hdd cause system crash

[qtx]

The problem:

hdd: western digital, 20 GBytes, IDE and at last scan had no bad sectors(that was few days ago);

When it is plugged in and I press the switch on button the system start and after 1 or 2 seconds crashes.System does not make any error sounds.
When it is not plugged in the system work quite nice.
[I'm writing this from it, with help of a live CD];

Questions:
1. Is the hdd the real problem or something else might cause this problem ?
2 .If hdd is the problem can be done something to recover it ?[if yes please point me in a direction from where to star];

Some other system info (probably useful):

CPU:
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ cat /proc/cpuinfo
processor : 0
vendor_id : AuthenticAMD
cpu family : 6
model : 6
model name : AMD Athlon(tm) Processor
stepping : 2
cpu MHz : 1150.074
cache size : 256 KB
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 1
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 mmx fxsr sse syscall mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow up ts
bogomips : 2302.61
clflush size : 32


ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333]
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8366/A/7 [Apollo KT266/A/333 AGP]
00:06.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8139/8139C/8139C+ (rev 10)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233A ISA Bridge
00:11.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
00:11.2 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 23)
00:11.3 USB Controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 23)
00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 40)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV11 [GeForce2 MX/MX 400] (rev b2)

(DDRAM I) in MBytes
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ free -m
total
Mem: 884


Thank YOU, Thanks ,Cheers

 

[edfair]

There are a couple of things that can happen:

If your power supply is marginal and the hard drive pulls enough to exceed long term current limits the supply can quit with what is called a crowbar shutdown to protect all the electronics. If it was a serious short in the drive you would have a shutdown before the fan makes a full turn.

The usual 2 second shutdown cause is a problem with the CPU fan. The BIOS goes out to check that the fan is working and shuts down to protect the CPU.

After the BIOS does it's thing with bootup checks it looks to the hard drives to see if they are present. That generally is several seconds into the bootup sequence.

I've seen the problem with IDE cables reversed but can't recall what time frame was involved other than it happened earlier than a missing boot loader. And I recall one with a loose IDE connector on the M/B.

What else in the case that can be unplugged to reduce power needs to possibly extend the shutdown time.





Ed Fair
Give the wrong symptoms, get the wrong solutions.

 

[BadBigBen]

I kinda agree with Ed there, as it does sound like a power issue... usually a damaged drive would cause a freeze of the system, not a restart...

you could try another (known working or new) HDD...

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[qtx]

Solution:

I have shaken the hdd and tried again, it worked!
The system also froze once in a while, but I thought that cpu is to blame for that is pretty heated.
It looks like the hdd is finished.

Thank you Thanks Cheers

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