I need a geek! I shut down one night and the next morning when I powered up, I got "Drive read error" cntl+alt+dlt to restart. It does nothing, justs goes back to that every time I restart. Can't boot into safe mode but I can get into the Bios. Booted from XP PRO disc and tried to repair. It goes through the motions but when it's finished, I get the read disc error again. I put in a new cable,checked all connections, reseated the rdram, did chkdsk,fixmbr, cursed, banged head on desk, installed and formatted a new drive and still get "DRIVE READ ERROR"! I put the old drive in an external case and hooked into my laptop. I was able to view all my files and see all programs. I'm not a pro, but I don't think it's the drive. I've read it could be the Bios is messed up but reset to default doesn't help. Drives spin up,lights come on, fans work, does anyone think it could be my intell D850gb board? I need to fix this "on the cheep" or it will be time for a full rebuild and upgrade and I don't really want to do that right now. Again, it will not boot into xp pro or "safe mode". I power up, get the intell screen and then strait to the "Drive read error" bla, bla, bla. I put the old drive back in attempted a repair again and still have the same problem. Any ideas?
you can update the bios, connect the drive to another sata port, but first of all - back up all the data that's important to you.
You've done all the right things and you've proved the drive is fine. I assume it's a PC not a laptop that's giving trouble since you externally connected the drive to a laptop.
So - cables don't just go phut unless they've been pinched for a while; is that it? Could it be a PSU problem on the particular power connector?
you can update the bios, connect the drive to another sata port, but first of all - back up all the data that's important to you.
Thank for the advice, Bios update would require a download (if available) from Intell to a floppy disc drive I don't have and may be beyond my capability. My drives are EIDE Western Digitals. My board is no longer supported but still available new for a fraction of what I paid six years ago. Would replacing the board fix a bios problem?
You've done all the right things and you've proved the drive is fine. I assume it's a PC not a laptop that's giving trouble since you externally connected the drive to a laptop.
So - cables don't just go phut unless they've been pinched for a while; is that it? Could it be a PSU problem on the particular power connector?
Thanks for the reply, the PSU is 4 months old but per your advise, I tried a different connector, and no change. All drives sound like they are running. I tried a windows repair and it does see both drives and indicates their fine. Would this not indicate the cable is fine? I tried a new cable and still have the problem. This is a PC about six years old. I have let it just run with the drive read error notification on the screen and after about 30 min. it powers off. Is this a feature of the P4 processor or an indication of an over heating PSU? Nothing feels hot inside.
Nah - not your PSU then and not your cable.
Changing the board out would likely get you the BIOS in it's original OEM state.
A quick thought - is it your C: drive that comes up with the error? Does the BIOS think there's another disk in the chain? Is the drive correctly jumpered? Also what powers off - the PC or the drive?
Nah - not your PSU then and not your cable.
Changing the board out would likely get you the BIOS in it's original OEM state.
A quick thought - is it your C: drive that comes up with the error? Does the BIOS think there's another disk in the chain? Is the drive correctly jumpered? Also what powers off - the PC or the drive?
Yes it is the C drive that has the error, it has XP loaded on it. The other is just for storage. Jumpers are correct, this computer had been running with out any problems for months and then one day this happens. If I disconnect the power plug from the slave drive and power up the computer I still get "Drive Read Error". If I disconnect the power plug from the Master drive and power up I get "Media test faliure, check cable, drive not ready- system halted. When I plug the master drive back in, I get the disc read error again. When I start up and enter the bios setup utility it does list both drives in their proper order. It's the computer itself that powers off and I think that's a feature built into the Pent. 4 processor, in case it starts to over heat, it shuts off the computer. This automatic shutdown only happens after a prolonged time of inactivity with "disc read error" on screen. A lot of people are getting this "disc read error" problem and I guess it could be caused by many different things. I,ve tried every thing so far and no luck. The only time I have ever seen this, it was a bad drive. Replaced it, every thing was fine. This time, I installed a new drive and I still get the error.
In that case I can only conclude that your motherboard or CPU isn't functioning properly.
Well, obviously, you've concluded that. What I mean is that your circuitry is misbehaving. For example, dust between tracks on the mobo can cause anything to happen if the tracks are bridged.
So, a thorough clean out of the mobo, re-seating the CPU, etc?
I don't think it's dust buildup as I keep it clean inside. How would I go about testing the CPU?
Have you done a Chkdsk /f on the drive? Or have you used DiskDoctor or similar utility?
You've said that the drive works fine on another PC, but you wouldn't have booted with it, right? So you could have a bad block in the booting or early windows stuff.
Gentlemen, I have the same problem, with a little complex feature: the boot drives are 2 WD raptor put in RAID 0... beside that same symptoms. The mobo is 5 years old, and is great clean. Boot was doing all fine until 2 weeks ago... and there is no known reason for this read error...
Help's welcome, champ' will be on me if we fix it.
Try fixboot. Can't hurt, might help.
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10877_11-6031733.html
What's the boot order?
boot order: HD, CD, floppy
Fixboot does not help, it does not recon the Raid mount
boot order: HD, CD, floppy
Fixboot does not help, it does not recon the Raid mount
See the FAQ:
"Do not piggyback threads (aka "hijack" threads) by posting your question as a reply to another question."
You're just confusing the issue.
Please start your own thread.
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