Dell Dimension 3100: 'No Boot Device Available'

Question

Hi, I've been having problems with my Dell Dimension 3100. It's hardware has not been changed from the default factory setup and the computer is about 6 years old. It has BIOS Version A03. It has a Western Digital 160GB SATA-600 Hard Drive which I believe is using a SATA-2 Data Cable. The Hard Drive does spin up on startup and has no clicking noises. When the computer boots up it displays this message: 'Floppy Diskette seek failure / Drive 0 not found: Serial ATA, SATA-0 / Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility.' When I press F1, It displays this 'No Boot Device Available - / strike F1 to retry boot, F2 for setup utility.' (The / (Slashes) represent a new line in the output) The BIOS does not recognise the Hard Drive, when I go into setup and look under the 'Drives' tab, and then under 'Drive 0: SATA-0' it is shown as being 'ON' but it doesn't recognise the drive. At 'Drive ID' it displays 'Unknown' I have removed and reconnected the hard drive from the data cable and power cables, replaced it and put it back. DIDNT WORK. This is interesting: I connected a Master IDE Hard Drive (Seagate - 80GB) to the IDE Port where the CD Drive is usually connected, (using the same IDE Cable) and the Drive was NOT recognised by the BIOS. I'm not sure if this is just plain coincidence, or if it actually has some significance. I don't have a spare SATA Hard Drive so I cannot test that. I removed the SATA Data cable from the SATA-0 port and put it on the SATA-1 port (The motherboard has only 2 SATA Ports) STILL DIDNT WORK. I took out all of the expansion cards (PCI Cards) STILL DIDNT WORK I booted from the Windows XP CD (CD Drive works still) and it DIDNT recognise the Hard Drive, so it can't really be a problem with the Master Boot Record, boot config file or the partition table. I loaded the BIOS's factory settings STILL DIDNT WORK. I made sure that the BIOS Had AUTODETECT 'ON' STILL DIDNT WORK I reset the CMOS Memory by moving the jumper to pins 2 and 3 on the motherboard, and then set it back to pins 1 and 2 after complete STILL DIDNT WORK I seem to have been able to narrow down the problem to being the 1. SATA Data Cable, (which I will be testing tomorrow, after borrowing a known working cable from a friend.) 2. The Hard Drive itself, (even though it spins up and doesnt make clicking noises) 3. A Virus on the drive which messed with the partition table and 'hid' the drive. 4. A dead chip on the Hard Drive's PCB (maybe the ROM chip?) and 5. A Problem with the BIOS, not allowing it to detect the drive. Before this whole problem occured there was a BSOD on Windows XP, but I am not sure what the error codes were, because I wasn't the one there to view that problem, at that time. Please Help, Thanks

osprey4 · Answer

Hi Adieb00,

You need to replace your motherboard battery. Once you do that, then make the correct changes in the BIOS and your settings will be saved.

Sorry you went to so much trouble over a simple problem.

Good luck!

Vejay_Sarathy · Answer

Hi adieb00,

There would be another Power cable for the hard drive try that

Try the blue color data cable with another SATA port on the motherboard.

Go to BIOS and choose -> Maintenance -> Load defaults -> Continue. Esc -> Save / Exit.

Then try accessing SATA 1 /2/3 in BIOS to see if the drive is detected and boots to windows

If you have another SATA data cable try with that. and do the Load defaults.

adieb00 · Answer

Hi osprey4,

Thanks for the reply. I replaced the motherboard battery and I made sure that it was the correct type (CR2032 - 3 Volts). It made no difference to the problem. I set the time back to normal and rebooted, and still displays the same error messages.

So it doesn't really look like the problem is that simple. :P

Thanks

adieb00 · Answer

Hey veejdeej,

Thanks to you as well, for replying.

I have established that the drive does get power, because I can hear it startup when I press the power button, so it can't be a power or power cable problem.

I have also set the BIOS back to Default Settings, to no avail.

I have moved the SATA Data cable from port 0 to port 2 (only 2 ports on the board) and it made no difference. I have also made sure in the BIOS that the port is set as 'ON' so it can't be that.

