Harddrive Not ready - System Halted Error

[mariahk63]

My son yanked the keyboard off his computer so hard it broke the cord. Now ever since we can't get the system to boot up. We get the message "drive not ready - system halted". I have reseated EVERY connection and still get the message. Is it possible he has somehow damaged the harddrive and I need to replace it?
Any advice would be appreciated. Also if this is posted in the wrong forum please direct me to the best forum. THANKS!!

Maria

 

[Ignad]

If the computer was running at the time and he jolted/jerked the computer's case hard enough that the heads on the drive may have crashed. He also might have cracked the motherboard near where the keyboard port is located, which could cause lots of problems... remember that boards are multi-layer, so a visual inspection wont always show the damage to the naked eye.

Seems to me your son might deserve his computer in its current configuration.

Anyway, the quickest way to test the drive might be to attach it to another system as a slave drive, boot the computer up and see if you access it from windows.

 

[The_Mage18]

If the computer was running at the time and he jolted/jerked the computer's case hard enough that the heads on the drive may have crashed. He also might have cracked the motherboard near where the keyboard port is located, which could cause lots of problems... remember that boards are multi-layer, so a visual inspection wont always show the damage to the naked eye.

Seems to me your son might deserve his computer in its current configuration.

Anyway, the quickest way to test the drive might be to attach it to another system as a slave drive, boot the computer up and see if you access it from windows.

Best option available at this point really. Ignad has pointed out the only real option

 

[mariahk63]

Best option available at this point really. Ignad has pointed out the only real option

Thanks. SO, I could hook it up to my other desktop in the other drive slot and see if it works on that?

OH, I agree this son will NOT be using the computer for a long time...He has two other brothers that didn't damage it and it has been sitting for 6 months. I want to get it running for the other two kids. Again thanks for responding so quickly. I am starting to think he jolted it bad enough to crash the drive.

 

[copeland3300]

I'm really doubting that he damaged his hard drive by yanking the keyboard. I'd say he screwed up the mobo.

Newer hard drives are built to sustain fairly high g forces while working, and i doubt that yanking the keyboard out of the computer subjected anything the the comptuer to more than a single G. Unless of course the tower went shooting across the room and through a wall. Then i'd think it's more than just a bad motherboard.

 

[Ignad]

I'm really doubting that he damaged his hard drive by yanking the keyboard. I'd say he screwed up the mobo.

Newer hard drives are built to sustain fairly high g forces while working, and i doubt that yanking the keyboard out of the computer subjected anything the the comptuer to more than a single G. Unless of course the tower went shooting across the room and through a wall. Then i'd think it's more than just a bad motherboard.

I know, but if he yanked it hard enough to snap the cable, then its possible the computer 'hopped' or even tipped over... and its not how fast the impact is, its the shortness of the stopping distance that generates the g's.


I watched a co-worker gently tap a hard drive once with a screwdriver (he was talking about the contents of the drive as he was screwing it into the computer, with the box running and pointed at it to make a point in conversation). I watched the computer display behind him crash... he had no idea why I was laughing as I walked away.

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mariahk63
"SO, I could hook it up to my other desktop in the other drive slot and see if it works on that?"

You sound like you're new to this, so lets try the easiest way...

Be aware of drive jumpering. If it is currently connected to the computer on an IDE cable by itself, you can connect it the same way on the other computer. If there is a second drive on that cable, we may need to change jumpering on the hard drive...

Assuming it is alone on the cable, connect it to a working computer on the secondary channel, leaving that computer's boot drive connected on the primary channel. Be sure to connect it the same way on the cable (the end connector). And then boot up and see if you can read the contents of the drive in windows explorer...

 

[Buckus]

I watched a co-worker gently tap a hard drive once with a screwdriver (he was talking about the contents of the drive as he was screwing it into the computer, with the box running and pointed at it to make a point in conversation). I watched the computer display behind him crash... he had no idea why I was laughing as I walked away.

Haha! That makes me laugh. One of my previous boss' almost erased all the extensions on the PBX because he wouldn't stop to read the warning messages. Luckily, I was right behind him and had him read the message. He still didn't understand, until I explained it to him.

Anyway, as for the drive. it is possible that yanking the keyboard out sent a nasty power surge through the system that fried the IDE controller or something. Unfortunately, I have seen cases where unplugging the keyboard from a running computer causes all sorts of problems.

Try the drive in another computer. If it reads ok, then your mobo is probably hosed.