Blane Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 my cousin's computer seems to have crapped out and I'm trying to help her figure out what the problem is. On boot, it only gets as far as "Detecting IDE devices" and goes no further. Blown hard drive?Also there seems to be a wierd "chirping" coming from the computer. Kinda like a cricket is stuck in there.Any computer geniuses out there that can help? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timouse Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 my cousin's computer seems to have crapped out and I'm trying to help her figure out what the problem is. On boot, it only gets as far as "Detecting IDE devices" and goes no further. Blown hard drive?Also there seems to be a wierd "chirping" coming from the computer. Kinda like a cricket is stuck in there.bingo.the inablility of the computer in question to detect its' own drives, along with the "chirping" noise, would toatlly make me suspect HDD failure.at boot, get in to the BIOS and try to auto-detect the hard drives...that will help to confirm the problem. try to boot from the OS CD too, that will confirtm that it's that hard drive and not the IDE controller on the motherboard.good luck.if this all fails, i will mail you some pencils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esau. Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 Try unplugging your cd rom and see if it detects your hdd, then unplug your hdd and see if it detects your cd rom. Or try a different IDE cable. I've had to do this with an older computer of mine before, some sorta conflict, not sure how it happened but that fixed it.No idea on the "chirpping". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blane Posted September 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 tried booting from a different OS disc and nothing happened. Starting to think it might be the IDE controller. Would that mean the motherboard is fucked or can you just replace the controller? She has one of these mini all in one boxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattm Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 There is one thing. New computer's are very cheap now so if it's in any way old, I'd suggest just getting a new one.Also, new motherboards will cost you $150 or so, hard drive the same depending on the size of it.The chirping sound makes me think it's the drive itself. What does the HDD light look like?Also, post the name of the hard drive (seagate, fujitsu, maxtor, western digital, etc) and I'll give you a link to get the boot disk that will allow you to check the hard drive for problems.IDE controllers have no moving parts to them. To isolate the sound, open the computer and then turn it on with your ear near it (don't touch anything inside while the power's on). Listen for WHERE the sound is coming from. If it's from the hard drive, you've found the problem. If it's from the CD drive, you may have found a source, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bouche Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 i've had hdd problems in the past that I've done a fonzie on. I've given them a little wack...and then it would work. Mind you, I did have to get a new drive, but at least I could access it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradm Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 One particular model of external hard drive that Sun Microsystems used to make was known for seizing, and the standard way of getting it working again was to pick it up about 10" off a hard surface, and drop it. It usually worked, and didn't seem to harm the drive."If it doesn't work, hit it with a hammer. If it breaks, it needed fixing anyway."Aloha,Brad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pumpkinhead Posted September 21, 2006 Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 (edited) It may not be your hard drive or the controller on the motherboard. The chirping could easily be the fan on your processor and could be a sound you just never noticed before. Usually bad hard drives make more of a "ticking" sound.Most motherboards go through a POST which is a test of various things before boot. Most will result in some sort of error rather than a freeze if it is the hard drive. I do this all day every day. I replaced two bad hard drives this week already, so I'm not ruling this out, but your situation is a little weird. Even if the POST didn't report a failure, you'd probably get an "Insert proper boot device" error if it was just the hard drive.Has the computer been completely powered off? Not just turned off. I mean unplugged from the wall or had the switch on the back of the power supply (not all power supplies have these switches, so don't worry if yours doesn't) turned off for over a minute? Sometimes motherboards need to be completely powered down after a power spike. Hope that helps. Edited September 21, 2006 by Guest Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blane Posted September 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 21, 2006 thanks for all the help folks. Pumpkin, it has been unplugged and all the rest. I also checked the fan and it seemed to be working fine. I'll crack it open and check the rest tonight. Thanks folks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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