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Boot-up drives not found issues


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#1
seegoon

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Hello wonderful geeks.

I recently got my desktop machine back from an absolute crook of a repairman after a wealth of problems and issues. The original problem was the power supply, which he changed. After dicking me around something special, he decided to compensate me by giving me some more RAM, which I'm not sure that I needed. But his repairs have created a new problem, which I would really prefer to deal with myself if at all possible, instead of shipping it out again and spending a fortune.

When I boot up my computer, I get an error message before XP loads, saying:

Drive 0 not found: Serial ATA, SATA-0
Drive 3 not found: Serial ATA, SATA-3
Drive 4 not found: Serial ATA, SATA-4
Drive 5 not found: Serial ATA, SATA-5
Drive 6 not found: Parallel ATA, PATA-0 (IDE1 Master)
Drive 7 not found: Parallel ATA, PATA-1 (IDE1 Slave)
Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility.


I hit F1 and Windows loads A-OK, but I'd like to sort out this rather ominous-sounding issue.

Thanks for your help in advance!
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#2
makai

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Hello,
It sounds like the bios is setup to autodetect your drives and is posting about it.

If you enter bios by hitting the F2 key, what is the name of the bios... it might be Award, AMIBIOS or some other name? Don't make any changes yet as I want to look at the bios screens before making recommedations. To get out of the bios screen, just hit the Esc key on you keyboard and choose "exit without saving". Also, please post the make and model number of your computer.

Edited by makai, 13 December 2008 - 05:26 PM.

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#3
seegoon

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Hi,

Where exactly will it tell me which BIOS I have? In the setup screen, under "BIOS VERSION" it simply says "1.1.3 (07/31/06)". Sorry for being useless.

And my make and model is a Dell XPS DXG061.

Something I've just noticed - apparently I have 4GB of RAM installed, according to the setup utility, but System Properties is only showing 2.75. what's that about?

Thanks!
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#4
makai

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Your XPS DXG061... according to Dell... is a model 700. Is this correct? If not, then everything below this sentence may not apply...

This is what I found what your bios screen looks like...
[attachment=25458:xpsoc1.jpg]

But, instead of doing anything in the bios, go HERE and download the Chipset Driver and reinstall it. It may solve the ram detection problem too. Note that the driver is predicated on your avatar information indicating XP Home. Please create a System Restore point before installing the driver... just in case.

Edited by makai, 14 December 2008 - 12:37 PM.

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#5
seegoon

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You are indeed right about it being a 700. I've just created a System Restore point and am have downloaded the chipset driver, called R124048.exe. I'm about to give it a whirl, and will let you know the outcome!

Thanks a million.
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#6
seegoon

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OK, so I just did what you advised, but to no avail. Interestingly, this was the first time I've tried restarting and I got a stonking great problem. My machine (as opposed to the speakers) kept beeping angrily, the screen having just turned off. I have a diagnostic lights system on the front of the unit, of which lights 3 and 4 were illuminated. Looking this up in my manual tells me that "Memory modules are detected, but a memory failure has occurred". It advises that I keep physically trying out the different memory modules to see if any of them are faulty, by removing them and reinstalling them. Is there an easier way to check this?

Thanks again.
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#7
makai

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Are you saying that now your computer won't even boot???

The bios beeps are indicating something is amiss. Can you tell if the beeps match anything on this page.

Since you just got your machine back, maybe some of the devices got jiggled around during transport. I would open the case and make sure everything looks to be seated correctly. Be sure to turn off the machine and UNPLUG THE AC before going inside. Also, touch bare metal to discharge yourself before touching anything inside.

Besides that, as far as the memory goes, I know of no way to isolate a bad memory module without pulling out one stick at a time.

If you are able to boot windows, please check Device manager for any yellow or red marks. Use... Start>run... type in devmgmt.msc to launch Device manager
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#8
seegoon

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No, it loads up fine, but nothing has improved. I'm going to have a look inside tomorrow, and try the whole one-stick-at-a-time thing. My friend's telling me that there's no point in me having 4GB of RAM installed on an XP OS anyway - should I bump it down?
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#9
makai

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XP 32 bit supports up to 4GB ram... XP 64 bit supports up to 128GB ram.

I wouldn't bump it down... unless you find a bad ram module.
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