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Getting message during boot: SATA Secondary drive 0 not found.
I have a Dell XPS Generation 2 computer with two SATA drives not configured as RAID. During the BIOS Boot I get the message: SATA Secondary drive 0 not found. Press F1 to continue or F2 to enter Setup. If I enter Setup, I find:
SATA Primary drive
Model ST3120026AS
120 GB
SATA Secondary drive
Unkown Device
If I just press F1 it goes on to load Windows XP. How can I access my SATA Secondary Drive? My BIOS is V A06.
shesagordie
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June 8th, 2008 20:00
First, check that both the data and power cables are properly connected to the motherboard and the drive.
Use Dell diagnostic's extended test, read, write, verify, on the hard drive, not the quickie express test.
How to use Dell's Diagnostic Utility
After the Dell Diagnostics loads and the Main Menu screen appears, click the button for the option you want.
Diagnostics can also, be run from the Drivers and Utilities Resource CD.
Bev.
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NoBootJack
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June 9th, 2008 00:00
I checked cables, unplugged and replugged cables from the harddrives and system board and could see no apparent problem with cables.
I tried to run the Dell diagnostic tests but the diagnostic could not even find the drive so it could run the tests. I would guess that the reason for not finding the Secondary SATA drive is that the drive was not found at the BIOS level. Is there something I can do at the BIOS level to check for problems?
shesagordie
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June 9th, 2008 02:00
As you cannot run diagnostics and if the hard drive is not recognized in the setup [BIOS] then it sounds like a failed hard drive and you need to replace it
Bev.
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NoBootJack
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June 9th, 2008 06:00
Bev.
I can't explain what happened but I was able to get the BIOS to recognize my Secondary SATA Drive by turning it to "OFF" in the BIOS, booting the computer several times with that drive turned "OFF" and then resetting that drive to "AUTO" in the BIOS and rebooting. I ran it through the Dell diagnostics and it passed all tests and seems to be fully functional.
I suspect that somehow the BIOS memory for that drive got corrupted and wouldn't reset under the "AUTO" option in the BIOS and that rebooting with the BIOS set to "OFF" for that drive somehow zeroed out the setting and it was then able to read the drive. But that's only a guess.
Thanks for your Help,
NoBootJack:smileyhappy:
shesagordie
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June 9th, 2008 18:00
Pleased to hear that the problem is resolved.
Bev.
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NoBootJack
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June 11th, 2008 23:00
Bev.,
Unfortunately the problem didn't stay solved. My next step was to switch the ports to which the two SATA drives were connected. Now I got the message, "SATA Primary Drive 0 not found. I switched the C:\ drive to the secondary port (I didn't know if it would be recognized as Boot Drive in the secondary Port). From this test I can only conclude that the D:\ drive is bad.
I'm looking for a replacement. If I do not connect the two Drives as RAID, I presume I do not need to get a duplicate of the other (good) drive and I can install an IDE or SATA and connect internally or externally as Firewire or USB.
NoBootJack
shesagordie
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June 12th, 2008 02:00