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Disk Read Error - No Boot :(

post #1 of 16
12/20/04 at 5:09pm
Thread Starter 
When I logged off Windows (XP Pro) last night - I used Hibernate for the first time - never having an before I assumed it would be fine. This morning though when I boot my 9860 it reports a disk error and tells me to reboot.
No matter of toying around works -
Imaging it was a bootstrap error I tried to get in to recovery console to run bootcfg /a but if I insert the Windoze install CD I shows "press any key to load cd..." - nothing happens. So I'm currently sitting infont of a laptop that won't even give me the option to boot to a bootable setup cd - fun!
Config is - 2x60gb 7200's - IDE, Booting (originally) to WinXP Pro SP2.

I've spent the last hour working through possible causes and solutions and have worked out this -

It happens when windows calls for the system file for the RAID controller (set to IDE though). If I change the BIOS to RAID - it gives me an arrary error but autoloads XP setup and starts (the usual porocess for a system without a drive or unformatted).
When switching back to IDE - still no dice.
The interesting thing is that when I disable either harddrives and get it to boot to cd - still setup won't load past "press any key..." and if I press nothing it still gives me "Disk Read Error." Setup shouldn't even worry about a RAID card until the F6 step - and even then it shouldn't initialize it till the "Starting Windows" Phase.
Next step was to attempt to do a vague setup to the currently empty second drive and then access recovery console to fix the 1st drive - but I again can't get it to get past the "Press and key...." phase. DOH!

I can't help but feel there may be a serious bug with the current raid drivers.
And the last thing I want to do though is reinstall windows fresh - its taken 4 days to get my laptop to ideal operating setup - which was about 30mins before hibernating. Any help would be appreciated
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post #2 of 16
12/20/04 at 5:18pm
Thread Starter 
It would seem I can't see an edit button but to fix a couple of things ->

I've never had an issue with hibernate before.

And WinXP setup stalls right after the "Setup is detecting your hardware......"
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post #3 of 16
12/20/04 at 6:57pm
If I understand Correctly you are using 2 60BG Drives in ATA mode ( you refered to it as IDE). I've been using Hibernation since day one with no problems.

1. When you go into the BIOS | Boot tab do both your Hard Drives show up ? If you are in ATA mode they should look like
PCI SCSI: SATA378 TX2plus D0
PCI SCSI: SATA378 TX2plus D1
Also make sure that your optical drive (CD/DVD) shows up under IDE 0: or IDE 1:

2. Do you have a USB Floopy Drive ? You will need it to load the drivers if you have to reinstall Windows XP reguardless if you are using ATA or RAID .
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post #4 of 16
12/20/04 at 7:02pm
Thread Starter 
Yes to the drives turning up - and windows setup won't even startup - no blue screen to press F6 - just "Detecting you hardware" configuration line in the top left corner - followed by a quick flash of the HD light and then a black screen. No Setup

Called PC Torque and although helpful, the guy had not supported a 9860 before and directed me to corporate support - who didn't answer and now I'm in limbo.
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post #5 of 16
12/20/04 at 7:08pm
Thread Starter 
So as part of the next step I've pulled the drives out of the 9860 and plugged in the system drive into a 2.5" USB2 enclosure and did a Norton Disk Doctor check of it - came back with heaps of Index Errors - which all seem to be fixed.
I've just plugged the drives back in and now the RAID controller says there are no devices connected - DOH! Triple checked the connections and they're plugged in fine but now the controller can't seem to find any drive - even if I only plug in one.....
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post #6 of 16
12/20/04 at 7:25pm
Just to Clarify. You are running in ATA mode and not RAID. In the BIOS | Advance tab RAID/ATA Mode Select [ATA Mode]. It sound slike your trying to use RAID mode when you shoud have it in ATA mode in the BIOS.
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post #7 of 16
12/20/04 at 7:26pm
Thread Starter 
ATA Mode is correct
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post #8 of 16
12/20/04 at 7:40pm
Thread Starter 
So right now I have no drives appearing in the ATA mode of the RAID controller -
After a quick search for drives it reports back "no device is found!" and then reports "BIOS is not installed". All this is with the SATA378 TX2plus Bios screen (V1.00.0.23).

And no amount of reconnecting seems to work - What are the chances the spare optical drive slot has a standard 2.5" Drive connection? Then we could all get along without even needing the RAID card and/or special drivers....
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post #9 of 16
12/20/04 at 7:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by IV:XX
So right now I have no drives appearing in the ATA mode of the RAID controller -
After a quick search for drives it reports back "no device is found!" and then reports "BIOS is not installed". All this is with the SATA378 TX2plus Bios screen (V1.00.0.23).

