Maxtor S-ATA HDD not detected at cold boot!

Dell-Karell,

I'm still having the problem with my system:

Dimension 8300 (service tag 8ZX5T0J - Netherlands)

P4 2.8 / BIOS A02 / Seagate SATA 120 gb (no raid!)

Hope to hear from you soon,

thanks & regards, Arjan

 

Message Edited by Aweijdema on 09-02-2003 03:40 AM

MKO,

Here is a list of drives that Dell sells with this system.
Whether they will work for sure or not, I cannot guarantee.
I'm sure the next bios rev will hopefully fix the problem, but Dell engineering is still looking
into it.
Seagate-AVALANCHE series drives.
Maxtor-Calypso series drives.

Tstormx,
The A02 bios was released to fix this problem, but I cannot give you a 100% guarantee
as you can see from the info in this thread.
I would recommend you upgrade your bios anyway.
It won't hurt anything and may fix the problem in your particular situation.

Aweijdema,
Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the info Dell-Karell but,

I checked the Maxtor and Seagate website and both the series of drives are not listed. Does Dell use (S-ATA) drives that are not on the consumer market? Is it possible to publish a list with tested (and approved) hardware on the Dell website so the customer can avoid problems with not compatible hardware? Don't get me wrong, i like the 8300 but if you are confronted daily with something stupid like the cold-boot-problem... Please put your Engineers into second gear and keep the fire going!

Current drive families from Seagate are: Barracuda and Cheetah (STxxxxxx)

Current drive families from Maxtor are: DiamondMax Plus 9 and Fireball (6Yxxxxx)

Karell, here's another one for you....

I have a 3 month old Dimension 8300, service tag 26YJT21. I am running BIOS version A02.

I am having a wicked problem installing my new Maxtor Serial ATA/150 250GB 7200rpm hard drive. This will be my secondary hard drive. My main drive is the Ultra ATA/100 120 GB drive that came with my computer.

Whenever I start the computer (with the Maxtor drive connected) I keep getting an error message that reads: : "NTLDR is missing. Press ctrl-alt-delete to restart".

If I disconnect the Maxtor drive, my computer starts up and runs fine. When I connect it and restart, it stops at the same point each time.

I've updated the BIOS, cleared my NVRAM, reset factory settings, everything. I've tried running the Maxtor connected to SATA 0 and SATA 1. The same message keeps coming up. It seems that for some reason my computer is trying to startup from the SATA drive, as opposed to my main ATA drive.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am at wits end with this!

Thanks!

 

 

I sounds like a partition problem. What kind of partitions do you have on your harddrives (primary, secondary)?Keep the following in mind:

Windows first assigns driveletters to Primary partitions on all harddrives, then it assigns driveletters to all secondary partitions.

If you have a disk with both a primary and a secondary parttion (C: and D:) and you add a drive with also a primary partition the first drive will be numbered C: and E: and the second drive D:

Try to use only a primary partition on your first harddrive and first partition (windows systemdisk) and use secondary partitions on the other drives or other partitions on the first drive.

---

Don't you get the cold-boot-problem with your Maxtor S-ATA harddisk? No warning that the drive is not detected? Do you have the Maxtor 6Y250MO drive?

THANKS!

I am not 100% sure how the SATA drive is partitioned....although it was assigned drive number J: when it was working on Sunday.

My problem is without being able to boot at all with that drive connected (since I keep getting the error message) I can't figure out a workaround to reformat the drive and fix the partition problem. It is clear that the computer recognizes the drive as I can see it in the BIOS, but I have to turn it off in the BIOS in order to startup....

I believe it is the M6Y250MO. I don't think I've gotten it sufficiently operational to encounter the cold boot problem....once I do I will let you know if it is doing it.

Thanks again!

Mike

Devils,

I remember reading somewhere that when you install a SATA drive, the system defaults
to trying to boot to those drives first. Then, if it does not find an operating system on the
SATA drives it is suppose to go to the IDE drives and look for the operating system there.
This may be the cause of the problem, but there is no way to specifically tell the system
which drive you want it to look at first in the bios.
So, try the following:

1.Make sure that "Hard disk drive sequence" has "System Bios Boot Device" set
first. Then below it should be "USB DEVICE".
2.Set the option for "Boot Sequence" to "Hard Disk Drive C:" first, "Diskette Drive" second,
and "IDE CDROM" third.
3.You can also try using the CLRCM jumper on the motherboard to clear the ESCD data.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
How do I use the RTCRST Jumper for troubleshooting a "no post" situation?

Answer:
-Older system models: Dimension4100, Dimension XPS_D, XPS_R, XPS_T and so on.
Remove all external devices and cables from the back of the system.
Remove the system cover and locate the RTCRST jumper.
(Location differs by platform refer to the service label or user documentation or Dell technical specifications).
Remove the jumper shunt from the (PSWD) Password jumper block.
Place the jumper shunt from the (PSWD) jumpers, onto the RTCRST jumper.
Remove the coin cell battery.
(Location differs by platform refer to the service label or user documentation or Dell technical specifications).
Reinstall the coin cell battery up side down, and wait 15 seconds.
Again remove the coin cell battery.
Reinstall the coin battery back to the original orientation.
Remove the jumper shunt on RTCRST jumper block.
Replace the jumper shunt back onto the (PSWD) jumper block.
(You must place the jumper shunt back onto the correct pins on the PSWD block.)
Install the system power cord, video cord, mouse, keyboard.
Power up the system to see if the problem has changed.

