BIOS will not see hard drive

"Jorabi" <jorabi.TakeThisOut@pobox.com> wrote in message
news:45cf54f1$0$1420$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>
> "Jorabi" wrote...
>>
>> GA-7VA rev 1.0, latest BIOS (F12)
>>
>> Replaced hard drive with Maxtor 60GB (old drive was Samsung
>> 60GB). POST will not recognize the drive. If I boot with
>> Maxtor Powermax CD, it finds the drive and tests OK.
>>
>> No other drives except CD on secondary master (recognized).
>>
>> Using same cable as old drive (80-pin Ultra ATA). Drive
>> is primary master. Jumper on CS, blue plug into mobo, black
>> into drive. Have tried jumper on master too.
>>
>> Any ideas?
>
> Problem solved! I discovered by accident that if I connected
> another drive to the pc (power only -- not even connected to
> IDE!) the first drive started working! If I switched around
> power cables, still nothing! There had to be another hard
> drive (or maybe anything else, dunno) in order for the main
> hard drive to power up.
>
> I replaced the power supply and now all is fine. Ever hear
> of a power supply not working all the way because there isn't
> *enough* load on it?

Yes..
 >> Stay informed about: BIOS will not see hard drive 

fondue wrote:
> "Jorabi" <jorabi.DeleteThis@pobox.com> wrote in message
> news:45cf54f1$0$1420$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>> "Jorabi" wrote...
>>> GA-7VA rev 1.0, latest BIOS (F12)
>>>
>>> Replaced hard drive with Maxtor 60GB (old drive was Samsung
>>> 60GB). POST will not recognize the drive. If I boot with
>>> Maxtor Powermax CD, it finds the drive and tests OK.
>>>
>>> No other drives except CD on secondary master (recognized).
>>>
>>> Using same cable as old drive (80-pin Ultra ATA). Drive
>>> is primary master. Jumper on CS, blue plug into mobo, black
>>> into drive. Have tried jumper on master too.
>>>
>>> Any ideas?
>> Problem solved! I discovered by accident that if I connected
>> another drive to the pc (power only -- not even connected to
>> IDE!) the first drive started working! If I switched around
>> power cables, still nothing! There had to be another hard
>> drive (or maybe anything else, dunno) in order for the main
>> hard drive to power up.
>>
>> I replaced the power supply and now all is fine. Ever hear
>> of a power supply not working all the way because there isn't
>> *enough* load on it?
>
> Yes..
>
>
You have what's called a floating ground. Ground return is open in the
wiring harness for one drive, installing the other drive completes the
return path and then everything kind of works. Can be extremely
difficult to find. Since replacing the power supply solves the problem;
the problem appears to have been in the power supply. I build systems
and I have seen it a few times. The first time it totally blows your
mind and takes a while to figure it out.
 >> Stay informed about: BIOS will not see hard drive