HDD not spinning up when seated, yet readable/bootable via SATA to USB

[RHarper]

Hey all. I have an HP Envy 15 laptop running Windows 8.1. Overnight the computer went from fully functional, to not booting/not recognizing the HDD. The BIOS would run, saying "install an operating system", while the BIOS hard disk check did not recognize any drives.

I'm no expert, but I have some DIY experience with building PCs and of course the internet/youtube are great resources. I have been meticulously attempting to resolve this problem on my own without having to pay an expert, though I will go there if all my efforts fail. A google search for similar problems yielded no results. Mostly the advice was either a faulty HDD (disproved below) or to try restoring BIOS to defaults, etc etc. Here's a careful recount of what I tried so far...

-Slaved HDD to another laptop via USB to SATA cable.
-Drive was completely readable on another computer and I was able to back up the sensitive data
-Drive was bootable via USB on my laptop but windows said there was an error with some files.
-Ran windows “Refresh Utility” on my laptop while HDD slaved via USB. When completed, was able to get a working OS with a usable web browser, but unable to access all windows features (tried to update to 8.1 via app store, and said it could not do this on a "Windows to-go platform".
-Re-seated HDD in laptop. Same original issue - laptop BIOS runs but doesn’t recognize HDD.
-With HDD seated to motherboard but case open, I identified that the HDD does not spin-up/power-up when laptop is powered on.
-When slaved via USB to SATA cable, HDD received power and spun up as normal.

Conclusions:
HDD is not receiving power when seated to motherboard. Does receive power and is bootable via USB adapter. This leads me to suspect two primary culprits based on my limited knowledge:
+a dysfunctional HDD cable (already ordered via newmodeus.com), or
+a possible problem with power getting from the powerboard to HDD

Other Considerations:
-The plastic hinge on the HDD motherboard port (where the ribbon cable connects with the MB) is somewhat loose. It closes but it’s possible that it jiggles open when the laptop is placed right side up. I put a small piece of electrical tape over it but I’m not entirely sure that it held.
-Part of me questions the likelihood of the cable being an issue given the abrupt nature of this issue. Computer was fully functional hours before this began. Not sure what could have happened to the cable in that time.

Thanks for taking the time to read. Any experience/input/suggestions are greatly appreciated. Can provide any additional info/screenshots as needed.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, RHarper!

I think what you are dealing with here is either a faulty SATA cable or a faulty SATA port on your motherboard.
If you have a spare SATA cable, I'd suggest to try swap them. Another thing you could try to rule out the faulty motherboard port, is simply plugging another HDD in the same port and see if it will get detected properly.
Honestly, faulty power and SATA cables are pretty a common issue. They malfunction very often because of various reasons. Here's a more thorough explanation from one of Tom's Hardware users: http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/249393-32-sata-cable-problem

Hope I was helpful!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[fzabkar]

@RHarper, I'm trying to picture the "ribbon cable" that you refer to. Do you have an image of it?

As for the power connections, I would measure the voltage at the SATA power connector on the HDD, assuming you have a multimeter.

http://pinouts.ru/Power/sata-power_pinout.shtml

If the voltage (+5V) is low, then this could explain why the drive doesn't spin. You would then need to troubleshoot the laptop's power supply.

Alternatively, if the voltage is absent at the drive but present at the motherboard, then that would confirm a cabling problem.