[SOLVED] Hard drives not recognized anymore.

[Snapshot]

I have 3 SATA HDDs installed, 2 500GB and 1 320GB.  Recently I noticed that the 320 GB drive was no longer being recognized.  As I no longer use it it wasn't a big deal but then I began having boot problems where I would get errors telling me that sdc (320GB) couldn't be found and boot times were averaging 5 minutes or longer and sometimes I would have to use CTRL-ALT-DEL to re-boot several times before I could use my system.  Sometimes I would get a GRUB error 15, sometimes I would get GRUB 1.5 not found, sometimes error 21.  Today I decided to see if I could resolve the problem by simply disconnecting the drive from the mother board.  When I tried booting up again I got error 21 and no matter how many times I tried booting I could not boot.  Finally I used my Live CD which I had created a few weeks ago and discovered that I was only able to see one drive at a time even though both  500GB drives were installed.  Using My Live CD I re-installed PCLOS but still only one drive at a time.  Switching data cables didn't help either.  No matter which port(s) I plug the drives into only one is recognized.  Previously when I could "see" the 320GB drive I tried using the partition manager but couldn't change the partitions in any way including formatting it.  Now I am unable to even boot the system using my boot drive even after redo-mbr.  Perhaps this is too complex for one topic? Here is my menu.lst:

timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
gfxmenu (hd1,0)/boot/gfxmenu
default 0

title linux
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=493d8524-6431-4a13-bfc6-68a00381a5ce  vmalloc=256M splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

title linux-nonfb
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=UUID=493d8524-6431-4a13-bfc6-68a00381a5ce  vmalloc=256M
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

title 2.6.33.5-pclos1.a64
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.33.5-pclos1.a64 BOOT_IMAGE=2.6.33.5-pclos1.a64 root=UUID=493d8524-6431-4a13-bfc6-68a00381a5ce  vmalloc=256M splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd-2.6.33.5-pclos1.a64.img

title failsafe
kernel (hd1,0)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=UUID=493d8524-6431-4a13-bfc6-68a00381a5ce  failsafe vmalloc=256M
initrd (hd1,0)/boot/initrd.img

Is part or all of my problem a faulty motherboard? Thanks in advance for any help.

Bob

[hounddog]

Do your drives show up in your BIOs?  You may have a problem if they don't.  My feeling is that either your harddrives are failing or your motherboard is going, but it's more likely to be your motherboard since the chance of 2-3 harddrives failing at once is pretty slim.

[Snapshot]

Do your drives show up in your BIOs?  You may have a problem if they don't.  My feeling is that either your harddrives are failing or your motherboard is going, but it's more likely to be your motherboard since the chance of 2-3 harddrives failing at once is pretty slim.

No.  Only one HDD shows up at boot before booting into the OS.  The drive recognition problem was sporadic, even after boot-up sometimes the 3rd drive simply disappeared even though it was "seen" at boot.  Other times it was not there at boot yet later it would show up.  Even when it was recognized I couldn't access it using the partition manager although under devices it was clearly there as were the other two.  Funny part is that I was able to access the two 500GB drives until I began to troubleshoot and of course now I can access only one even if all three are plugged in.  This motherboard is barely a year old as I built the tower.  Is there any way to verify a dead or dying motherboard?  All three drives were healthy as far as I could tell and I too doubt that two would fail at once.  Thanks for the feedback.

Bob

[Crow]

Can you see the drives from the live cd?

[Snapshot]

Can you see the drives from the live cd?

Only one even though two are connected.

[Crow]

The drive recognition problem was sporadic, even after boot-up sometimes the 3rd drive simply disappeared even though it was "seen" at boot.  Other times it was not there at boot yet later it would show up.  Even when it was recognized I couldn't access it using the partition manager although under devices it was clearly there as were the other two

I don't think several HD fails at the same time, unless you have a very bad electrical installation. I'll try to check the Sata cables, clean the connections, verify if the power supply is enough, etc. before looking for another MoBo , if you didn't change the bios probably is failing.

[Snapshot]

The drive recognition problem was sporadic, even after boot-up sometimes the 3rd drive simply disappeared even though it was "seen" at boot.  Other times it was not there at boot yet later it would show up.  Even when it was recognized I couldn't access it using the partition manager although under devices it was clearly there as were the other two

I don't think several HD fails at the same time, unless you have a very bad electrical installation. I'll try to check the Sata cables, clean the connections, verify if the power supply is enough, etc. before looking for another MoBo , if you didn't change the bios probably is failing.

Data cables have been either changed out or moved around so I can verify that the problem isn't there.  That was my first thought so I replaced the 320GB drive data cable with a new one but it didn't help.  Moving cables to different ports didn't solve the problem either and connecting one drive at a time wasn't the solution.  I've tried every thing I can think of but my suspicion is the MoBo and has been from the start.  The worst problem didn't begin until today when I began moving things around and it was then that only one drive was recognized.  My MoBo has 4 SATA ports of which one is being used for a SATA optical drive and the other 3 are HDDs.  My power supply is 700W so it's not under powered. The board was purchased from a local shop last year so I'll contact the owner tomorrow to see if he can help troubleshoot the MoBo unless someone has a better idea.  Thanks Crow for your suggestions and willingness to help.

Bob

[CaptainSarcastic]

I'd check the power supply.  If it is putting out uneven or dirty power on one or more rails it could cause symptoms like what you describe.

Really, the best thing to try is a different power supply altogether.  A lot of testers are not a lot of help, as they merely show whether power is on a rail, not whether it is at usable amperage.  A better tester would be a decent thing to try, but really a different power supply would be a good test in and of itself.

[Snapshot]

I'd check the power supply.  If it is putting out uneven or dirty power on one or more rails it could cause symptoms like what you describe.

Really, the best thing to try is a different power supply altogether.  A lot of testers are not a lot of help, as they merely show whether power is on a rail, not whether it is at usable amperage.  A better tester would be a decent thing to try, but really a different power supply would be a good test in and of itself.

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll see if I can do that.  Right now I don''t have another PS but maybe the shop where I bought the MoBo has one that he can use.

[trustytrev]

Hello,
      The battery that provides power for the bios may be dying which would lose drive settings.
trustytrev.

[pags]

BIOS settings are only needed while booting the PC.  Once the OS takes over (such as from a LiveCD), it handles the hardware directly.  Admittedly, if the BIOS can't see it, you can't boot from it  .

Another possible testing venue is to acquire a sata/pata2usb adapter, and test the drives on a separate system (laptop, or other, etc) if possible.  This will help determine if the problems are hard drive or motherboard related.  Could also give you the opportunity to save of some data, if required...

Just suggestions...

[Snapshot]

Sorry for the delayed update but I just today got my system back from the shop.  As it turned out I had two issues; 1. Dead HDD 2. Bad power connector.  Thankfully I had a spare power connector on the power supply and the drive was not being used.  Total cost was $25 labor.  When I asked how/why the drive failed my tech said it could be heat related since I had 3 HDD stacked.  It occurred to me that the failed power connector could have damaged the drive but that's only a thought.  Anyway I'll call this thread solved.  Thanks to all for the help.

Bob