Baracuda 2TB HDD randomly not showing in bios

[Jared Groves]

I recently upgraded my ram to 16 GB and slightly higher speed, turned the computer back on and all of a sudden my newest HDD is not showing at all. I cant find it in device manager or in the bios. Ive tried changing sata ports etc and each time the bios shows the sata port is empty or not in use. I can feel the hard drive spin up so I know its got power and working somewhat. Is it stuffed? Its only 6 months old. I would really like to save the files on it. What can I do?

My specs,
4670K - OC to 4.2
16GB ram at 1866 MHz
G45-z87
gtx 770
samsung ssd as OS
2 baracudas and a WD 2 TB hdd for storage

 

[JWoody]

If its a seagate there pretty crappy drives actually, ive never had a problem with any other brand. if its still under warranty, return it. Your data is prolly boinked (ALWAYS BACK UP!), HOWEVER, you might try plugging into a different PC.

 

[John_VanKirk]

Hi Jared,

Almost always, when you are working inside your computer case, and afterward something else doesn't work, it's because you've moved a cable connector, or unplugged a connector to get at the RAM sockets, and not reconnected it exactly as before. Might check both ends of your SATA cable, even replace it with a new cable, and if you can, check the SATA port on the MB that nothing is bent.

Did you physically take the MB out of the case to work on it, or simply replace the RAM with everything intact?

The fact that the HDD is not seen in the BIOS means that data is not getting to the HDD, and back to the MB initially. That can happen if the data cable is not fully connected, with good power, or if the data cable is fine, but the HDD isn't getting the 12volts it needs.

Everyone won't admit it, but we all have been there, working inside our case, and after boot up, sit there wondering why a DVD burner or HDD, or USB 3 port extension doesn't work.

If all you did is replace the RAM chips and they are OK, double check the connections to the misbehaving device.

 

[Jared Groves]

Hi Jared,

Almost always, when you are working inside your computer case, and afterward something else doesn't work, it's because you've moved a cable connector, or unplugged a connector to get at the RAM sockets, and not reconnected it exactly as before. Might check both ends of your SATA cable, even replace it with a new cable, and if you can, check the SATA port on the MB that nothing is bent.

Did you physically take the MB out of the case to work on it, or simply replace the RAM with everything intact?

The fact that the HDD is not seen in the BIOS means that data is not getting to the HDD, and back to the MB initially. That can happen if the data cable is not fully connected, with good power, or if the data cable is fine, but the HDD isn't getting the 12volts it needs.

Everyone won't admit it, but we all have been there, working inside our case, and after boot up, sit there wondering why a DVD burner or HDD, or USB 3 port extension doesn't work.

If all you did is replace the RAM chips and they are OK, double check the connections to the misbehaving device.

Thanks for the reply, I did the swap with everything in situ. Ive tried changing cables, sockets, nothing will get it working.

 

[AlferMonner5]

Hello, connect this hard drive to another computer and see whether it is still recognizable there.

 

[Jared Groves]

Hello, connect this hard drive to another computer and see whether it is still recognizable there.

Yer I just ordered a HDD enclosure so I can connect to USB because I dont have any other desktops with sata ports. I can hear and feel it spinning up so Im sure its working, the only thing I can think of is maybe a Bit ram error or what ever the reason is for ecc ram

 

[John_VanKirk]

Hi Jared,

Almost always, when you are working inside your computer case, and afterward something else doesn't work, it's because you've moved a cable connector, or unplugged a connector to get at the RAM sockets, and not reconnected it exactly as before. Might check both ends of your SATA cable, even replace it with a new cable, and if you can, check the SATA port on the MB that nothing is bent.

Did you physically take the MB out of the case to work on it, or simply replace the RAM with everything intact?

The fact that the HDD is not seen in the BIOS means that data is not getting to the HDD, and back to the MB initially. That can happen if the data cable is not fully connected, with good power, or if the data cable is fine, but the HDD isn't getting the 12volts it needs.

Everyone won't admit it, but we all have been there, working inside our case, and after boot up, sit there wondering why a DVD burner or HDD, or USB 3 port extension doesn't work.

If all you did is replace the RAM chips and they are OK, double check the connections to the misbehaving device.

Thanks for the reply, I did the swap with everything in situ. Ive tried changing cables, sockets, nothing will get it working.

Hi Jared,
The key issue here is making sure the drive in question is functional or not. Sounds like you are using the SSD as the system, RE, Boot, pagefile, and crashdump drive. Will your system boot normally if you disconnect the other two HDD's from the system (you don't have any of the needed boot partitions on one of those other secondary drives)? If so, try disconnecting a Sata cable from one of these functioning drives and connecting it to the questionable one. See if it shows up in the BIOS.

If you can't get the BIOS to recognize it as a Disk #, on a Sata port, it still won't be recognized connected to a removable USB port
.
Also in the BIOS, check that the Sata controller you are connecting this drive to, didn't happen to get disabled.

If you do try connecting it to a different computer, make sure the OS is not Win-XP Home or earlier.
With these troubleshooting steps, and trial by elimination, you'll get it going again.