And no amount of reconnecting seems to work - What are the chances the spare optical drive slot has a standard 2.5" Drive connection? Then we could all get along without even needing the RAID card and/or special drivers....
Looks like some kind of major failure in the BIOS or Motherboard. Email and Phone Sager Support. I don't think I can help you.
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post #10 of 16
12/20/04 at 8:13pm
Thread Starter 
On closer inspection I may have scratched the flexicable for the harddrives - although its tiny so I'm not sure whether it damaged but that certainly explain the loss of drives after repairing them.
I'm trying to avoid having to send the notebook back for servicing as it could take a month to turn it around as I live in NZ. Time for a phone call to Sager...
If anyone has any ideas on tracking down a new cable - even its official name?
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post #11 of 16
12/20/04 at 8:32pm
Thread Starter 
Looks like the cable is proprietry - has the model number 43-D90T0-0A0. The D9 part references the model of the Clevo notebook (D900) and other proprietry bits such as the battery also mention the D9 (Battery is D900TBAT-12).
This still doesn't answer my original question and I think there may need to be an driver/bios update to fix the bug in the RAID controller.... alas I won't be finding out to soon as I'll no doubt be stuck waiting for the next month.
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post #12 of 16
12/24/04 at 8:10am
This whole thread feels like a one way conversation - but its good to be sharing any things I've figured out - I just recieved an email from Sager technical support which included the new 986bv02c BIOS:

I had another look at the flexi cable and pushed the knick back together - I was a little doubtful but once it rebooted both drives were detected!

Quote:
Hi Simon, please update the system BIOS. Then reinstall Windows XP.

Please download the attached file 986bv02c.iso (1.8mb)
The file 986bv02c.iso is the image of a bootable disk with all the files for updating the system BIOS. Burn the 986bv02c.iso to a CDR or CDRW disc.
Use the disc to boot the computer to flash the system BIOS.

After the system bios flashed, please load the default settings in the CMOS setup.

Please read the attached pdf (175k) file for direction to install Windows XP.

Although I really wanted info about getting a new cable......
Quote:
Hi recently I purchased a 9860 via pctorque - and am happy with my purchase. This morning however I turned on my laptop and it reported a disk error - although nothing strange had previously happend. I did some checking up and spent many hours working through it - I needed the computer for work so I had to access files off the drive asap - even though it would not boot so was forced to remove the drives to mount in a 2.5` enclosure to get access.As a result I believe I may have scratched the IDE cable for the raid controller as it reports no harddrives on restarting - can you contact me ASAP as I need to have my PC working yesterday - If I could order a cable and have it paid for and shipped (even via snail mail) before xmas I might have it working before the end of the year. PLEASE CALL ASAP.ThanksThe long winded version of this story is
here:http://notebookforums.com/showthread.phpt55477
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post #13 of 16
12/26/04 at 11:32pm
Hello lotech,

just to understand you, you solved the problem not only by "pushing the knick back together", you also updated the bios, right?
I'm having a very similar problem with my 9860/d900. I already sent it back
to have look at it, when it even failed to power up 9 times out of 10.
Now, 10 days later and without that problem, I still can't install windows.

I've two 40GB drives (ata mode) and I'm never getting further than the point, when windows checks the harddrive before installation process starts. before everything is normal (getting into setup, F6, loading the raid driver,...).
Beside that, there is only one hdd showing up in the bios and in the raid controller bios (where I can define an array), but both hdds are connected properly.
So that might be an issue very similar to yours. I'll first talk to the people at the shop I bought it from tomorrow and then try the new bios. If that doesn't help, I'll have to send it back a second time and it'll be year 2005 when I find myself sitting in front of a working 9860/d900.
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post #14 of 16
12/27/04 at 12:39am
The problem was really two seperate problems, one which you've got and the other due to a screwdriver and my big hands.

The not being able to boot issue is completely to do with the RAID/IDE controllers BIOS (seperate but as important as the system BIOS) - it would seem the shipped BIOS for the 9860's HD controller has a bug which writes bad sectors and can eventually break the boot configuration.

You can fix the inability to boot with a scandisk/norton disk doctor on another PC.
To do this I removed the drives and plugged the C:\ drive into another pc via a USB2 drive inclosure (about $5-$10) which allowed it to turn up as a drive - I then ran Norton Disk Doctor (although chkdsk should do the job). Which corrected the errors in the boot area. IF YOU PLUG THIS INTO YOUR 9860 IT WILL REBOOT AND RUN PROPERLY.

The bios update will actually (and only) fix the cause of the problem (the bios of the raid controller assumably). I Highly recommend everyone updates - even after fixing the boot issue and before recieving the update every 2nd time I rebooted windows would do a system HD check and find & repair errors - even when I have had no issues.
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post #15 of 16
12/27/04 at 12:54am
Quote:
The not being able to boot issue is completely to do with the RAID/IDE controllers BIOS (seperate but as important as the system BIOS)
ok, so the bios update of which you posted a link above (from the sager technical support) is only an update for the controller bios, or is the file identical to the system bios (which enables the clock on the audioDJ display and so on) which simply includes a raid/ata controller update?
in first case, I would have to update both the system bios and the controller bios.
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post #16 of 16
12/27/04 at 8:02am
The above BIOS updates both the system and controller bios.
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