Latitude C840: new HDD not recognised by BIOS

It's possible that they don't have it in stock in your local branch, but also note that Maplin don't claim that the kit is suitable for little screws.

John

 

No, they actually have 2 in stock at my local branch. You can check on their web site. And someone has posted as a review "This tool does in fact work well with stuck laptop screws. The 3 preparation tools in the lefthand side of the pack bite into stuck screws without any issues."

 

Thanks for the advice about the Maplin kit. I bought it today and it successfully got the worn screw out.

 

Thanks for the feedback here. You may also want to add another comment on the Maplin website.

John

 

The retailer took the faulty HDD back, tested it and confirmed it was faulty. They sent me another one, but the new one doesn't work in the C840 either. I've tested it using a USB-IDE connector connected to another laptop and even managed to format it, but the C840 still doesn't recognise it. I have the latest BIOS A13 on the C840. I don't know what else to try. Any suggestions?

 

What model / size HDD are you putting in and what model / size was there before? If the old HDD still works then can you look in Device Manager and check the transfer mode under the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.

It's possible that the C830 is old enough that the new HDD may be too big or the interface too fast.

John

 

Samsung HM160HC 160GB 2.5" Hard Drive IDE 5400rpm 8MB Cache - OEM
(full retailer's spec in my original post)

 

What's the maximum HDD size that a Latitude C840 can take? The old one was 40GB.

 

Probably about 137GB. However, most older computers just don't see and use any extra space. See here for more about LBA.

John

 

Does that mean that the C840 won't see the HDD at all or should it see 137GB?