no boot device available after blue screen

[majax79]

I was chatting on IM when my pc froze for a few seconds and then I got a blue screen that stated something about a memory dump. When I restarted my pc I get a "no boot device available". I can hit F1 to retry and F2 to enter bios. In bios boot sequence 1 is onboard SATA hard drive but it says "not present".

Also in bios driver section I notice that driver 1 (SATA 1) has a driver id: unknown. The dvdrom and dvd-rom drives are read and functional. I tried reinstalling xp but when it gets to partitioning section I get same no bootable device
found. The pc wasn't touched at all before this happened and I didnt DL or visit any risky sites so I know its not a virus.

I believe its either my western digital internal HD or the CMOS battery. I'm using my iPhone to post this message. Please help me and if u need any additional info please ask. Its a dell XPS gen 5.

[Firiebob]

I'm no expert, but mine does this from time to time, I just pull the SATA plug off & on the motherboard a few times, restart it and away it goes.

[bevills1]

Most likely either a loose drive cable connection or bad cable. I've had this problem a couple of times with IDE drives which was either loose cable or bad cable, and I suspect the same would be likely for SATA connections.

[aedipuss]

open it up and make sure both the power and data cables are still seated in the drive and motherboard. if they are then the hard drive probably died.

[majax79]

what about that battery? I had heard it could also be the problem. Although I used Dell Diagnosis and it checked out. How could a cable get loose when the base never moves? I'll try it since I'm bored to death and have nothing to lose. I hope the 3 yo HD didnt die, that would suck. Idk if this makes a difference but I hear 2 beeps when pc starts.

Idk of any more tech specific forum out there so if anyone has any other places I should try let me know.

[jman98]

I have seen odd problems like this actually be caused by a power supply that needed to be replaced. Unfortunately that's a kind of expensive gamble as it might not be your problem. I had this kind of thing happen to me where my power supply appeared to be OK (the PC had power). but the hard drive would not boot at all. I replaced the power supply and everything was golden.

[mpack]

what about that battery? I had heard it could also be the problem.

AFAIK, the battery is less of a problem on new PCs. In ancient days past the battery was used to back up the BIOS settings (in battery backed RAM), plus there was no plug and play, so if the battery went flat the PC could forget the correct settings for any hard drives that were attached. In this day and age the battery is pretty much only there for the real time clock since BIOS settings are stored in flash, also the hard drive is plug and play with S.M.A.R.T. tech as well.

Later edit: oh yes - I go with the folks who suggest a loose SATA cable. SATA is apparantly notorious for this.

[majax79]

thanks for the info about the battery. I can rule that out then. I'm thinking of switching HDD1 to HDD0 plug and seeing if that'll do anything.

I upgraded my PS about 6 months ago.

[Bjs]

From the sounds of it, it's more likely the hd has suffered a freak os snap.

I think you need to use the mbr reset first then try and repartition the drive.

Enter the windows recovery console during cd install routine, then use the command FIXMBR.

Follow any prompts and when completed, reboot system, as it dose this, turn the system OFF.

Then turn system back on and try setting up the partition again.

Ive had three compaq laptops do this before, and its not a fun thing for those owners either.

[jman98]

I upgraded my PS about 6 months ago.

So what? You've never heard of a power supply failing that quickly? I have. Look, I told you that the power supply probably wasn't your problem, but I work in IT for a living and I see your attitude all the time - "I know that the problem can't be _________ because I replaced it ____________ ago" and then the person who said that has to eat those words. If nothing else you do works, it probably is the power supply.

[majax79]

well mr IT it wasn't the power supply and I know snotnose stuckup IT people like u who don't care about helping people...just making snide comments and acting like theyre sh$& don't stink. U really don't wanna start with me.

For the people who helped thank you so much.

End of thread

[mpack]

For the people who helped thank you so much.

Past tense? Problem solved then? What did you do?

[bevills1]

The OP shouldn't be making derogatory comments about anyone who is simply trying to help and doesn't even share what solution was. IMO folks like this don't deserve help, and I, for one, am sorry any of us did help.

[redwudz]

majax79, those type of comments will earn you a yellow card if continued. Since you solved your problem, I'll lock this thead.

Moderator redwudz