Help A senior member win xp needs ffr for hdd help!!!

Hello fellow members of AO. Im having a little trouble with resolving a
clients issue. The problem is when they turn on their notebook which is an
'Acer Aspire 1690' I am able to see the Acer logo then it loads into a
black screen with all the BIOS information. After it loads the BIOS
information, it displays the following message;
"media test failure, check cable"
Operating System not found.

Before this message the person was playing online poker the night before.
Also, they didnt install any new hardware or software. So basically, he was
online, playing online poker, and right before he was going to win some
$$$$ his system completely froze/locked up (he did a hard shutdown). Now
when he boots up his notebook it displays the following message;

"media test failure, check cable"
Operating System not found.
So at this point I did some troubleshooting to isolate whether this is a
hardware or software issue. So far I did the following:
1.) Loaded into the BIOS and reset the BIOS using F9. Turned on notebook
same issue.
2.) Loaded into the BIOS and changed the 'boot sequence' to CDROM first, so
I can boot from a CD instead of the hard drive (hdd), HDD, Floppy, Network
boot.
3.) Tried using the CDs that came with that exact notebook but it is also
giving errors where it cannot continue. (1 system disk) & (3 recovery
disks) none of these worked.
4.) I have my own version of Windows XP Pro I bought from best buy I tried
to install it. First I tried using the *repair* R then ran chkdsk it
wouldnt load it started giving off errors.

Next, rebooted notebook with disk in it. It got all the way to the 'setup'
part the disk which reckonized 3 partitions previously installed on the
hdd. 2 was from the vendor Acer (it said so) and the last partition was his
partition. I deleted only his partition, and tried to install windows XP
on that partiton but it gave errors that it couldnt continue.

Now when I turn on his notebook it comes up with the Acer logo and displays
a black screen with the following 'a disk read error has occured' press
control + alt + delete to reboot
IM thinking about just erasing the whole hdd either by deleteing all
partitions on the hdd or just running the repair option, then format the
drive through the prompt not GUI. At this point I don't know if it would do more damage than good.
Im not trying to recover data or anything just trying to install windows on the hdd so homeboy can use his notebook.

At this point Im thinking homeboys hdd is shot/fried. However, I still want
to do some more troubleshooting on it just to be certain.
All help is greatly appreciated, CN22.

Computernerd22

happened to me once. the comp had frozen and it just wont shut down. so i had unplugged it from the mains and removed the battery. next thing i know the "OS" went missing. anyway i knew that hard disk had bad sectors on it and it was heading to be changed soon.

i had downloaded this tool from seagate

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.js...00dd04090aRCRD


here is another link from them

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/sup...ve_interfaces/


there is a tool some where there which, you have to download and burn it on to a disk and boot off it. it will open into DOS and checks and reallocates the bad sectors.

just for record......i had to get a new hard drive.

yeah, thats an easy one I'm afraid. Hard drive failure. Could be as bagggi says, corrupt/broken disk. It could also be as simple as the cable has worked loose. It wouldn't be the first notebook I have seen where a screen or drive connection has come undone.

We have also had one laptop where the hard drive interface card itself failed. Once that was replaced all was well. For a while anyway, then the hard drive DID fail.....

It might be worth getting hold of a memory checker. I've had problems before where my HDD kept getting fritzed and required fsck to be run. Every time I did this it got a bit worse. I bought a new HDD since I though that was the problem. I couldn't then get an FC6 to install without hanging.

I eventually ran memtest86 and yanked the faulty ddr - problem solved and a new hard drive I didn't really need.

Steve

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Aardpsymon

yeah, thats an easy one I'm afraid. Hard drive failure. Could be as bagggi says, corrupt/broken disk. It could also be as simple as the cable has worked loose. It wouldn't be the first notebook I have seen where a screen or drive connection has come undone.

We have also had one laptop where the hard drive interface card itself failed. Once that was replaced all was well. For a while anyway, then the hard drive DID fail.....

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I'd also guess HD failure. Do you notice it trying to struggle to read the HD? Do you hear the "click of death" that always seems to accompany a HD failure? You know, it sounds like ping pong balls bouncing around in there? Does it always hang up at the same place when installing?

Find out who the HD manufacutrer is and use the utilities they provide to test the HD. Many manufacturers even preload the diagnositc tools (such as dell) so you can boot to them if you call support. I must say that acer doesn't have the most user friendly website...

The ultimate boot cd also has a lot of good tools to help diagnose problems.
http://www.ubcd4win.com/contents.htm
My favorite it Hirens... but I'm afraid that it isn't legal. ;)
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/hiren.thanki/bootcd.html

I've taken apart a couple of laptops and I've never seen the HD or CDROM cables "work loose". They are held in there pretty tight. Then again, most of the work I do on computers is on servers or workstations... so I'm not going to say that it can't happen. I've just never seen it happen.

It might be a good idea to open it up and check the HD connections. It might be as simple as opening a panel on the back and sliding the HD out... or you could be removing keyboards, etc. I'm not familiar with acer products. You're going to have to do this either way... if you have to replace the HD.

The memtest that steve mentions is also on that ultimate boot cd.

Well, we had to open up a toshiba laptop just last week to reseat the display cable. I've never seen it happen to a desktop/server except when its been in a car for hours. My two theories are the rougher use laptops get and the fact that the entire of a laptop gets warm rather than just key components in a desktop.

Yes, the loose connection thing is mainly a laptop problem as they get bashed around and dropped. I have only seen it in desktops where people have tried to install memory upgrades, video cards and such.

