[kelltech]

I have an Acer Aspire 5100 notebook, about 2 years old. For the last 3 weeks I have had this recurring problem of the hdd randomly reverting back to PIO mode. I have wiped the system and it still happened. Now when it happens I do a system restore and that works for up to a few days. In my event viewer is a number of errors. There is a string of about 30 errors that concern the IDE0 and 2 events that concern what looks like an Acer component. I have included screens of them. I don't know how to determine if this is a real hdd failure or if it is a need to update drivers or some kind of conflict.

The last issue is if I don't lightly press on the door to the cd drive while rebooting then the cd drive will not show up in "My Computer" and will not work. Press on the cd drive while booting and it works fine. Could be related, maybe not.

I have one tech that says the drive is dying and another tech that says the drive is definately not dying. Acer support is useless. I sure do need some help getting to the bottom of this and I appreciate all the help I can get!

Attached Thumbnails

• 
• 
• 

[Advertisements]

The first thing I would do is to remove the CD drive and the hard disk, carefully clean the contacts and replace them. According to your description the CD seems to have a loose connection. Restore again and see what happens.

[The Skeptic]

The first thing I would do is to remove the CD drive and the hard disk, carefully clean the contacts and replace them. According to your description the CD seems to have a loose connection. Restore again and see what happens.

[123Runner]

You can test the hard drive using the manufacturers utilities. (link in my signature)

[kelltech]

Thank you guys, I took the cd drive out and found some loose screws on the back of it near the connection so it's showing up and working fine. I also pulled the hdd and cleaned all of it's connections and the dust from it's bay. Next, I will run the seagate disk utility. Thanks for all of the help!

[The Skeptic]

Thanks for letting us know.

[kelltech]

I ran the Seatools for Windows S.M.A.R.T. test, short drive, long drive and the short generic tests, all passing. Is it possible that the cd drive being loose was causing my IDE0 errors and resulting in the random reverts to PIO mode? Gotta love Windows!!

[123Runner]

I assume that the CD and HD are on the same cable and therefore the same channel, so yes, it is possible for it to create the problem.

Good luck and keep us informed.