Internal HDD HARD error!

Question

I have an Inspiron 6000, about 2 years old. It cannot see the hard drive. Is the problem: (1) a bad hard drive, or (2) a bad IDE controller? Thanks! When I turn the notebook on, I get this message: Internal HDD HARD error! Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility If I press F2 & view the BIOS setup, it shows: Primary Hard Drive = {none} If I press F1, it says 'No bootable devices'. I created a boot CD with Dell Diagnostics. It could not see the hard drive either. I created two boot CDs using Hitachi drive utilities. Neither could see the hard drive. The drive is a 30 GB Hitachi. Everything was working ok until I tried to install a new 120 GB Seagate this weekend. It gave the same error messages, but the original drive worked OK when I replaced it? I asked Compusa to install a replacement 120 GB, another drive, and they failed. When I replaced the original 30 GB drive, now the notebook does not recognize the drive. I hesitate to buy another new drive since I don't know if the problem is the hard drive or the MoBo / IDE controller. Any suggestions?

jackshack · Answer

During all this activity did you remember to put the 'blade' adapter on the pins of the hard drive before you installed it into the computer?  The symptoms you are getting suggest that the drive is not making contact with the main board.  This adapter must be removed very carefully from the old drive if you are not to bend or break pins, and replaced on the drive to be installed, also carefully with the blank in the socket side of the adapter matching the missing pin on the drive.   If you have done all of this I begin to wonder if the connector on the main board has been damaged.  If that is the case your only recourse is to replace the main board.

6000_user · Answer

thanks for your generous help. I don't know what the blade adapter looks like & couldn't find a description. I don't think there is a blade adapter on my notebook. The disk caddy slides out of the side of the notebook. There are only two pieces in the caddy, that's the drive and the empty caddy shell. The pins aren't bent & don't appear to be missing.

ejn63 · Answer

If you see two rows of bare pins on the back of the drive, that's the problem. You should see a black connector with flat edge-connect gold contacts.

The original drive had the adapter - find it and look at the back of the drive. If you've lost the drive/adapter, and see just pins, you'll need to purchase a drive connector for your system.

You can see what the connector looks like - it's inside the plastic bag in this photo:

http://www.parts-people.com/images/products/G5044.JPG

6000_user · Answer

Thanks JackShack & ejn63! I retrieved the blade adapter from CompUSA & the notebook works now. I really appreciate your help. Thanks again!

Storage, Drives & Media

Internal HDD HARD error!

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