA cables are a very common failure, and SATA cables can also be easily damaged by folding or rolling too tightly, by small impacts to the cable, or by crimping the connectors to the cable. We see great numbers of failed ATA cables, and make extra effort to buy cables only from sellers we know well.

 

[BorisandBailey]

Thank you for your replies! Gavins and Ray, I'm going to try a different SATA cable and see how that goes. CCT, I'll check the BIOS setting under advanced. I'll let you know how it goes today.

 

[BorisandBailey]

Conclusion

Well, I have tried a fresh SATA cable but no luck. BIOS settings are correct. It looks like the problem is a failed hard drive. I'll get the serial number and contact Seagate. Thank you for all the input and correspondence, everyone!