[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

Point is these type of things can be fixed.

That is reassuring.

One last thing, I want to know how exactly this happened.

I put in the new hard drive with the frame, but didn't fasten the screws that secure and hold the hard drive in place.

Did the load of the sagging HDD cause the SATA port to malfunction?

[tbppjpr]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

That is reassuring.

One last thing, I want to know how exactly this happened.

I put in the new hard drive with the frame, but didn't fasten the screws that secure and hold the hard drive in place.

Did the load of the sagging HDD cause the SATA port to malfunction?

I don't think so. If that was the case then how the previous HDD threw errors, that must have been secured with screws. Also check the status of previous hard disk by connecting onto your computer. If you have any Linux system around then that will be much more helpful in pin pointing the hard disk related issues.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

I don't think so. If that was the case then how the previous HDD threw errors, that must have been secured with screws. Also check the status of previous hard disk by connecting onto your computer. If you have any Linux system around then that will be much more helpful in pin pointing the hard disk related issues.

The previous HDD was probably ruined by a drop the laptop had from about 2 feet. I am not entirely sure though.

What bothers me is why the HDD was working fine initially only to stop working later on

Yes, I have an Ubuntu DVD at home. Will try booting with that once I get home. The surprise will be if the Live CD is able to access the HDD.

Another anomaly I remember about this laptop. The processor fan cannot be modulated. It runs almost always on top speed; close to 5200RPM. This is because I can see a wire that seemingly provides power supply from elsewhere on the motherboard and it seems to come from a terminal near the HDD port and the CD/DVD drive port.

[tbppjpr]

There must be some OEM utility whuch controls the fan speed according to temprature. Check the Dell website for drivers and utilty download.

About accessing HDD while computer is booted from DVD, yes it can see the hard disk.

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Did the load of the sagging HDD cause the SATA port to malfunction?

Is the SATA Cable from the motherboard detachable, or soldered ?
Normally on desktops, a SATA cable is detachable from both motherboard and hdd.

If detachable, use another SATA cable and check.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Is the SATA Cable from the motherboard detachable, or soldered ?
Normally on desktops, a SATA cable is detachable from both motherboard and hdd.

If detachable, use another SATA cable and check.

Originally Posted by tbppjpr

There must be some OEM utility whuch controls the fan speed according to temperature. Check the Dell website for drivers and utilty download.

About accessing HDD while computer is booted from DVD, yes it can see the hard disk.

The SATA port is soldered onto the laptop's motherboard. How I wish it was a cable.

The laptop has two RAM sticks. 1GBx1 and 4GBx1 for a total of 5GB.

I tested the 1GB stick with Memtest and no errors were reported even after 7 passes. I then tried booting the laptop with only the 1GB stick installed, but again was greeted to the same error.

I also tried booting with the 4GB RAM stick alone. But again, same error. The 4GB RAM stick is currently undergoing Memtest and I will know the results once I get home. Will update the same here later.

I did try installing Ubuntu 12.10 as well. Oddly enough, it did install without any problems. But when it tried to boot, I got a "Read Error".

If the SATA port alone is indeed not replaceable, I think I can use a ODD Caddy and use the new HDD there as the primary HDD. Much more cost effective compared to changing the motherboard or buying a new laptop.

[amansanc]

Originally Posted by hellmet

Lightweight is a MUST as I will be traveling quite a bit with my tablet, phone, and this future laptop. It will hopefully not exceed 1.5KG in weight.

Check out Dell Inspiron 3148 with i3 processor. Fits your budget perfectly. Has a 11.6" IPS touchscreen which is brilliant. The screen rotates 360 degrees to make it into a tablet. The weight is just 1.4 kgs which makes it easy to carry around. I am using one since an year now and absolutely love it. Only one small drawback, the body of it is a scratch-magnet!

Try to get additional warranty along with it. I picked up during Dell Diwali offer last year and got an amazing deal (34.5k) on Flipkart. You should wait for it too if possible.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

I also tried booting with the 4GB RAM stick alone. But again, same error. The 4GB RAM stick is currently undergoing Memtest and I will know the results once I get home. Will update the same here later.

The 4GB RAM also showed no errors in Memtest.

Any other ideas to narrow down to the problem?

[ashwin.terminat]

So, I went down to SP Road yesterday to get the SATA port fixed.

I came out of the shop just being confused further.

When the person tried installing Windows on the new HDD, it froze at the formatting screen or the Copying Windows Files bit did not cross 0%. This is the same HDD that works flawlessly on my desktop PC.

But when he slotted another HDD into the laptop, Windows installed perfectly!

I got back home and ran a Drive Fitness Test using a utility from HGST(The HDD manufacturer) it showed no errors.

Any help would be appreciated.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

I got back home and ran a Drive Fitness Test using a utility from HGST(The HDD manufacturer) it showed no errors.
Any help would be appreciated.

