Hard Drive not getting power, what am I missing

[Jimboot]

Hello. I bought a FX 60 CPU with a 939 ASUS MB. 1000W PS a 7900 GTX GeForce 512 all installed in the COOLER MASTER Stacker 830. I am using my pre-exisiting (2) 512 DDR2 400 (3200) RAM, old CD-ROM, and a WD 80GB HDD.

When I turned it on for the first time. Everything was smooth like butter. Except, the Hard Drive never got any power to it. I tried many things, I even went to basics and held the Hard drive in my hand to see if I felt anything spinning in it. I nvr seemed to get any power to it. I used 3 different Hard drives for experimentation. The power supply has 8 outgoing recipicles encased in metal for Normal Male/Female and the others were for SATA. I am fairly new to SATA and willing to listen and learn things about it. I am hoping its something fairly easy and its because I do not know about SATA that perchance thats all it is.


Any ideas that come to mind is greatly appreciated. I am stuck at work but I will surely put ALL these new ideas to the test when I get home. I have build my own computer many times and since 1995, so I have the basics, but sometimes u need to be reminded or another set of eyes helps out .

Thank you!

[Panama Red]

SATA only requires one power connector. Some drives come with both the 4 pin molex type connection and the true sata connection. You Never want to plug in both power connectors as this can cause damage to the drive.

Is your had drive recognized in the bios. Might be that you need to load the SATA drivers before the hdd is properly recognized.

[Jimboot]

I got it up and running on the first try. But, I cannot seem to get the video card to load anything on the screen, the monitor just flashes as if its not getting enough power. So I tried giving it, its own wall plug outlet, separate from the Rig. The tower has a 1000W so its not that it isnt strong enough. I reconnected all the male/female plugs from the power supply, so its not that.

Any thoughts?

[hitchface]

Did your mobo come with integrated graphics? It might be trying to run off of that. If so...once inside, you can install the drivers 'n such for the card and then disable the integrated.

Other than that, just check all of your connections...the card might not be fully seated, so make sure it is locked in and all. Can you submit the details of your system too? There might be a compatibility issue somewhere...

[glc]

http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=168456

Full specs, please.

[Jimboot]

Thats prolly my bigger issue. I cannot seem to load any opperating system. All the fans seem to work, i leave the doors off so I can watch everything light up and turn etc apprioately.

For what its worth.
A64 FX-60 2.6G, MB ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe NF4SLI 939, WD 80 Gig HDD, Basic DVD, Maxtor 17" Bulky old style monitor, eVGA 7900GTX 512 (only one card), (2) 512 chunks of DD2 400 (3200) RAM, PSU E-POWER 1000W

If it is onboard graphics, is it possible to turn those off without running your HDD?

[Jimboot]

When your saying 4 pin....Are you talking IDE cables or 4 pin Power cord? I grew up calling them different things, hehe.

[ChoboSeki]

Yes, it's possible to disable onboard graphics without a hard drive. This is in the BIOS. Your motherboard does not have onboard. Try using a different PCIE x16 slot.

[Jimboot]

I prolly do not have a SATA drive since it wasnt what I am was looking for when i bought the HDD about 6 months ago.

I remember looking at the 939 Asus MB I have last night and I saw 4 extra slots on the MB for SATA accessibility, located on the lower right hand side of the MB near all those little 2 and 3 pin cords for reset switch and power, LED etc.

On a new RIG, fully/partially loaded like mine. If your HDD didnt work on this first try and your used to using a IDE cable thats usually Blue male with a gray strip connecting to the MB. What would be your first instinct. (Joking) If it was anything after this, i would be checking the RAm. My exp, ram goes bad faster then anything.

[hitchface]

By "load any operating system" do you mean install? If thats the case, its likely to be HDD compatibility...I had that issue...but in any case, I think we are supposed to move this discussion...

[Panama Red]

4 pin power cord. SATA hdd's don't use ide cables. Check out the pic on the opening page of this WD install guide. You'll see the sata power connector, the sata data cable connector, the jumper connection and the 4 pin connector (left to right).

http://www.wdc.com/en/library/sata/2779-001006.pdf

[glc]

Follow the procedures in my link. You have to get a good POST before you start reassembling and attempting to load an OS. I do not see any compatiblity issues.

[flanzig1]

If your 80gig HD uses the flat data cable, then it is IDE. To use it set the jumpers on the HD and CD to CS. Connect the blue connector to the mobo, the other end to the HD and the CD to the middle.

[Alaron]

__Moderator Note__

Jim, please don't open more threads on the same build. We cannot follow the troubleshooting process. I merged this thread with the one you opened in Video/Audio/Multimedia.



As for the hard drive confusion:

This photo shows the IDE connection on the back of a hard drive (second one): http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...+Drive+%2D+OEM

This photo shows the SATA connection on the back of a hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm...+Drive+%2D+OEM

Let us know which one you have.