IDE controller failing?

CDsDontBurn · Oct 22, 2005, 06:12 AM

alright, so i'm fixing a friend's computer right. it's an older compaq machine

_________
1Ghz Celeron
256Mb SDR
20Gb 5400RPM HDD
on board gfx
MoBo un-known: intel chipset supposedly
__________

Well, when he gave me the machine he told me that it wouldn't always boot up right. that the machine would just hang at the "compaq" splash screen. Then to make it boot up, he was telling me that he would have to turn it off several times and restart the machine. He thinks that the HDD is bad and that he wants it replaced. So before i take it, i open it up really quick to check the caps see if there any blown caps. no blown caps are found, so all is good there. So i take it home, and i plug it all in and the machine boots up fine. i back up all the info that my friend wanted backed up, no problem. i install some windows updates, restart no problem. i restart the machine several times more, again no problem. So i call up my friend and tell him that i can't replicate his concern over his machine. He says that the machine is acting up and blah blah blah. So i'm like ok, whatever. Then as soon as we hang up, i go to restart the machine and it happens to me

. go figure

. So i go into the BIOS to disable the splash screen. and the machine being a Compaq, it doesn't tell me what's really going on during the post. So, i unplugged the HDD's molex, just to see if it infact is the HDD. Powered up the machine, same thing; hang on splash screen. After several restarts, i insert my memtest86 CD to make sure that it's not the RAM. After a couple hours of memtest, the memory comes back w/o any errors. I plug the HDD back in, and it finally boots back into windows. I installed prime95 on the machine to test out both the memory and the CPU. the test has been going on for several hours now, and still no other errors. I restarted the machine sevreal more times to see if the error could replicate itself yet again, but alas, it did not =\.

Now after all this, i have come to conclude that the HDD is good, the memory is good, and the CPU is good. My only thing left to leave out is the IDE controller on the MoBo iteslf is starting to take a dump. would anybody else agree to this, or do you guys have a different opinion you would like to share on this situation?

**dj_stick** · Oct 22, 2005, 06:16 AM

this sounds similiar to what happened to my dad's machine last week…

i think we isolated the problem to the jumper settings of the new HDD - make sure that all the jumpers are correct - and sometimes CSEL will confuse the ide controller

ReDGuiTaR · Oct 22, 2005, 06:34 AM

One of my HD has died on me in the same way 1 year ago .... intermittent boot problem, no strange sound, defrag on a regular basis, still having the boot problem one time every 30 boots or so then one day just not booting anymore ....... bip.. bip.. biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip....

swimtech · Oct 22, 2005, 09:37 AM

Hanging at the splash screen means it isn't completing post. Shot in the dark, considering your Prime 95 tests - weak PSU, or a flaky floppy or optical drive... Intermittents suck... I had to replace a bad optical drive in mine for symptoms like this a long time ago.

I don't think there is an option on the bios to turn off 'halt on error' either. I'm running and older Compaq Presario 5000 in the sig below - upgraded to it's max (excepting memory) of course...

CDsDontBurn · Oct 22, 2005, 12:06 PM

the problem is so random it sux. i just rebooted the machine after having prime95 running over night w/o any erros. i thought the error had happened again, but no. it was saving some settings. showed a message saying "settings have been changed, new settings now saved" or something like that. it goes by too fast for me to read the entire message.

pr0digal jenius · Oct 22, 2005, 12:25 PM

if it hangs on POST it's probaly not completely populating the IRQ's and is hanging on a drive....as wimtech said, check all the drives one at a time, and diable any onvoard stuff(sound/LAN/etc)

CDsDontBurn · Oct 22, 2005, 12:31 PM

the only things the MoBo has onboard is all the legacy stuff, video, and audio.

i'll try removing the removable storage drives, and the NIC card that is currently installed and see where that goes

CDsDontBurn · Oct 22, 2005, 01:41 PM

well, i've tried removing all the other devices to see what can be causing the problem. and still nothing. the problem still persists.

right now i'm in the machine's BIOS performing an IDE test. It's called IDE DPS Self-Test. Dunno what exactly what it does, but it just came back as "succeded".

honestly, i'm still leaning towards the IDE controller is failing.

**dj_stick** · Oct 22, 2005, 03:53 PM

have you checked the jumpers on the drives?

CDsDontBurn · Oct 22, 2005, 06:14 PM

yes i did check the jumpers. i did that yesterday actually. when i opened up the machine to check for blow capacitors, i noticed that the Zip drive's IDE cable wasn't plugged in. so while i plugged it in, i checked for the jumper on it, as well as the other devices' jumper.

i already got the new stuff for my friend. basically a new rig 'cept for the HDD, optical, and Zip drive

ReDGuiTaR · Oct 23, 2005, 11:14 AM

This computer is kinda old .... you might want to change the button cell bios battery.

CDsDontBurn · Oct 23, 2005, 11:54 AM

like you said, the computer is kinda old. it's not worth the trouble finding a MoBo that would work w/that CPU. I called up the guy telling him what was going on, and he told me to just go ahead and replace the computer, because he didn't want the machine to not be reliable and not work half the time he would go turn it on.

with his go ahead, i already replaced the computer. I got a sempron 2800+, 256Mb DDR400, and a Gigabyte GA-K8VM800M MoBo. The HDD and other drives i just swapped over. he will be recieving his new and improved rig tomorrow morning before i go into work