I have a feeling that the laptop motherboard is incompatible with the newer generation HDD. Try slip streaming the drivers with the OS installation like we used to do for XP and SATA. Also have you tried Ubuntu or other flavors of Linux? Start with DOS. If you have he older HDD try with that once after marking its bad sectors. The HDD that the shop guy installed, was it a new gen drive? Also are there any jumper settings on the done HDD. Just sharing some thoughts and if you have tried, please ignore

[Aroy]

Originally Posted by diyguy

I have a feeling that the laptop motherboard is incompatible with the newer generation HDD. Try slip streaming the drivers with the OS installation like we used to do for XP and SATA. Also have you tried Ubuntu or other flavors of Linux? Start with DOS. If you have he older HDD try with that once after marking its bad sectors. The HDD that the shop guy installed, was it a new gen drive? Also are there any jumper settings on the done HDD. Just sharing some thoughts and if you have tried, please ignore

Even I think that it is SATA compatibility problem. If so then there is not much you can do, except hope that newer drivers will solve the problem. Other wise you may have to get an older generation drive - preferably the same one the person in the shop used.

OT, but I have a similar problem with my Graphics Card/Monitor/OS. I have two 4-5 year old 1920x1200 displays. On XP they worked perfectly. On Win 7 with initial installation and also with graphics card (ATI) manufacturer's drivers, one monitor would have the display shifted left, so there is a space at the right and display missing on the left. I have two ATI cards, and no amount of combinations can get rid of this. Win 7 update solved this. Now when I installed Win 10, the same thing happened and after trying all sorts of drivers, I had to revert back to Win 7 after spending over 7 hours downloading and installing Win 10, as I could not find a method of getting a specified update. So at times driver incompatibility can really drive you bonkers.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

So, I went down to SP Road yesterday to get the SATA port fixed.

Originally Posted by Aroy

Even I think that it is SATA compatibility problem.

Check the speed of the HDD and if it is backward compatible with 1.5Gbps. I think the newer ones are 6Gbps while the earlier ones were 1.5 I guess. Check for the bios update for the laptop too.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by diyguy

I have a feeling that the laptop motherboard is incompatible with the newer generation HDD. Try slip streaming the drivers with the OS installation like we used to do for XP and SATA. Also have you tried Ubuntu or other flavors of Linux? Start with DOS. If you have he older HDD try with that once after marking its bad sectors. The HDD that the shop guy installed, was it a new gen drive? Also are there any jumper settings on the done HDD. Just sharing some thoughts and if you have tried, please ignore

I tried Ubuntu. I got the same error just worded differently.

I do have the older HDD. It does have a jumper. But I do not see any pins that it can connect to. The newer HDD does not have this jumper, though. This laptop was bought in 2012. The new HGST is a 6.0Gbps drive. But it does say it is 3.0Gbps and 1.5Gbps backward compatible as well.

Marking the bad sectors on the old HDD is done through chkdsk?

I have sold the new HDD on Quikr either way. But I would like to know why this issue probably came about. What drivers are you referring to? SATA drivers for the motherboard to be slipstreamed(interesting to hear a non-aerodynamic slipstream reference on T-BHP ) on the Win 7 installation disk?

Originally Posted by Aroy

Even I think that it is SATA compatibility problem. If so then there is not much you can do, except hope that newer drivers will solve the problem. Other wise you may have to get an older generation drive - preferably the same one the person in the shop used.

I guess we'll never know. I sold the new HDD on Quikr. :(

Originally Posted by diyguy

Check the speed of the HDD and if it is backward compatible with 1.5Gbps. I think the newer ones are 6Gbps while the earlier ones were 1.5 I guess. Check for the bios update for the laptop too.

This BIOS update is one thing I could not try. Sadly.

Dell only offers an EXE mode of flashing the BIOS. And DOS didn't allow this EXE to run. And I could not get Windows on the laptop to execute the EXE in a Windows environment.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by ashwin.terminat

Marking the bad sectors on the old HDD is done through chkdsk?



SATA drivers for the motherboard to be slipstreamed(interesting to hear a non-aerodynamic slipstream reference on T-BHP ) on the Win 7 installation disk?.

Yes chkdsk or any other scan and mark utility.

I recently tried installing xp on a new laptop and even though I created a slipstreamed disk with the right drivers it would just hang on the installing Windows...
I tried the same disk on an older pc and it worked fine. That's why I am pretty sure it is a sata incompatibility issue... It sure is frustrating when we cannot overcome some of these technical issues in these times... I was extremely frustrated after three days and nights on the XP thing... Finally gave up and installed win 7

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by diyguy

Yes chkdsk or any other scan and mark utility.

I recently tried installing xp on a new laptop and even though I created a slipstreamed disk with the right drivers it would just hang on the installing Windows...
I tried the same disk on an older pc and it worked fine. That's why I am pretty sure it is a sata incompatibility issue... It sure is frustrating when we cannot overcome some of these technical issues in these times... I was extremely frustrated after three days and nights on the XP thing... Finally gave up and installed win 7

The new HDD was SATA III. Do you mean to say that the motherboard does not support SATA III or that the drivers installed do not?

Because when I enter the service tag, I cannot find any SATA drivers at all on the Dell website.