Problems with Dell Dimension E520

[G0AOZ]

Currently have two of these machines in the workshop and both exhibit the same problems.

One machine came equipped with a 500Gb Seagate Barracuda (SATA) drive, although the operating system was crippled with viruses.

I took a clone of the drive using Acronis True Image v11, using another Seagate Barracuda 500Gb drive. I then verified the clone worked ok by temporarily plugging it in place of the existing drive.

I worked on the crippled drive, but needed to run the clone back in the Dell again. The clone now failed to work, failed to get recognised by the Dell BIOS, in fact it just hung the machine. Original drive back in, and that worked ok. Attached the clone to the other Dell, same problem. Thought drive must be faulty. Attached to a completely different motherboard, drive recognised and readable. Cloned drive has subsequently been successfully repartitioned and formatted and used in another machine (not a Dell).

I tried two other hard drives with the Dell, one, a new WD 1Tb drive and an older Hitachi 160Gb, both drives clean and unformatted. Both hung both of the Dells.

Are these Dell E520 particularly fussy about the kind of drives they have attached? I have tried changing SATA cables, power connectors etc., but feel the problem must be with the Dells as these drives ALL work fine in other machines.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[goombawaho]

I can't imagine it's the hard drive OR the computer given what you've done. It all points to your imaging software and how/what it's done to the image.

 

[G0AOZ]

I can see that the imaging software might have something to do with it, but it doesn't explain why a brand spanking new WD 1Tb drive doesn't work either...

When I get back I'll try replacing the MBR on the 500Gb drive and see if that does anything for it.

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[BadBigBen]

From my experience, when a drive is attached and the machine hangs, then usually it has the following problems...

1. Drive controller is damaged...

Does not sound like it in your case, as the Original drive works...

2. Drive itself is damaged...

this is excluded also, since the drives work in other machines...

3. CD-ROM drive is damaged...

easily checked, remove CD-ROM and attach a drive that hangs the machine, if it does not hang after removal, then you found your culprit...

4. PSU is not outputting enough power...

Doesn't make sense, since it works with the Original drive, but worth a check...




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"

 

[goombawaho]

Problem with 1TB drive in that computer??? But didn't you try a smaller drive??

BIOS update anyone - just for kicks.

 

[cdogg]

Roger,
Have you tried resetting the BIOS to the factory defaults? Could the drive number be disabled in the BIOS or not properly configured? If you haven't done so already, you might want to review 114-115 here:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dime520/en/OM_en/NH730A01.pdf

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Einstein
[tab][navy]For posting policies, click [/navy]here.

 

[G0AOZ]

Thanks for all the helpful hints. After resetting the BIOSs one machine behaves impeccably. On the other PC, drives were all recognised ok, but the problem re-appeared again later on. Changed the PSU and the RAM but problem still there, which is pointing towards a flaky motherboard. At that point I had everything else disconnected from the board.

ROGER - G0AOZ.