martinist Posted January 6, 2009 Posted January 6, 2009 I am making a mess out of somthing that should be extreemly simple. I bought an extra HDD on sunday and i can't seem to install the damn thing. I hook up the SATA-II cable to the drive and the motherboard, and connect the power. When i turn it on and go into the BIOS, the drive isn't there. Not in SATA 2,3,4 or 5. I think i have this all hooked up correctly but My BIOS just doesn't seem to know its there.
Guest Jordan Posted January 6, 2009 Posted January 6, 2009 Look at the jumper on the HDD (its a small piece of plastic on some pins). If this is set to master, its not going to work. Theres usually a diagram on the printed side of the disk. Set it to cable select (if you're feelin' lucky... punk) or slave.
martinist Posted January 6, 2009 Author Posted January 6, 2009 ^^^ There doesn't seem to be any kind of jumper on it. ^^^ That is basicly how i have it installed, nothing appears in the BIOS though
Guest Jordan Posted January 6, 2009 Posted January 6, 2009 Oh jesus, sorry. I didn't read that the drive was SATA. < idiot. Okay, first things first. Check that the drive is getting power. Turn the computer on and put your ear close to the drive. Can you hear it booting/accessing?
martinist Posted January 6, 2009 Author Posted January 6, 2009 >_> i've been on the phone to tech support for ages...still can't get it to work. He mentioned somthing about getting a USB device to run the drive from outside the case. Which would mean i wouldn't have to screw around with all this crap. My back hurts lke hell from opening and closing this case. I don't want to just throw the drive away, the damn thing cost me a bundle. Is there any sort of USB device i can use to get this HDD to run from outside the case?
Guest Jordan Posted January 6, 2009 Posted January 6, 2009 Yeah, a USB caddy... But either way it doesn't matter if the device isn't working. You should probably take this to a local computer shop (reputable and one that isn't PC world...) to see if they can install it for you. Its an extremely easy procedure so if they quote over £40 that's a joke.
martinist Posted January 6, 2009 Author Posted January 6, 2009 The thing is...its a Dell, and my power supply is way low. The guy said i may only have enough power to run a single drive at a time, with this I don't have to bother about power, so i may as well give it a shot. Only computing shop we have around here is a place called Cypher. In a back ally neer the Nith, ran by an old man, i doubt i'll get anything out of him.
martinist Posted January 9, 2009 Author Posted January 9, 2009 Got an external enclosure this afternoon, the drive has been initialized and is now formatting. I'm a happy chappy. lock and delete this thread please
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