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Optiplex GX620 frozen hard drive
A client called me indicating she was getting a battery low indicator on reboot and that the computer was continually rebooting after attempting to boot Windows. I confidently went out there with my CR2032 motherboard battery and swapped it out, and the low battery indicator issue is resolve; however, the computer remains unbootable - sort of, anyway. I get, more or less, this sequence of events:
- Turn on the computer.
- Goes through BIOS
- Gets to boot options (Windows did not boot properly...how do you want to boot)
- I tell it to boot normally.
- It gets through the Windows XP (Pro) splash screen and up to the blue screen (not BSOD, just the one with the box indicating that it is loading network settings).
- The machine reboots.
That will repeat indefinitely. If I go to Safe Mode instead, it gets as far as the first list of files that are loading and then immediately reboots.
I go into the BIOS, and it tells me the hard drive is frozen and that I should try to set a password immediately after a reboot. I turn the power off, then back on and go to BIOS. Hard drive is no longer frozen, but any attempt to get to Windows starts the process above and seems to re-freeze it.
I already went in and ensured that the SATA drive is enabled in the BIOS as well as switching SATA operation from Normal to Combination. This may change the behavior somewhat, but not enough to get as far as a logon screen in Windows.
So, I took the drive out and connected it to my Windows 7 laptop via a USB SATA drive reader (i.e. not booting to it - just reading it as a removable drive), but it seems to not recognize the file system as it normally does when I connect a SATA drive in this fashion. It does see the capacity correctly but tells me the drive needs to be initialized and pops up boot record options. I can hardly believe that the drive is unbootable or needs to be initialized when I can get past the Windows progress indicator and almost as far as a logon screen when the drive is back in the original computer.
My world generally starts when the hardware works correctly, so I am somewhat lost at this level. One thing is fairly clear: this all began with a failed motherboard battery, since replacing that battery did resolve the BIOS low voltage indicator. I have a hard time (although certainly not impossible) believing that the hard drive would actually fail on the same day as the motherboard battery, so I really suspect that there is something in the BIOS that is changing a security setting on the hard drive. I see TPM and other options besides just the HD password option. Is it possible for the BIOS to change a setting on the HD that would make the contents unrecognizable even to another computer?
I can replace the hard drive easily enough, but I don't want to do that if there is some motherboard issue that is causing the HD to be disabled somewhere in the boot process and/or if this is actually a motherboard failure. Besides that, even if I do replace the hard drive, I would really like to get the user's files back.
Any ideas are much appreciated!
rdunnill
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April 5th, 2013 12:00
I suspect power supply or motherboard failure, in that order of probability.
DELL-Saharsh K
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April 4th, 2013 08:00
Hi Brian.Hart,
We may try a series of steps to isolate what exactly is the root cause of the issue.
First we will try and load BIOS defaults and then check if the system boots or not. Here are the steps:
You may also try to use the Recovery Console mode in Windows XP to fix the boot sector and boot record to see if that works. Here are the steps:
Also, if we set a password on the Hard Drive through BIOS, then that particular hard drive will be inaccessible on any other system.
Brian.Hart
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April 4th, 2013 10:00
I already did the first two (loading defaults and enabling drive as first bootable, then running HD diagnostics) to no avail. I will run the Express Test and try Recovery Console next, then post results. It just seems too strange too be a coincidence that this all started with a low voltage CR2032 battery on the motherboard.
DELL-Saharsh K
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April 5th, 2013 00:00
Hi Brian.Hart,
Thank you for sharing the information.
I understand your concern, but it is very unlikely to face such an issue purely due to CMOS battery failure. Please run the Express Test on the system hardware to identify if there is any hardware functionality issue or not.
Please post the results for the Express Test and Recovery Console fix.
Awaiting your response!
Brian.Hart
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April 5th, 2013 07:00
This must be either a motherboard failure or a power supply failure. With nothing else changing, the status of the computer has progressed from the ability to get through BIOS setup and partway through Windows setup to now where the power light just cycles repeatedly and quickly with a small clicking sound when the computer is turned on. At this point, it will not get even as far as BIOS. It was just confusing that the entire thing started with a low battery indicator that went away when I replaced the battery.
Brian.Hart
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April 5th, 2013 09:00
The problem occurs even when I remove the hard drive before attempting to boot the computer. This is a change from yesterday's behavior, when it was able to at least get as far the BIOS and partway through a Windows startup. I checked the LED patterns online, but nothing makes any sense. When I power up the computer, I can hear the fan beginning to spin up, the 3 and 4 lights come on together and remain on while the 1 light and hard drive lights blink twice within the first second, then it all goes dark and the fan turns off for about four seconds, then the whole thing repeats itself. The click coincides with the two blinks of the 1 and hard drive lights. The click is coming not from the hard drive, but from the little speaker (?) on the motherboard next to the front power light. There are no beeps, just the clicks.
If I remove the hard drive entirely, I get no lights at all, and the system clicks quickly and randomly--the same little speaker next to the power light, and the power light flashes off and on very quickly and unevenly, from perhaps one click per second to three or four clicks per second.
DELL-Saharsh K
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April 5th, 2013 09:00
Hi Brian.Hart,
It appears to be the hard drive failure as we can hear a clicking noise from it.
Please check the below chart for the diagnostic LEDs on the system and check what is the pattern you see:
Please observe if you hear any beep code pattern while powering on the system from the below chart:
Also, if you have a known good hard drive available, please try using that.
Hope this helps. Please share the findings.
Brian.Hart
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April 10th, 2013 08:00
I tested the power supply with an Optiplex 745 (uses the same one), and it worked fine; I tried the one from the 745 with the 620, and the 620 still will not boot. It is just very odd that this all started with a low battery issue, progressed to a hard drive that would no longer work (even in another computer), and finally to no boot at all.
Any suggestions on the best place to get a motherboard for a 745?
DELL-Saharsh K
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April 11th, 2013 02:00
Hi Brian.Hart,
If you are in the US, you may contact our Spare Parts and Accessories dept on 1-800-357-3355. Please refer to the link for more information http://dell.to/YYkrcU
If you are in a different region, go to http://dell.to/QjjZDA select the country/region from the top, scroll down and click on 'Contact Dell Sales' to get the contact information.
rdunnill
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April 11th, 2013 21:00
EBay.
Brian.Hart
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May 10th, 2013 09:00
Never mind. Somewhere in the couple of hours of tinkering with this system as it degenerated from a simple failing battery to a full-blown motherboard failure, something must have convinced me to actually set that password, but I never wrote it down. After about 30 guesses, I came up with what I had set it to: "test". Clever, huh?
Anyway, I am back in business now.
Brian.Hart
20 Posts
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May 10th, 2013 09:00
Well, after this system sitting around on my desk for a few weeks while I was stuck on bigger projects, I got back to it, ordered a new motherboard, and now it at least loads BIOS normally.
But now it claims there is a hard drive password set; however, I am fairly confident I never set a password. Is it possible that something in the BIOS on the failing motherboard may have set it? Do I have any options at this point other than buying a new hard drive?
DELL-Saharsh K
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May 10th, 2013 11:00
Hi Brian.Hart,
Glad to know that everything is working fine. Please let me know if you need any assistance.