I have also connected another SATA Data Cable which I borrowed from a friend and the same problem occurs.

Thanks

electromagnetic · Answer

Try and if you have backed up everything. Factory reset the OS. Ctrl & F11 on Dell logo screen, do a PC restore, is Windows XP on the hard drive. Did you change the hard drive ?

osprey4 · Answer

I'm going to suggest you not restore the OS for the moment until we establish whether this is just a problem with your BIOS settings or a hardware issue.

Please tell me your BIOS settings for drives and boot devices. Also tell me the EXACT error messages you get.

Mukinese · Answer

I have the same problem, was this solved?

I boot up the bios loads and I get the message;

No boot device available.

Setup said no drives were connected.

I reset the bios defaults. Still no luck.

I just restarted the PC, for about the twentieth time and Windows started?

What on Earth is happening? I had moved it about a bit, could the small knocks and nudges have made a difference?

I'm running a full virus check, but this is could happen again at anytime if I don't know what is causing it?

Vejay_Sarathy · Answer

Try reseating the hard drive cables running from the Motherboard to the Hard drive. And from the power supply (SMPS) to the Hard drive. Also run diagnostics on the hard drive to confirm functionality

Mukinese · Answer

I've unplugged and re-plugged the cables, it did not seem to have any effect.

I have no idea why Windows suddenly decided to start up again.

I had just been in the bios, but don't remember making any changes.

Could this be the battery, as mentioned above?

Mukinese · Answer

Well, the PC worked like normal, no problems - until I switched it on next day. Same thing again.

I have found that after 15-20 mins of being switched on it will find the drive and boot as normal.

What is going on?

Has the battery gone and a few minutes of being switched on gives it enough charge to find the boot drive?

Mukinese · Answer

No ideas?

Windows works fine, it is the just at boot up that the P.C. has a problem.

I switch on, get BEEP! BEEP! and a message saying n"o bootable device found press F1 or F2".

If I press F1 I get the message "Invalid drive replace and try again".

If I press F2 and go into Setup then wait for a few minutes (if I don't give it a little time it wont boot) and save and exit, Windows boots.

The bios settings seem to be kept as I left them, but under Boot Sequence, it says "non present" for each type of drive, even though the Drive section sees and names all the drives.

I'm puzzled and feel like just leaving my P.C. on 24 hours a day, just to avoid the heart-stopping moments waiting to see if it will boot.

Mukinese · Answer

I'm told the problem might be humidity.

The place where I have my PC is enclosed- no windows, and not heated at night, but quite humid.

My old PC seems fine and works okay, but is in a bulky plastic casing, my newer and temperamental one is in a metal casing which gets very cold overnight.

Could this be causing a short?

If so, is it just a matter of putting computer in a dry place and letting it "dry out", or is it buggered for good?

osprey4 · Answer

Hi Mukinese,

It's very unlikely that humidity is causing this problem. More likely that your hard drive is failing. The first thing I would do is test your hard drive using the Dell diagnostics on your Dell drivers and utilities disc. Boot the system, go to the F12 menu, insert that disc, and select the option to boot from the CD drive. Then choose custom test, select the hard drive and perform the extended tests on your drive.

If the test comes up with any errors, then you'll need to replace that drive. Your Dimension 3100 takes a serial ATA (SATA) hard drive up to 2TB. They're easy to find and not expensive.

Mukinese · Answer

Thanks for the reply. The bios does not see any drives present at all. I have tried them one at a time and it still cannot detect any drives at all.

jacob5800 · Answer

i have a dell demension 3100  bios ao3   update from dell to ao4  and change ure dell hard disc  i recomend that cause me to had lots of problem with it.  and if u can  change youre dvd drive to  its worrth it  them  you should be able to do what ever u want to do  cause  the dell  dimension 3100  it the best of ell pc   sorry that is all i can say  which what i have run into all the problem that i have with it and now its running windows 7 ultimate and i put in 4 gb of memory , this search google how to do .

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