First build, couple problems.

[insideac]

Hi, I have just finished my first build, it includes:
K8N MSI Neo4 Mobo Platinum
GeForce MX4000
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
120 GB Western Digital HDD
CD RW/DVD Player/Burner
and 512 MB Memory

It starts up fine, and the case lights up, all the fans run perfect, and it goes into the BIOS screen, but it does not detect my hard drive, even though it is connected. I have it connected to the IDE1 connector, and It does not get picked up, even when I try it with 3 of my other working HDDs, all the same size. Whats going on? Also, when I out it in slave mode, even though there is nothing set as a master, it goes to a screen that says Detecting Array Size, and then it doesn't do anything after that.

Another problem I have is that the CD Drive only opens and closes when there is no ribbon cable attatched, only if the power is connected to it. I tried to have it connected to the IDE1 and IDE2 connectors but nothing happens. This also does not get detected by the POST. All the Masters and Slaves appear as "None", and it doesnt detect these two things. I hope I described it well enough for some help, it would be thoroughly apprectiated. Thanks!

Alonso

[doctorgonzo]

Remove the CD drive and forget about it until you get everything else working. The fewer components, the better.

Jumper the drive to Cable Select (CS). Plug it into the black connector on the IDE cable, and plug the blue connector to the motherboard. Does this help?

[insideac]

Ok, I disconnected anbd took off the CD ROM for now, and did what you said, so now there is only one ribbon cable(other than the floppy one), and the black is in the HDD, set to CS, and the blue is connected to the motherboard. Also I tried to set it on IDE1 and IDE2, and both times it didnt even go to the Detecting Array screen, and Auto Detect doesnt pick it up.

[tempus]

is this a new wd drive? has it been formatted yet? I had a similar problem with a saegate drive where it was not detected by the motherboard. after i had formatted it the manufacturers software the mobo saw it right away.

[insideac]

Yeah, its brand new, out of the box, and I havent formatted it, every time I go and type in fdisk, it says that It cannot find hard drive, so I cant format it either. It does spin though, so I know its not dead.

[Cricket]

It does spin though, so I know its not dead.No, all that means is the motor works...you don't know if the hard drive is defective or not.

Have you tried a different IDE cable yet?

Have you tried that hard drive in another computer?

:) Cricket

[insideac]

Yes Ive tried 3 different ribbon cables, one that came with the motherboard, one that came with the hard drive, and the one that came with the CD ROM. The hard drive works in the other computer, and Ive tried differnet hard drives on this one. The farthest I hav gotten into the BIOS setup for the hard drive was where it says The array size thing. Then it freezes.

[Cricket]

Have you tested the RAM yet?

What power supply are you using? Is it ATX 2.0 compatible (24 pin motherboard connection)?

:) Cricket

[insideac]

How Do I test that RAM? Yeah its a 24 pi mobo connection. Its a 450 watt power supply/

[Cricket]

How Do I test that RAM?Memtest86+ (http://www.memtest.org/) Its a 450 watt power supply/What brand is it?

:) Cricket

[insideac]

RAMs good, I cant tell what the brand is, it came with the case, but it says ATX Switching Power Supply.

[Cricket]

You tested the RAM already? That was fast.

The power supplies sounds like a generic one. You might want to consider replacing it with a good quality one. Generic power supplies aren't known to be good performers. See this thread (http://www.pcmech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=131195).

:) Cricket

[tempus]

Yeah, its brand new, out of the box, and I havent formatted it, every time I go and type in fdisk, it says that It cannot find hard drive, so I cant format it either. It does spin though, so I know its not dead.
try using the western digital software to format the drive.

[insideac]

The software doesnt pick up the Hard Drive, and why wouldnt the HDD get power if everything else does? I have a driver CD and a system disk, but the system disk is no help since the fdisk is pointless, and I cant use the driver CD because the CD ROM doesnt work (see first post)

I found a link to the case I have : http://www.powmax.com/Index.htm its called the 1809 Mega Assault

[tempus]

The software doesnt pick up the Hard Drive, and why wouldnt the HDD get power if everything else does? I have a driver CD and a system disk, but the system disk is no help since the fdisk is pointless, and I cant use the driver CD because the CD ROM doesnt work (see first post)

I found a link to the case I have : http://www.powmax.com/Index.htm its called the 1809 Mega Assault
what i am suggesting is to download western digital software called lifeguard tools and create a bootable diskette. or format the drive in another machine but connect it as a slave.

[insideac]

Im trying that right now, Ill let you know how it turns out.

[insideac]

It still doesnt detect it, though my old computer can detect it, and has formatted it. I even tried drive to drive copy, hoping windows would work. I have a bootable XP cd, but can someone please help me fix me CD ROM? Idk what to do with the hard drive anymore

[nicolaus corelius]

have you tried SATA HDDs?

[insideac]

I cant afford to buy another HDD, I already spent alot on the stuff I have.

[tempus]

have you gone into the bios and made sure all the settings are correct for an ide harddrive? I think your problem may be bios related.

[insideac]

Well, what I tried in the BIOS is the auto detect, which didnt work, then I tried to input the hard drive manually, and made it smaller so it would trick the BIOS to think it was a small capacity HDD until I would format it later, aand now it shows up as 512 MB, but then when I save and exit, the setting are changed back to auto. I have tried using the large, CHL, and LBA settings, combined with manual or auto.

[nicolaus corelius]

you maybe could RMA the mobo and get another one

[insideac]

Rma?

[Cricket]

Return Merchandise Authorization...basically you contact the vendor and tell them the item is defective and they give you a RMA number to include with the item when you send it back for repair or replacement.

:) Cricket

[insideac]

Ok thanks

[glc]

Whoa - there's one thing you are all neglecting. WD IDE drives require slightly different jumpering procedures than other brands. If it's the only drive on the cable, it must be set to Cable Select or the jumper must be removed. Master and slave positions are only for use with another drive on the cable with it. If you are using 80 wire Ultra ATA cables, which you should be doing on any motherboard made in the past 5 years, Cable Select is the recommended method for any brand hard drive or optical drive.

[insideac]

Ok, now Idk what happened, but the monitor doesnt display the BIOS anymore. Also, I now lost my windows XP on my older hard drive when I tested to see if it worked on this build. Is it a fault motherboard? The hard drive worked on my other comps, and so did the CD Rw/DVD Drive, as well as the monitor. Or maybe its the case?

[glc]

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=132409

[insideac]

Ok I went back, disconnected everything and started from scratch again, and now things are working fine. thanks guys! I mustve not connected a cable right or something.