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Stupid computer problems again!

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  • #1

    Stupid computer problems again!

    Why can't they ever just work?

    A friend of mine just gave me his "old" computer cuz he bought a new alienware thingie. The one he gave me isn't great, or even awesome, but maybe 3 years ago it was tops. So I plug it all in, boot it up, and it comes up saying "Primary Master - ST3200820AS 186G UDMA 6". Looks good right? I don't know, but it seems normal.

    Then it says "Secondary Master - SATA Device Not Found".

    WTF.

    It's a freebie so I feel terrible about bitching, but still. I just want the computer to work!
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Could that be the reason he gave it to you for free?
    We're all mad here. I'm mad, you're mad.

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    • #3
      Nah, he wouldn't do that.

      The most annoying thing now is the Facebook comments I'm getting from "experts". One guy keeps going on and on about checking the "bois". I'm sorry but I don't care if that guy went to harvard, he's coming nowhere near my computer. I feel dirty even having his comments there.

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      • #4
        Does it load Windows, or whatever your OS is, normally from there? It could just be checking for a second hard drive, and if you don't have one plugged in, there isn't one to find so there's nothing actually wrong.

        Edit to add: also, the guy you mentioned above probably meant to say check the "BIOS" which is basically a program that runs immediately when you turn a computer on, which loads all the hardware. The message you're getting about "Secondary Master - SATA Device Not Found" is the BIOS looking for a second hard drive. If you have a second hard drive, your computer doesn't recognize it and can't read off of it, for some reason. If you don't have a second hard drive, then there's nothing wrong. The BIOS is just telling you it looked for one and didn't detect one.
        Last edited by MaggieTheCat; 01-29-2011, 03:10 PM.

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        • #5
          I'm pretty sure it's just one hard drive. It just freezes up after I get the error message.

          Oh and lucky me, I tried resetting the options in setup, and now the new video card won't work. Awesome I'm on a roll!

          I hate working on frankenstein computers.

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          • #6
            Still, it wouldn't hurt to look in there and see if there's another; it might possibly be a cable knocked loose in the move or something.
            "My in-laws are country people and at night you can hear their distinctive howl."

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            • #7
              Just the one drive. 1 Cd drive, 1 floppy drive for some reason, and 1 hard drive. Everything else is running on IDE cables, but the hd is SATA. That a problem?

              For the record, this is exactly what I see when it freezes:

              Silicon Integrated Systems Corp. RAID BIOS Settings Utility v1.07_964
              (c) 2003-2005 Silicon Integrated Systems Corp. All Rights Reserved

              Press <Ctrl><S> to enter Setup Menu or <ESC> to skip waiting.

              Primary Master : ST3200820AS 186 GB UDMA 6
              Secondary Master : <SATA Device Not Found>
              ------

              And that's it. No idea if any of that's relevent, but if someone sees that and is like "oh holy crpa I know exactly what it is!" I'd appreciate it. Oh, and Ctrl-S or Escape don't work. I can push on the screen before this to enter the cmos thingie.
              Last edited by DrFaroohk; 01-29-2011, 04:17 PM.

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              • #8
                Well yay for me on a whim I pretty much gutted the computer so only the hard drive was connected. So sound card, video card, modem, nothing. And it booted up just fine. Now I gotta figure out which one caused the problem, right? Yay for me!

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                • #9
                  Now watch, you reassemble piece by piece and it will boot up just fine in every instance.

                  Edit, wait a minute, you pulled out the video card and it booted? That shouldn't happen unless you have an integrated video chipset. The three basic items you need (apart from Motherboard and Power Supply) are CPU, RAM, and Video. If one of those are missing, you should get a POST error code.

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                  • #10
                    So my friend tells me "Oh by the way, there's a problem with the cd drive, it makes it not boot up". Says he knows how to fix it but I don't need it right away. So it works now....

                    It does have an integrated video card, and also one he added a while back, which for some reason decided to stop working. Even with the drivers all updated and stuff, it just doesn't seem to want to do anything. So for now I'm using the integrated one. I have like six of them lying around the house. I'm sure one will work.

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                    • #11
                      It might be something as simple as jumper settings.

                      I don't suppose he still has the manual for your motherboard? If not, you can likely find it online. Check to make sure the jumpers and drives are set properly for heirarchy inside the system (that's what the master/slave, etc is about).

                      My boyfriend had an issue with a new drive, once, because that manufacturer's drives had a tendency to only work if they were the master drive, so setting them up as slaves would cause the system to not boot.

                      ^-.-^
                      Faith is about what you do. It's about aspiring to be better and nobler and kinder than you are. It's about making sacrifices for the good of others. - Dresden

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