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If a drive has physically failed then it won't even be detected in the BIOS, I wouldn't count that as not being set up correctly in BIOS.
Technically you could argue that that is the case, but realistically if you can't even see the drive in BIOS, you have no chance of 'setting' it up do you ?
Using your argument, if you don't even have a drive installed then the problem is that you have not set up the drive correctly in the BIOS. The fact that it's not even present is apparently irrelavent ?
Nix, sorry to say but you are wrong.
You can set up a hard drive in the BIOS/CMOS setup on my computer manually at ANY time, whether a hard drive is physically installed or not, and whether a hard drive you have physically installed has failed (with a head crash for example) or not.
You can also set a hard drive which has been properly installed physically using the correct jumper setting, power required etc and working beautifully previously to "Not Installed" in the BIOS/CMOS setup. Thereafter, it will not be accessible.
Yes, you can set the CHS information up manually in the BIOS to you hearts content, but if the drive has physically failed or is not present then it's not going to do you any good is it.
The original poster was advised that the drive had probably failed which if it is the case, no matter of setting CHS info will change that.
Your first post asserted that the drive had not failed and the inference was that the CHS information was set incorrectly.
Even after we were advised that a new hard drive had been installed, you still argued that it was all about CHS settings and that "There is rarely anything wrong with a hard drive...regardless of what error messages indicate or lead you to believe".
Subsequently the discussion seems to have centered around the ability to set CHS settings manually in the BIOS - which I agree can be done, but as I stated in my first paragraph of this post, if the drive has physically failed or is not persent will not do you any good will it ?
Of course if you have some way of setting CHS values that will ressurect a failed hard drive or manifest an otherwise not present hard drive then I'd be moer than happy to hear of them.
There is no indication at all that the drive has failed.
Setting it up in the BIOS/CMOS setup correctly either manually or by autodetecting it will help determine if it is OK or not.
If the drive has a problem it will probably generate some kind of error message (besides the one already discussed related to the inability of the format program to work with a RAMdrive) ....as long as its setup in the BIOS/CMOS correctly.
Nix, you also said
"Of course if you have some way of setting CHS values that will ressurect a failed hard drive or manifest an otherwise not present hard drive then I'd be moer than happy to hear of them."
A fixed disk not present message reported by the fdisk program can be eliminated by setting up a hard drive in BIOS/CMOS.
...and what does moer mean?
but not if the drive is physically dead or not present.Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert M
I also don't believe you can autodetect a dead drive or one that's not present as the BIOS won't see it.more - just my bad spelling as usual.Quote:
Originally Posted by Robert M
Yes, to clear the "not present" message, the hard drive needs to be physically installed in addition to being setup in CMOS.
A drive that was previously set up correctly in the BIOS/CMOS setup should continue to be setup in the BIOS/CMOS setup even after it fails...
I'm not sure if a hard drive which is physically dead (for example a drive that suffered a head crash and can no longer be used) will be auto-detected assuming it is powered, cabled correctly and the attached IDE electronics are intact. I think it CAN be auto-detected by letting the auto-detect function execute the "identify drive" command using the BIOS/CMOS auto-detect command if the electronics on the board attached to the drive are OK. I think drive information is available that will report to the auto-detect program and help set up the drive because it is embedded on the circuit board.
And..as a side note, a head crash is the way most hard drives actually fail when they do fail. For example, the electronics on the circuit board will fail far less often.
So therefore, I think a failed drive can be auto-detected in many instances while in BIOS/CMOS setup even if it has failed with a head crash and doing so may help you determine if it has.
well fwiw, im not a wall and found it interesting lol.
i was refering to this quote
"Yes, but apparently he's not interested or he would/should have responded. Ya think? Just struck me funny that you all may be talking to a wall. "
Just a sincere attempt to try and bring closure:
All of these "arguments" have merit, and the discussion has been very interesting, but I think the most important elements of the original poster's issue are being overlooked in an attempt to defend a perspective that, although technically correct, PROBABLY doesn't apply to this thread - let me digress:
1) The technical points about CMOS/BIOS and HD interaction is specifically correct, BUT - since the original poster said that a new HD was plugged in and immediately fired up and worked, it's MOST likely that the HD parameters in CMOS/BIOS were ALREADY setup as "autodetect", thereby detecting and using the "new" HD with no interaction from the user. This means that the CMOS/BIOS settings were MOST LIKELY ALREADY set to "autodetect", so the continued discussion about HOW to setup those parameters, and WHEN it's important, and WHY it makes a difference, are probably moot.
2) If the spindle bearing doesn't rotate, the HD can't be detected by the hardware.
3) If the head has crashed, it MAY or MAY NOT be detectable by the hardware in the PC, it depends totally on what still works and what doesn't work in an individual drive.
So... just to be reasonable and logical, it's most likely that the original HD in fact DID fail, and the MB was already setup to autodetect HD's, and that's why when the new HD was connected, it immediately worked with no further intervention necessary on the part of the operator.
The discussion about RamDrives, CMOS/BIOS setup technicalities, and other deeper points was very interesting and valuable, but doesn't appear to apply to this particular situation, and continuing to defend that view is just misguided. IMVHO!!!
I say the original hard drive is most likely OK.
I have 3 old HD in my cupboard.
I might pull one out and drive a stake through it's heart and then plug it into my system and see what bios does.
Well if you avoid the chip where the embedded information about the hard drive is contained when you drive the stake, it will probably respond to the "identify drive" routine started from the BIOS/CMOS setup.
Then you can brag to your friends and have all the correct information about what the storage capacity of the drive was.
By the way, I think you should read or re-read the Acceptable Use Policy of this forum.
Here is an excerpt from it:
You will not post any material that is knowingly false, misleading, or inaccurate.
No one's posted anything false or inaccurate yet that I can see. I never thought hard drives could die, either, but after opening my mind I realized I was mistaken. ;)
Everything mechnical will eventually wear out and fail.
Hard drives are mechanical.
All hard drives will fail.