Newer System Models:
The jumper is called "CLR CM" instead of the "RTCRST" jumper, but it serves the same purpose.
The CLR CM jumper is used when the system bios is corrupted or when you cannot post the system.
To use the jumper follow these steps.

-Dimension 8300:
With power cord connected to the system make sure the system is off.
Cover the CLR CM jumper for 5 to 10 seconds using the PSWD jumper.
Its code-name is: J9G2. It is located in the corner of the MB, where the front panel connector is.
The settings are: 1-2 to clear, 2-3 is the normal setting.
Remove the CLR CM jumper and replace the PSWD jumper back to its proper location.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

MKO,

Here is some more specific data on the SATA drives Dell includes with this system.
These are the drives I could verify for sure are SATA.

Part#..........Description:
0Y841..........60GB,Serial ATA,SEAGATE-ST360015AS
Seagate Barracuda SATA V Disc Drive User's Guide.
5X999..........60GB,Serial ATA,MAXTOR-6Y060M042505A
No user docs found.
R0085..........120GB,Serial ATA,SEAGATE-ST3120023AS
Seagate Barracuda SATA V Disc Drive User's Guide.
R0190..........120G,Serial ATA,SEAGATE-
No model number found.
No user docs found.

Thanks Dell-Karell,

The Maxtor drive (6Y060MO) is the same type as the Maxtor in my 8300 only i have the 120Gb version of this drive (6Y120MO). Does the 60Gb drive also give the same cold-boot-problems in the 8300? I didn't go for the Seagate drive because this drive doesn't have a normal power interface (according to the specs) but only a S-ATA power interface. The 8300 doesn't have S-ATA power connecters and i try to avoid converter cables. Does Dell allready have a Beta A03 BIOS to correct the cold-boot-problem? Anyway thanks for your support.

Mark. 

Thanks Karell and Mark!

I will check the BIOS and try the jumper resetting you described above when I get home tonight.

Do either of you know if there is anyway that I can boot up the computer without the SATA drive attached, then somehow attach it and access it after windows has loaded?

That will allow me to check the formatting/partitioning and also see of there is anything on the drive that could be causing the problem. I would even like to try to fully erase the drive then reinstall it to see if that fixes the problem.

Thanks for your help! I will keep you posted.....

Mike

Mike,

Never attach a harddrive to a powered system you can blow the controller!

If you want to check or change the partitions on a drive just make your CD-ROM a boot device before your harddrive in the BIOS and boot your system from the XP recovery CD. When you boot from the XP-CD you can check and change partitions on your harddrives as you like just folow the on-screen instructions. When you have created or deleted the partition you want just exit the XP-setup program (with F3 i think).

Good luck,

Mark.

Well I solved the problem and didn't blow up my computer!!

The BIOS was set correctly, I reset the jumper, still did recognize the problem.

I ended up trying the boot menu (F12) and I tried option 3 - Primary Master Drive. My computer immediately booted up, and recognized the Maxtor drive without any problem. Very Strange.

Mark, just to be sure I took your advice and reformatted the drive.  Since doing both of those steps it now it is working fine. No problems at all.

I am not having any problems booting up. My drive is the Maxtor 6Y250MO, no issues with cold-booting. I can tell it is checking the drive during startup, as it takes a couple extra seconds to load, but Windows keeps coming up.

Thanks to both Mark and Karell....another problem solved. Mark, you may want to try the same thing, boot up under primary master and reformat. I know there's probably no technical explanation, but its been working perfectly ever since.

Hi Mike,

Good to hear that your Maxtor drive workes fine. In my 8300 the Maxtor (6Y120MO) is the second S-ATA drive, i boot from a S-ATA Western-Digital Raptor drive (that workes fine). I use a primary windows system partition on the Raptor and a secondary partition on the Maxtor drive. Even with only the Maxtor connected (and a primary partition on that drive) i get the cold-boot-problem so it must be drive and BIOS related. It is very strange that drives from the same brand and type (only other size) react different in the 8300. (i think i have to wait for the A03 BIOS...)

Mark.

DELL-Karell-

I received my new 8300 5 days ago and am having the same SATA boot problems as posted previously.

Dell Dimension 8300

3.0ghz 800mhzFSB HyperThreading enabled

1gb DDR

Primary boot drive is factory installed 80gb

2 -120gb Maxtor SATA drives customer installed  using Windows Disk Manager to configure "Striping" Dynamic Link Drives for 237gb combined.

Drives are not recognized at cold boot. Must use ctrl-alt-del at error message (due to BIOS not allowing enough time for drives to be recognized) to warm boot  and complete windows Start up. Must also use ctrl-alt-del after computer has gone into sleep mode.

Everyone-

I am in the process of returning this machine because I purchased a new Dell 8100 2 years ago and believed the Dell CSR telling me that my problem would be fixed with a revised BIOS and am still waiting for a fixed BIOS. Also I am still waiting after almost 4 months for a new operating system for my Axim.

Because I can return this machine within 30 days for any reason I am choosing to return this defective Dell 8300 while I still can and I would caution anyone with this problem to proceed cautiously and utilize their 30 day return rights before it's too late if this SATA boot problem is something they don't think they can "Live With" for the life of their machine.

Joe

 

Jpruss,

Thanks for the information, I appreciate it.

To All,
I have not forgotten this posts, I am keeping an eye on it and will keep
you updated as Dell Engineering provides me with updates.