Member Avatar for vyruzxxx21

Ok, I just got this peculiar problem about this "Maxtor 40Gig Hard drive". I have 2 pc's. Let's just call this PC1 and PC2. My Maxtor hard drive can not detect by BIOS in the PC1 but can detect in the PC2. I also transferred my Excelstor hard drive from PC2 to PC1 and the PC1 can detect the Excelstor hard drive but the Maxtor can't. I have tried everything about diagnostics etc. but can't get any help from others, I've also tried Maxtor's diagnostics and also flashed my BIOS but nothing happened, still can't detect Maxtor by my PC1. Please help. Tnx in the way, this is the specs of my pc's:

PC1:
Tyan Trinity 510 S2266 motherboard VIA chipset
128 DDR RAM
Maxtor 40Gig Hard disk
Intel P4 1.7 Gig

PC2:
ECS K7VMM +266 motheboard
AMD Duron 1.4G
Excelstor 40 Gig Hard disk
512 DDR RAM

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Dani AI

Generated

A focused, practical checklist to isolate why one PC’s BIOS will not enumerate the drive while another machine will. Building on ’s geometry hint and ’s jumper prompt, the steps below are ordered to find the root cause with the least risk to data.

  1. Physical & power checks
  • Try a different Molex power lead from the supply and listen closely for a clean, steady spin-up. Intermittent or slow spin sounds point to power or electronics failure.
  • Swap the IDE ribbon with a known-good cable (use an 80-conductor cable if the board supports UDMA). Bad cables or connector seating often cause timeouts that make the BIOS skip a drive.
  1. Isolation tests
  • Connect the drive as the only device on a single IDE cable and plug that cable into the primary IDE socket. This removes master/slave/cable-select interactions.
  • If still not seen, try the drive on a different IDE channel or use an IDE-to-USB adapter on a working PC to see if the drive enumerates there and to copy any important data immediately.
  1. Controller and BIOS behavior
  • Ensure the BIOS is set to auto-detect and LBA (don’t manually enter CHS unless you must). If the BIOS offers UDMA/PIO mode selection, temporarily force a conservative mode (PIO or UDMA off) to rule out timing incompatibility between the drive and controller.
  • If the board was recently updated, clear CMOS (battery out / jumper) before retrying detection.
  1. Diagnostics and next steps
  • Run a bootable vendor diagnostic from the working machine or via USB adapter to check SMART and surface tests. If the drive only behaves correctly on another PC or via USB, image the drive immediately and then investigate firmware tools or replacement. Firmware updates are risky on an unstable drive—backup first.

Likely culprits in order: bad cable/power connection, controller timing/UDMA incompatibility, and failing drive electronics. Start with the physical and isolation tests; if the drive shows long spin delays or inconsistent detection, prioritize data recovery.

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Member Avatar for TallCool1

Ok, I just got this peculiar problem about this "Maxtor 40Gig Hard drive". I have 2 pc's. Let's just call this PC1 and PC2. My Maxtor hard drive can not detect by BIOS in the PC1 but can detect in the PC2.

PC1:
Tyan Trinity 510 S2266 motherboard VIA chipset
128 DDR RAM
Maxtor 40Gig Hard disk
Intel P4 1.7 Gig

Did you properly reset your BIOS after flashing--that is, move the CMOS-reset jumper to ensure that the CMOS chip was completely discharged and the settings reset? I can't think of anything else that would cause that problem except for the hard drive interface being in the wrong mode. A drive-geometry-setting error could cause this type of problem.

Member Avatar for vyruzxxx21

Yes, I have properly reset the CMOS, so what should I do about that "interface in the wrong mode"? Can you give me a tip about that drive-geometry-setting? what should I do in that kind of problem? Thanx in advance. tnx to u tallcool.

Member Avatar for vyruzxxx21

so what should i do about this drive geometry setting to my maxtor? After placing my maxtor hard drive into my pc1, after the memory counting process, it hangs. Then after 30 sec's then the pc will see no hard drive installed. is this problem is all about the interface in the wrong mode and drive geometry setting error? please help!

Member Avatar for feigned

so what should i do about this drive geometry setting to my maxtor? After placing my maxtor hard drive into my pc1, after the memory counting process, it hangs. Then after 30 sec's then the pc will see no hard drive installed. is this problem is all about the interface in the wrong mode and drive geometry setting error? please help!

Is the drive jumper set to Master?

Member Avatar for vyruzxxx21

Yes, it is set to Master, I've also tried setting it to Slave. but when i set it to Master, it hangs for 30 secs maybe, then the pc will detect no drive and if i set it to Slave, it will not automatically detect the drive. I'm really confused about this problem. Please help, someone told me that it has to be the drive geometry setting error and drive interface in the wrong mode. anybody knows what to do about it?

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