Replacing a motherboard 6

[MamaLoca]

Hiya folks, I am in need of some good advice.

Last week we had an electrical storm and it seems to have caused a problem with my parents machine. It was powered down at the time and although the power was routed through a surge supresser the DSL was not (I know mia culpa, mia culpa, it is now). Regardless thier machine refused to boot after the storm (none of the phones seem to have been affected, so I'm still not convinced)

I have done all the steps to sort out the problem with the help of the Dell techs. Have replaced the power supply (not the problem and Dell refunded the cost). Now I have ordered a replacement motherboard. it is the same board that is currently in the machine no upgrades or changes.

I have taken the A+ certification course up to, but not including the hands on, so I have never installed a motherboard beyond an online simulation. (Damn it Jim, I'm a web designer not a hardware geek). So I have been looking at walkthroughs of replacing the motherboard and everything says I have to format the hard drive in order to do it. ( my father will shoot me if he looses all his pictures)

My questions are:
Will I need to transfer the processor chip to the new board? (I am assuming I will)

Will I need to format the hard drive? (I'm hoping I don't)

What is the worse case scenario? (Be gentle I'm a n00b)

Life would be so much easier if I only had the source code.

 

[MamaLoca]

HD Backup was a success.



Nila __________________________________________________________________
Life would be so much easier if I only had the source code.

 

[attrofy]

Woohoo - glad to hear. The rest is gravy now....

 

[MamaLoca]

WOW, I did it, I replaced my first Motherboard. AND it works, And I was worried.

IT does have a little hicup when booting up, It says there is no Primary drive even though I made sure the jumpers where in the correct place. It says hit F2 to continue or F12 to enter setup. If I hit F2 it boots up like always. So I'm not sure what the issua is, but it works, woohoo, I get to stay in the will after all.



Nila __________________________________________________________________
Life would be so much easier if I only had the source code.

 

[edfair]

There are 3 choices on the drive ma , sl, & cs.
There are multiple choices on the cable. First question is whether the connectors to the M/B and drives are blue, black, and grey. This would indicate a cs type cable. If all are the same color then master/slave type cable.
Actually more complicated but lets go simple first.

You only hit the jackpot when it works correctly.

Oh, and look on the drive to verify that the jumper is set ma (for master). It may be hard to find, very small print on the board or embossed on the plastic shell, or inside the shell.
And it won't kill anything if you experiment with changing the positions with power off. Worst case it won't work and you can change it back.

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

 

[attrofy]

One more thought aside from EdFairs suggestions, is to hit F12 and make sure that the drive is autodetected correctly. It should be, but odd things happen with new drive installs occasionally, and using F2 may be bypassing the current check and using the last known good startup.

 

[MamaLoca]

So it detects the hard drive but not the CD-ROM. I have the jumpers set to WD's specifications for a single drive because that is how I interpret their instructions. The hard drive is on a cable by itself and the CD is on a dual connector cable. I see the jumpers on the CD-ROM are set to the same setting as WD's setting for Dual (Master) this is how it was set before I started all this.

I have not taken the CD-ROM out so I don't know the manufacturer, I will be doing that next. Would the jumper settings be the same as for the HDD?

I will keep looking for a solution.

Nila __________________________________________________________________
Life would be so much easier if I only had the source code.

 

[edfair]

You're limited to m,s,cs on the Cd. Mo special jumper settings like on the WD. Set it for master and on the end of the cable.
Different HD manufacturers set their jumpers differently.

I assume that the CMOS is set for auto on the secondary.

And even if it doesn't ID through the BIOS and CMOS settings it may work correctly in the OS.



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

 

[MamaLoca]

Argh, OK, so I haven't been trying to access the CD Drive, but I have covered just about all the configurations and looking in the setup menu for it, I will go back ant try all again and check in the OS as well. I had a brandy new Sony CD-ROM so I am working with that since my dad seemed to think perhaps the other one was not working properly before all this happened. I did try to put a program CD, an Audio CD and a homeburned CD in the original before disconnecting it. They, all three spun up then stopped. And I could not access the drive through the OS.

Back to work, Dad has a bunch of CD's he wants to burn and he's about as patient as a three year old, lol.



Nila __________________________________________________________________
Life would be so much easier if I only had the source code.

 

[attrofy]

I may be reading something incorrectly, but do you have the new hard drive on the same cable as the CD-ROM? It sounds like you have a total of 3 devices (2 HDD and 1 CD-ROM) and it sounds as if they are all set to Master.

