Problem with a new computer I just built

[malikrthr]

Hello everyone. Recently, I decided that I would like to build my little brother a PC, since he does does not have a computer to use. I'd say about 95 percent of the build went successful, but there is one problem that I cannot pass. When I boot the new computer up, it says boot disk failure. I looked online for a number of solutions but could not seem to find any solution to my problem. I may not explain this correctly but I am not sure what my error during the build was. This system case allows for dropping the hard drive into a bracket which automatically locks into place. The system case is a Thermaltake Armor A60 mid tower chassis. No screws needed. When locked in place, it automatically connects to two connectors built onto the bracket. Below are some pictures of the PC. I also noticed that when I plugged one of the PSU plugs labeled "Type 3", into the PSU connection, the system would not power on, but when I removed that connector from the connection, the system would be able to power on. That "Type 3" plug also had about 3 SATA connectors attached to it. I'm not sure if the pictures will really help but I'll post them anyway. I was all happy and amped up to build this PC and I do not want to give up.

[/URL][/IMG]

 

[pcas1986]

The point about the power supply not coming on when that cable is connected is a concern. So I would be reading up on the documentation for the power supply to find out what those outputs are used for and what kind of cables should be used. You don't say what the Type 3 connector is plugged into at the other end, if anything.

If you have another PC with a spare set of cables you could try the hard disk in there to see if the BIOS recognises it or not. I'd avoid booting into Windows in case Windows decides to remap drives.

I guessing those hard disk trays might be hot swap drives? Perhaps there are bent pins in the connectors or the cradle is not engaging correctly.

John Citron may be able to help a little more as I believe he did fault finding for a living.

 

[JCitron]

John to the rescue here! Thanks Paul for calling me.

As Paul suggests find out exactly what that cable does....It may be missing one of the power connections you need for your hard drives. Maybe the port it's being plugged into on the power supply end is incorrect. The connector maybe the same, but it may not have the wire in the pin, or the incorrect wiring to work with your hard drives. I've seen that before on one setup.

I noticed too that this is only a 430W power supply. How many drives are you trying to power up? There may not be enough juice to power all those drives and also for the power supply to power the video card and other peripherals.

Do the drives spin at all when powered up?

As part of the troubleshooting process, I would disconnect all the drives and only connect one drive and see what happens. This helps in eliminating issues as you're only testing one thing at a time.

Once you've figured out the hardware is properly setup, I'd check the BIOS. Check that the drives is in the correct SATA ports and that they are enabled in the BIOS. You also may need special software for your setup in order for the drives to operate. Some require a special BIOS setting too in case you are using a RAID setup. Also, as Paul mentioned above, ensure the drives are seated properly if they are in a hotswap cage. I've seen that before on servers and even my own PC when I first built it. The connections were quite tight and the drives required a bit more of a push to get them to connect properly.

Chew on this stuff for a bit while I think on this more. If you find anything, let us know.

John

 

[tads1]

Hi,

Follow what John and Paul said,very good advice.I see on the screenshot provided where the pc is in post boot stage,there is no detection of Primary drive,I've had this problem on a friends pc
What I did to remedy this was in the bios LOAD FAILSAFE DEFAULTS,booted no problems after that.

Daz

 

[malikrthr]

Thank you for the advice everyone. When I get a chance tonight or tomorrow, I'll try it out and from there, I'll post on how everything goes.

 

[malikrthr]

Ok everyone. I followed JCitron's steps and it all worked out. Here is what I did. First, I unplugged the modular power supply cords from the modular power supply and disconnected all the cables leading to the hard drive and the disk drive. I then put the cables back into the hard drive, disk drive and power supply. After that, I powered on the PC and went into the BIOS. I went into the standard CMOS features section and was able to locate my hard drive. So happy . I have installed Windows 7 on the PC and it is running great. Thank you everyone. My little brother will be so happy to see his first computer.