Member Avatar for dfran1972

My cousin asked me to look at his 4 year old Dell Inspiron 1100 notebook, because he was frequently receiving the blue screen of death. After finally getting it to boot up in safe mode and getting his files off-loaded to my primary desktop, I decided to reformat and reinstall XP. All was going well until about half way through the installation and then I got the dreaded message:

"Primary Hard Disk Drive 0 Not Found. No Bootable Devices -- strike F1 to Retry Boot or F2 for Setup Utility". At this point, the hard drive also started making a terrible clicking noise. Since I had his files saved off, I decided to get a new hard drive for it, so went out and got a new 60 gig drive. Put it in and got the same message! So I thought maybe I needed to flash the BIOS, which I did, but afterwards, same message. It won't let me load XP because it still doesn't think there's a hard drive present. Obviously, I think there's more to this than a bad hard drive, since the old drive and a brand new drive are returning the same message. Could it be something with the controller/mobo? Could it be something with the caddy?

I can't even run WD's diagnostic's or lifeguard utility on it because it doesn't even recognize the HD.

Frustrated in PA. Help?

Thanks, Dave

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Short summary and what "IDE channel" means: the combination of the PATA/IDE controller and its physical connector on the Inspiron motherboard is what people mean by the "IDE channel." It is the logic and wiring that the BIOS uses to talk to the 2.5" hard drive. A single failing HDD will click and disappear, but the same symptom with a known-good replacement points at the controller, the drive bay/caddy connector, or a flaky BIOS/firmware setting. already did the important step of rescuing data; 's suggestion that the board can fail is plausible.

Practical diagnostic sequence (do these in order):

  1. Power down, remove AC and battery, then reseat the drive and caddy. Inspect the laptop-side connector and the drive edge for bent pins, corrosion, broken plastic tabs or foreign debris.
  2. Enter BIOS Setup and note whether any HDD is listed. Reset BIOS to defaults if unsure. If the BIOS never lists a drive, software fixes wont help.
  3. Test the suspect drives on a known-good desktop using a 2.5"->3.5" adapter or USB-to-IDE adapter and run the drive manufacturer's diagnostics. If a drive works on a desktop, the drive is OK.
  4. Conversely, try a proven-good 2.5" drive in the laptop. If a working drive still is not detected, the problem is almost certainly the laptop connector or controller.
  5. Remove nonessential modules (WiFi/mini-PCI, modem) and try again to rule out electrical shorts or accessory faults.

If the laptop controller/connector is bad: options are replacing the Inspiron 1100 motherboard (used donor boards are common), using an external USB enclosure if the BIOS supports USB boot, or fitting a CompactFlash-to-IDE adapter as a low-power internal replacement. Replacing the board is the only full repair; do not attempt board-level soldering unless experienced. The cheapest, safest first step is the external desktop test to prove whether the drives themselves are healthy before ordering parts.

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Member Avatar for raybay

Hard drive is shot. Get a refurb on www.tigerdirect.com or a new one at .
If you have the Dell recovery disc set it is easy. Otherwise, you will have to buy the recovery set from Dell for about $40

Member Avatar for chuckyzilla38

I was a Dell L2 tech for over two years. I believe that the ide channel on the mobo is bad. This can destroy a good hdd as well. If the notebook were in warranty the next step after replacing the hdd would be to replace the mobo.
I am currently working on a client's inspiron 1100 now with the same problem. I just installed a new 40gb hdd and received this message during the installation. I pulled the cru's -modem, mini-pci card and still get the error; the bios is current - definitely the mobo. :sad:

Member Avatar for J E M

believe that the ide channel on the mobo is bad

What is the IDE channel on the mobo? I bought a new HD for my 1100 and was hoping to install it myself.

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