Based on convenience of board layout and case configuration, my guess is it would be easiest to connect the 2 HDD on the same cable (Primary IDE) leave your boot drive set on master, and (presumably) the new one set to slave. Then on the Secondary, have your CD-ROM set to master. Of course, this isn't the most ideal setup for data throughput, but will probably be the easiest to configure for running cables.

 

[MamaLoca]

Sheesh, This is a PITA

The Hard Drive is connected to the MoBo on its own cable. (Only one HDD) with a single connection
The CD is on a second cable that has two connections labled 0(end) and 1(middle) (CD is connected to 0).

The I guess I have forgotten the original jumper configuration but I'm using a different CD now anyways. I also used a new cable.

I tried a multitude of combinations; master, slave; master, master; case select; no jumpers; et al. Nothing would result in the detection of the CD.

I was considering putting the HDD and CD on the same cable (this might mean a case modification, yikes). There are two connections, (obviously) on the MoBo. I would guess I would leave the dual connection cable in its current location.



Nila __________________________________________________________________
Life would be so much easier if I only had the source code.

 

[attrofy]

Well, a couple of things t try - switch the cable to the HDD to see if the machine still boots (or is recognized in the BIOS). If not, the cable is bad (which happens).

Second, is to try the CD and HDD together on the same cable - it is possible - sometimes too far to do easily, and the HDD can be removed and set beside the CDROM to see if all will boot. If this is the case, there could be something wrong with the IDE port (unlikely as a new mobo). This may also indicate the wrong kind of cable (EIDE cable on IDE slot - or something else).

Lastly, if the CD ROM cable boots the HDD, then try the HDD cable on the CD ROM.

 

[attrofy]

Oh, forgot to add - leave both devices on master

 

[attrofy]

Man I hate this lack of edit thing....most newer cables are "keyed" in that they only go in the plug one way. Older devices are not keyed, and can be flipped around backwards. The MOBO should be keyed, so this won't be a concern. On the devices, the rule of thumb is the red stripe on the cable faces towards the power plug. This can help avoid plugging in upsidedown on non-keyed plugs or cables. It is possible you have an older device or older cable.

 

[edfair]

Most devices have the pin 1 (red stripe) towards the power plug (which is mostly on the right with board down looking at the connectors. But there are exceptions. Pin 1 on devices can be noted by markings on the board or on the right with the notch in the shroud up. (assuming your drive has a shroud)
Cables can be keyed with a matching projection on one side or by having a hole blocked. But it is also possible that the cable has an IDH with no keying at all.
So you have to be careful out there.
If the hard drive is identifying OK, how about pulling it off and putting the CD on the connector and seeing if it IDs. If it won't ID there then it is unlikely that it will ID on the other IDE slot.
Motherboards may, or may not be keyed. Same issues. Pins 1 of adjacent IDE ports are generally laid out in the same way so the red stripes should match.
If any of your IDE cables have 3 different color IDH you have some other possible issues.

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

 

[MamaLoca]

ALL, Done!

I ended up putting the hard drive and the CD on the same cable. No pressing F1 at startup. WooHoo

The case mod was minimal, I didn't have a thingy for the hard drive to fit into the 5" bay so I suspended it with rubber bands and toothpicks, and the case cover for the bay needed a few notches to fit into its new possition. Dad's a model builder so he had just the right tools to do it.

Again, thanks to Edfair, attrofy, Johnthephoneguy, roland63, wizzer, and Nelviticus for all your help keeping me in the will, lol

Nila

Nila __________________________________________________________________
Life would be so much easier if I only had the source code.

 

[attrofy]

...suspended it with rubber bands and toothpicks...

ROFL...what no marshmallows or chewing gum....LOL

 

[edfair]

We'll let you slide on this one but no more rubber bands, they tend to dry out and break. If they don't damage the drive they get in the fan and keep it from turning. Probably would have been better with wire ties.

When remorse finally sets in you can get an adapter from lots of places, sell for $5 or less. Do a google search for "drive adapter" to find a source. Just make sure it is 3 to 5.

Glad you are still in the will.

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

 

[attrofy]

Newegg sems to be the one place that you CANNOT get them at ATM (cheaply). I just purchased 2 for almost $15 each. I thought it was a rip, but I needed them asap, and had an order going in already.

Well I stand corrected - they must have gotten these in this week, this is exactly what I was looking for. At the time they only had the Lian Li ones available....typical...

 

[MamaLoca]

Yeah, I planned of changing the set up to a proper adapter, But I was on a mission and that was the best idea I could come up with on the spot, that and I was fresh out of chewing gum. Hmmm, Maybe I should gotten out the Duct tape. Duct tape does fix just about anything, even warts.

Nila __________________________________________________________________
Life would be so much easier if I only had the source code.