Thread: Grrrr!

Originally Posted by Mickey

Computer/ 2nd-HD (SATA) has been acting up in recent days. For some reason this HD is not showing up. This AM decided to give it some attention. Drive shows up in the BIOS but in more than half the times I boot the machine, Windows doesn't show it.

What to do??? Lite came on, fire up the WD diag prgm. Prgm noted the drive in question was there so I tried running a quick test on the drive. Instantly got an error message, "cable failure". How can BIOS see the drive but not the OS??? Shut the machine down, disconnected and reconnected the data cable for the drive. Fire the machine up and sure enough the drive was recognized by OS. Only thing noted was this drive and one of the ext drives had changed their drive letter designation. Humm! Shut the machine down once again, disconnected the ext drive and fired up the machine. ?????? drive not seen by OS. WD diag still seeing it but when I tried a quick test, again message reporting bad cable!

Looks like I'm going to have to buy a new SATA cable and swap out the old. Hope it really is a cable issue and not the drive starting to fail. Will see if I can get the drive to show in the OS and copy all files to one of the ext drives. some times.

You are a dangerous old man Brother Mickey!

How old is the drive? I have never heard of a case of a SATA data cable failing in service. I've certainly gotten bad cables before... but once installed and working, they don't tend to just suddenly fail for no reason.

Something is corrupt or just ain't set-up right in Windows... or start thinking about buying a replacement hard drive.

Check the power supply and power connections as well. Make sure S.M.A.R.T. is invoked (and works) on this hard drive.

Dougster™

Originally Posted by Mickey

I'm suspecting something other than the cable but not real sure what the issue is. When we are away from home for a couple days or more I always pull the drives and put them in a safe place. So in this instance, cables have been connected numerous times.

SATA cables are pretty foolproof and robust... but I must admit that I have never heard of anyone giving them this much routine "exercise"! Perhaps it is a worn cable or worn connector pins after all. Easy solution: Install brand new ones! Then think about maybe leaving them alone!

Originally Posted by Mickey

For now I'm going to sit back and watch.

Me too!

Dougster™

Brother Mickey - You are still just a very dangerous old man when it comes to computers. Time to get your son down to run it for you!!!

Originally Posted by Mickey

Well, it's back. Think I have the answer as to the source of the problem. Over recent days I've been doing some video editing and my software, Abobe Premiere Elements, and it is appearing that if I don't connect the camcorder in the proper order, the SW will lock up and cause me to have to pull the plug to get control back. Upon rebooting, the drive in question is no longer seen by the OS and the drive letter assignment changes and not just to next available letter.

Ahhhhhh... you never mentioned any of this!!! You are just like my "worst nightmare" customers!!!

Originally Posted by Mickey

A while ago I rebooted and went into BIOS and drive was visible and even did a SMART check on the drive. All went well so let the machine complete the boot. OS didn't see the drive. Found a restore point from several days ago where the drive was seen by the OS.

Now it's obvious what's happening. Other than possible application software bugs, resource conflicts or specific *quirks* related to the camera (check the manufacturer's website and any user forums), your main problem would seem to be with Windows and the methodology/sequence with which it finds internal and external devices and assigns drive letters. Certain USB devices can be tricky things for Windows to handle. Remember our last discussion on "hot swapping" and things that should theoretically be doable but ain't? I would not be at all surprised if it turned out your computer had a preference for a pre-boot or post-boot (or pre/post software launch) connection of the camera. Bottom line: USB is not yet a 100% perfected, does-it-all-flawlessly-regardless-of-anything-else interface. The simpler you can keep it (or make it), the better.

Originally Posted by Mickey

Now that I know proper order for connecting the camcorder to the computer, before firing up the SW, I'll keep my eye open for any further problems. Did buy a new SATA cable today just in case.

Might be worthwhile to change the cable (since you already bought it... just to eliminate that possible issue) and then I would recommend that you leave all internal hard drives installed for good. Seriously! I would never advise a client to keep removing and reinstalling internal hard drives as you've been doing. Windows can get terribly confused with drives constantly appearing, disappearing and then reappearing. This is normally only an issue for builders and for hard drive upgrading or replacement. If security is that much of an issue, use the externals or thumb drives (my preference) or burn some CDs or DVDs and store them in a safe place.

Hard talk here Mickey... so I'll apologize now ... but stop taking your multiple hard drive-filled computer apart!!!

Dougster™

Originally Posted by Mickey

Sometimes hard to remember all actions taken over a period of a few days. Sooner or later things start to come together to form a better understanding of what is happening.

From you latest comments it seems you're not fully understanding what I've said. When I remove the drives for safe keeping while away, the computer is NEVER on so it is totally unaware drives were missing, this is unless there is an issue with reinstalling them, which has never happened. The issue was with an internal drive not one of the ext drives. The int drives are ALWAYS in place when the machine is turned on.

Since I tied together the action of connecting the camcorder to the computer (via 1394, not USB) and the editing software, I'm starting to think I've got this under control. Drive behaved normally yesterday afternoon and no issues when booting this AM. The manual for the editing software is very specific of when to connect the camcorder.

Oh, there are very few camcorders that connect to a computer via USB, 1394 it the standard.

Okay... more facts! I didn't realize the camera was firewire-connected to the computer. I don't have enough experience with firewire-connected cameras to be of any help... sorry! However, if the software is specific about when the camera can and cannot be connected or disconnected, that obviously needs to be observed.

I hear you on the "never powered up when internal drives removed" point. In theory, that should make the internal drive "remove and store" routine perfectly harmless. In actual practice over the long term, I'm not so sure. I still wouldn't dare to do it in a million years... but YMMV and DSFDF.

Dougster™