Help Pls...Maxtor 30GB is having problems

[bonesdad1]

This drive has been givin me fits...it is the master drive on a Win98 SE installation. When the PC is turned on, boot takes a looooong time and then boots normally. On Friday, I stipped it all down, reformatted and reinstalled windows and my basic programs (Word etc). It was fine for nearly 2 days, then the same thing started. THe drive lite comes on pretty solid for a long time then the drive boots in. Usually takes 2 min. It was super fast yesterday morning, then last night the big drop. I ran POWERMAX diagnostic and got NO ERRORS. Is this a PSU issue? Drive not spinning up fully? Why did it work for a day and a half then stop? Help!

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[Teq]

It could be a bad or incorrect data cable.

When you boot up there is a Cable Test done as part of the POST sequence. If the cable tests bad, it's going to take some time, but the drive will be enabled in pio 3 or 4, without the ATA modes.

The new 80 wire cables aren't very sturdy at all. I've seen them fail after as few as 4 or 5 plug-unplug cycles and I usuall replace them after 3 as a precaution.

Put in a brand new 80wire IDE cable and see what happens.



--->It ain't better if it don't work<---

 

[bonesdad1]

Thanks, I'll try that. Do the 80 wire IDE cables always have the blue connector at one end? I have a couple of new cables from the past, but I'm not sure if they are 80 wire or not...

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[Teq]

Some 80 wire cables are blue, some red... the older 40 wire cables were almost always black.

You'll spot the difference immediately... 80 vs 40 ribs on the wire, it's pretty noticeable.


--->It ain't better if it don't work<---

 

[4Ryan6]

To accurately give you advice on the adequacy of your P/S you need to list your specs, and the blue connector on the IDE always goes to the M/Bs connector.

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