I have only encountered it once in the workplace and I guess that could have been a sloppy initial build. :)

Quote:

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It might be worth getting hold of a memory checker. I've had
problems before where my HDD kept getting fritzed and required fsck to be
run. Every time I did this it got a bit worse. I bought a new HDD since I
though that was the problem. I couldn't then get an FC6 to install without
hanging.
*I eventually ran memtest86 and yanked the faulty ddr* - problem solved
and a new hard drive I didn't really need.

---

Steve.milner
Thank you for the replies. See thats what I am afraid of going out and
buying a new hdd for it then it not be the issue. That would be a waste of
time and money not to mention *my rep* (my biggest concern) would probably
be on the line. Thats why I have to be 110% certain it is hdd and not
something else.

bagggi
thank you for the links I will you all greenies for helping out of course.
Anyways, Im not sure where to buy a hdd for a notebook probably through the
vendor or a local PC shop and have them order it.
Phishphreak

Quote:

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Do you hear the "click of death" that always seems to accompany a HD
failure? You know, sounds like ping pong balls bouncing around in there?
Does it always hang up at the same place when installing?

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I no what sound your reffering to however, this notebook is not making that
loud noise.

Quote:

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I've taken apart a couple of laptops and I've never seen the HD or
CDROM cables "work loose". They are held in there pretty tight. Then again,
most of the work I do on computers is on servers or workstations... so I'm
not going to say that it can't happen. I've just never seen it happen.
It might be a good idea to open it up and check the HD connections. It
might be as simple as opening a panel on the back and sliding the HD out...
or you could be removing keyboards, etc. I'm not familiar with acer
products. You're going to have to do this either way... if you have to
replace the HD

---

I have built desktop pcs from the ground up. However, I have never taken
apart a notebook (for fear of making the situation worse)

Quote:

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Yes, the loose connection thing is mainly a laptop problem as they
get bashed around and dropped.

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Nihil, whats up? Anyways, funny you said that. He told me that him and his old lady got into a nasty fight (four or 5 months ago) and he slammed her notebook on the floor but it still worked after that. This happened 4 or 5 months ago he said.
--------------------------
+Update+ when I run the Acer recovery software that came with the notebook it is saying that it cannot continue because of bad sectors being on the hdd.
Main thing Im trying to do is fix it without having to spend ANY money Im just not sure if its possible now after reading everyones reply.

Replacing a harddrive in a laptop is straight forward...

I have had that error twice...with Dells...

Harddrive.

Once under warranty...Dell tech brought a hardrive...other time I changed it...

Trust me...if I can do it...anyone can.

Just dont static it

MLF

If you want to check the memory download a fedora core 6 disk 1 iso, burn it, boot and at the prompt type:
memtest86

You can always hit the memtest 86 website : http://freshmeat.net/projects/memtest86/
and follow their instructions.

Steve

Kudos, steve.milner. ;)

I don't if this helps but when I got into the BIOS it is able to detect the HDD.


in the BIOS it states;

Quote:

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hdd model name IC25N080ATMR04-0
HDD Serial Number MRG4W9K4KA5JHH
ATAPI Device MATSHITAUJ-840D

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I would assume whats in bold is the HDD manufacture? Does this still mean HDD is shot even though BIOS detects it? Just curious. Also, I just ran the ACER recovery CDs and it detected bad sectors where it cannot continue.


PS Im going to burn that application memtest86 to a blank cd-rw then install it on the ACER notebook and see what happens, thanks again. :)

I have had computers boot and until the drive needed writting to ...would behave

Then it would slow to a crawl......freeze up


Slave the drive into a PC...see if you can read it.

there are adapters for laptop drives.

MLF

Hi,

Your hard drive is a Hitachi 80Gig. The MATSHITA (Panasonic) is the CD/DVD drive.

;)

EDIT: I agree with Morgana~ about booting. The BIOS sees the hardware from its onboard firmware. If you remove the HDD and boot into BIOS setup you will still see all the other devices.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nihil

Hi,

Your hard drive is a Hitachi 80Gig. The MATSHITA (Panasonic) is the CD/DVD drive.

;)

EDIT: I agree with Morgana~ about booting. The BIOS sees the hardware from its onboard firmware. If you remove the HDD and boot into BIOS setup you will still see all the other devices.

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I saw that too, and thought "ATAPI" usually meant CD-ROM :)

The Hitachi drives generally have an excellent reputation, but even they go out after a while. The good news is that they're not terribly expensive.

The drive in question has an IDE (parallel) interface.

One way to isolate the problem to the hard drive would be to remove it and insert it into a known-working laptop in place of the existing drive. Then run Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test software (available as an .iso image for creating bootable CD-ROM's).

Another, as Morganlefay noted, would be to buy an inexpensive 2.5"-to-3.5" drive adapter, and attach the thing to a desktop computer. Then you could run a SMART extended offline test on the drive using smartmontools (available for Windows, of course).

Hitachi Drive Fitness Test:
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

smartmontools for Windows:
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/sma...3&big_mirror=0

Realistically, the problem is probably the hard drive. That'll teach your client not to play online poker :D

With the XP cd boot into the recovery console and run

CHKDSK /f

go get something to drink this is gonna take a while.

Quote:

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With the XP cd boot into the recovery console and run

CHKDSK /f

go get something to drink this is gonna take a while.

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It generated an error and said it could not continue.

As a last resort I would try the Hitachi tool, but I would say that the HDD is a goner at this stage :(