[RESOLVED] Computer Won't Recognize Hard Drive

[pipercub]

I have a Dell Optiplex 320 that I want to install XP Pro. I have a new Western Digital WD5000AAKX caviar blue hard drive. When I boot up I get two beeps and the computer does not recognize the hard drive. I went to Western Digital's site and became confused. Since I only have the one hard drive do I not need a jumper? Or do I need the jumper at 7-8 for XP? Do I need to select something in the BIOS? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[photolady]

If that's a SATA drive, jumpers don't matter on them. You said you get two beeps. You should only be hearing one beep. So something else is wrong.

What lights do you see lit up on the back of this computer?

[pipercub]

Thanks for the reply! There are no lights on the back of the computer.

[SpywareDr]

Dell OptiPlex 320 Troubleshooting Tools and Utilities, including Dell Diagnostics, System and Diagnostic Lights, Beep Codes, Error Messages, etc.

[falcon2000]

Umm. hold on.

[pipercub]

I looked at the computer to see where the SATA cord was connected. It was on #1. So I went into the BIOS and selected #1 and made sure it was on. The BIOS then said, in the bootup sequence, that a SATA drive was connected. I loaded the XP CD and am now formatting the hard drive. Thanks for the replies! I need to keep up better with the technology of changes!

[photolady]

So I went into the BIOS and selected #1 and made sure it was on.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean there but as long as it's working, doesn't matter. Thanks for posting back you found the solution.

[pipercub]

Sorry for the brief explanation. I started the computer and clicked on F2. Under system I went to boot sequence. There were 6 items listed. 1 Onboard or USB CD-ROM drive. 2 Onboard SATA hard drive. 3 onboard USB floppy drive. 4 Onboard PATA hard drive. 5 onboard network controller and 6 USB device. 2,4 and 5 were not present. Since I have a USB hard drive I went to drives and it listed diskette drive SATA-0, SATA-1, SATA-2, SATA-3, PATA-0, PATA-1 and smart reporting. I looked at the cord from the hard drive to the mother board and saw that it was connected to SATA-1 on the mother board. So I selected SATA-1 and made sure it was on. Then I went back to boot sequence and it said choice 2 was there. I then ran the XP install CD and was able to format the hard drive and install XP. Now when I turn the computer on I get two quick beeps and the lights, which are on the front of the computer, light up 1, 2, 3 steady and 4 flickers but does not stay on. The message on the screen says drive 4 not found: Parallel ATA, PATA-0 {Pri IDE Master} Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility. If I strike F1 XP loads. I need to find a link for the Ethernet device as I do not have a Dell installation disk

[falcon2000]

Yes, Dell's BIOS is funky like this. It fooled me like this twice before - once when I added a 2nd DVD drive in one Dell and another time adding a 2nd HDD in another Dell. Unlike other BIOSes which have every drive port enabled by default no matter a drive is connected to it or not; Dell's set any unused drive port to "Disabled" by default and it stays disabled even after it auto-detect a new drive is now connected to it. It requires you to specifically enable it manually. I keep forgetting this funkiness about Dell.

[falcon2000]

Now when I turn the computer on I get two quick beeps and the lights, which are on the front of the computer, light up 1, 2, 3 steady and 4 flickers but does not stay on. The message on the screen says drive 4 not found: Parallel ATA, PATA-0 {Pri IDE Master} Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility. If I strike F1 XP loads.

To avoid having to do that every time, go back into the BIOS and turn the port for drive 4 to "off" (disabled). I suppose that was your old hard drive which is now removed.

I need to find a link for the Ethernet device as I do not have a Dell installation disk

Under Network here: http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/...plex-320?s=bsd

[pipercub]

I turned port 4 off. Thank you very much! It took me a couple of hours to figure out how to download files from Dell. I still don't have an Ethernet driver. I have a zipped file called optiplex 320 ethernet controller that when run it it says I need to be connected to the internet. I thought I needed an ethernet driver to connect to the internet. Any idea what I need to do?

Thanks

[jdc2000]

Is that a .zip file? The only thing that should happen is either you get a dialog box asking where to unzip the files, or, if you don't have a .zip program installed, Windows should just open the .zip file and show you the files inside, which you can then copy to a regular folder and use. If you are getting a message that says you need to be connected to the internet, I would scan that file/archive (or whatever it is) for malware. You could post a screen capture of the message you get, if the file is clean.

[pipercub]

It is a zip file and I did scan it. It says it is safe. It does not show the files. I do not know how to post a screen capture. If I click on explore on the file optiplex-320-ethernet-controller I get download_driverdetect and then if I click on that it says I need to be connected to the internet.

[jdc2000]

That does not sound like you got the file from Dell's web site. Try their site for drivers first. The computer should have a service tag number on it. You can use that to look up the driver downloads for it. If the ethernet controller is on the motherboard (likely), the motherboard chipset drivers may be include the ethernet controller drivers, if you don't see them listed separately.

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/...oductSelection

[falcon2000]

Sounds like either you didn't download from Dell or that you chose to use their Download Manger (that may explain why it asked to go online.) The file is zipped, i.e., compressed, but not a .zip file. It should be a .exe file called R149798.EXE. When you double-click the .exe, it will be extracted to C:\Dell\R149708. If it doesn't auto run after the extraction, just go to the fold and run the setup.exe.

There is also a separate driver for the wireless adapter there on Dell.