CPx H500GT mess NEED HELP

Question

I have Latitude H500GT given to me by a friend. The 6GB HDD is non functioning, so I purchased a 60GB Toshiba drive to replace it. Unfortunately, the laptop does not recognize the drive. I thought if I update the BIOS, there was a chance that I could get the thing up and running. I've read some posts where users have had success using this process. My issue is large. I don't have a functioning hard drive to install an OS and update the BIOS, so I've tried using a Linux live CD. It doesn't work, because I can't swap discs. I've tried a DOS boot disc with the BIOS update, but I'm receiving a message that there isn;t enough memory to run the update. I am a little rusty on my DOS commands, but the machine has 256MB of RAM on it. There should be plenty of memory to get the BIOS updated, somehow. I'm looking for some advice to get this thing up and running. I have a DVD Drive, a card modem/NIC, and the battery. I do not have any floppy diskettes, but I do have blank CD's. Message Edited by LoquaciousMadman on 03-19-2006 01:42 PM

leduke30 · Answer

I never tried a 60gb in a CPxH, but it should work with late BIOS. I used one in an earlier CPiA with late BIOS. This CD is one of the older BIOS Dell CDs, but it has the A14 BIOS for yours which is the latest version and should work with your DVD drive.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Latitude-Inspiron-BIOS-Diagnostics-CD_W0QQitemZ8780295645QQcategoryZ3710QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

LoquaciousMadma · Answer

Thank you so much. I've been trying for weeks to get this puppy up and running.

LoquaciousMadma · Answer

I need more help. I updated the BIOS via the method listed above. Now when I installed the hard drive and restarted the machine, I am prompted for a Dell password for the hard drive. Can someone tell me how to get this set up? There has never been a password on the BIOS, and the person I bought the hard drive from did not have a password on the drive. The message displayed is:
DELL COMPUTER CORPORATION

Hard Disk #***********-595B, the system primary HDD is protected by a password authentication system. You cannot access data on this hard drive without the correct password.

PLEASE, any help?

leduke30 · Answer

HDD Passwords do not come from nowhere. I think someone is not being truthful, perhaps the seller? The password on the HDD is actually on the drive,  not in BIOS

LoquaciousMadma · Answer

I'm noticing that the password is only asked for when the jumper is on cable select or Device 1. If I take the jumper off, the laptop does not see the hard drive at all.

speedstep · Answer

You have a passworded drive. Get your money back. This is not a new drive. ITs useless to you.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

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