Sata drive malfunction after thunderstorm.

[gondorion]

Hi everybody.

I had this computer turned on during a thunderstorm, big mistake I know.
When I checked on it, it was turned off.
When I turned it back on, HD light didn't work, and nothing came up in the monitor screen, the light (of the monitor) just kept blinking like it weren't connected to the computer (and it is).

I disconnected the hard drive, connected it again and the first messages checking RAM started to appear but got stuck on "auto-detecting IDE1 master ATAPI CD ROM".

Tried booting it again but got back to the monitor light just blinking.

The hard drive works, I mean when I turn on the computer, it vibrates, makes the usual sound, and it feels and sounds like it's spinning, doesn't make weird sounds, but nothing comes up in the monitor.

Also the power supply and motherboard fans seem to be working fine.

I'm gonna have it checked, but I want to know if you guys can help me get and idea of what could be wrong with it beforehand.

Thanks.

 

[smorizio]

sounds like your system took a power spike..did you guys lose any power during the storm??? a lot of time cheap power supply will fail during a spike or brown out. the flickering leds are a good sign of a failed power supply. to see if you have a mb or a drive issue...hanging at sata devices..unplug both the cd-rom and hd from the mb..use the clear the cmos jumper to clear the cmos with the power pulled from the wall. with the cmos cleared you should be able to boot and get the message no bood devices found and go into the bios. (boot like this three or four times to make sure that the mb is powering up fine.). then plug in the hard drive by itself. if the sata ports see it and it boots. then the cd-rom may have failed and caused a hang. if it still hanging try another sata port or plugging the drive into another pc. if you have to use can try using a sata to usb adaptor to pull the data off the drive and run some drive tools on it. with the hard drive unplugged if the blinking led show up or the system is still not working right..see if a friend has a power supply or try to rma the one you have if it under warranty.

 

[John_VanKirk]

Hello, & Welcome to Tom's Hardware!

One of the more delicate components of your computer is your MB.

I'd hook a small beep code speaker to the front I/O speaker connection, and try to boot it up.
If there is a dead or malfunctioning component, like RAM, or the Video Card it will give you a defining beep sequence.
If there are NO beep codes, usually means the Motherboard has died.

 

[gondorion]

Thanks for the quick response.
Yeah I'm sorry if it's not directly a hard drive issue, I figure it was because the led lights that show you that the hard drive is working don't work at all.

But yes it could be the power supply, although the fan is working.

I'm gonna try your steps, the only thing is that I'm not clear on how to "use the cmos jumper to clear the cmos" but well, I'll look it up.

Thanks again!

 

[gondorion]

Hello, & Welcome to Tom's Hardware!

One of the more delicate components of your computer is your MB.

I'd hook a small beep code speaker to the front I/O speaker connection, and try to boot it up.
If there is a dead or malfunctioning component, like RAM, or the Video Card it will give you a defining beep sequence.
If there are NO beep codes, usually means the Motherboard has died.

Hi thanks for the info.

I have no idea how to do the "small beep code speaker" thing. But now I know I can do that with some help. And hopefully it isn't my HD that died.

 

[smorizio]

some mb have the speaker built in. when power on you get a one beep ok. if not there a speaker header next to the power on pin on the mb. you see it on your mb/pc build.

 

[chugot9218]

Post your MOBO model and someone can point you where to connect the MOBO speaker, it is usually by the plug ins for the HDD light and the case power/reset. You may have to buy a MOBO speaker but it would certainly help in diagnosing what is wrong. Also, your MOBO manual should have instructions for clearing the CMOS, again, if you need to post your MOBO model and I can point you in the right direction.

Meh, not directly related to your problem but I was reading some of the solutions and a few may be worth a try:
http://www.sevenforums.com/installation-setup/181116-windows-7-pro-32-doesnt-boot.html