Operating System not found

Hi guys...

Once more, i have a few questions for you, and as always, i'm confident you can help me.

I recently bought a HP Pavilion 9700t, its got two hard drive bays with a 320GB HDD (5400rmp) in the first. Today i installed the a second HDD (7200rpm) into the second bay and my notebook won't start up anymore. It gets stuck on the HP-logo page for about 3 minutes until the message appears: "Operating System not found"

when i start the BIOS and do the quick check for the primary hard drive it says: "No IDE Device"

so yeah, i'm kind of lost. wouldn't that mean that it is trying to boot from the second hard drive?

anyway. i'm looking forward to any advice

 

First, I don't know anything about this specific model, and you haven't provided much.

My first inclination is the computer supports RAID and it thinks your drives are in RAID mode.

So, does it support RAID?

If it does, drop into setup....I think with HPs this day it is hittting ESC or the f10 key during boot---they change it every 3 months it seems.

See if it is in RAID mode, if so--turn RAID off....this may also be accomplished in a special RAID key combo, but check standard setup first

 

p.s.--do not setup RAID...doing so will wipe out your existing drive

 

Did u try removing the secondary HDD u installed to see if it would boot?

It sounds like the primary HDD just suddenly went bad!

 

Pavilions dont support RAID. Take out the new HD and it should be able to boot up again. Ive seen this happen a few times.. cant remember the solution though.

 

without the second HD the computer boots normal.

so, what does that mean? is the second HD damaged?

 

what it probably means is that the second harddrive is booting first--if it does not support raid, in bios, can you set a boot order?

Is it possible that HP installed the original drive in the wrong slot (on wrong controller)?

 

the boot order in the BIOS is:

USB Floppy
ATAPI CD/DVD ROM Drive
Notebook Hard Drive
USB Diskette on Key
USB Hard Drive
! Network Adapter

so... how can i chose which HD boots first?

and what means the exclamation mark in front of the network adapter? anything bad?

 

Listen to gerry, he may be on to something...he makes some good points here...are u sure the comp. doesn't support raid? Try the steps he suggested above. After all it supports two (2) HDDs so there is a possibilty that it supports raid, so u may need to disable that as gerry mentioned.

What OS are u running?

 

and how do i do that - sorry, i'm quite a greenhorn i guess...

unlikely, the covers are numbered and the primary is definitely on bay 1. if i'd swap the HDs, or put the primary into the second bay i would void the warranty according to HP

 

Vista Home Premium

 

I agree with Gerry. I've seen it on desktop systems I've added drives to, the BIOS for some reason changes the boot order of the hard drives. Why I have no idea. In my desktop BIOS the option to change the hard drive boot order is right under the option to change the main boot order (cd/diskdrive/hard drive...). I'm not sure why you have the "!" in front of the network port, maybe you don't have drivers that allow it to use that feature?

 

it just seems to be quite confusing. i called HP and this "nice lady" told me that the DV9700 has a space limit of 360GB??? but later suggested me to install a 200GB into the second drive (total = 560GB???)
so... does anyone know any limits on this notebook? i've seen them on the market with 2x250GB so i guess the 360GB comment is just rubbish.

 

This is the problem with HP--the bios are locked up and HP support and manuals are worthless.

Only you can see what is the setup screen since most HP manuals we can download don;t show us anything.

Try selecting the harddrive choice in bios in the boot order and hit enter...this may yield a sub menu allowing you to choose which harddrive to set as the first boot.

By default, it should be the drive on controller one in bay one.

I lift my leg on HP.....

 

Is there an option to toggle IDE/AHCI in your BIOS ?? In which mode is the first HDD functioning ??

 

well, i tried that and unfortunately no sub menu exists

the weird thin is, as soon as the second HDD is in place the BIOS can't detect the primary HDD anymore. Message: No IDE found

Support? after several calls and chat-sessions it seems like they know less than i do - and i seem to know not much at all. all i hear is - send your notebook in to your local support centre ;-) good on them...

 

Are the HDDs SATA or IDE ??

And is there an option to toggle AHCI/IDE ??

 

Have you tried physically removing one drive and booting from the other?

 

HDDs are SATA

and there's no option to change anything in the BIOS

 

I guess your 1st drive is in IDE mode. And installing two HDDs in IDE mode, causes conflicts (maybe due to some Master/Slave thing).

Have you tried to put just the 2nd drive in place of the 1st drive, with the other bay vacant, and see if it gets detected in the BIOS ??

 

according to HP customer service i'd forfeit warranty by doing so. but i think sooner or later it's the thing i'm going to do anyway

 

i'll call HP once more and ask them again - i might be getting a different information anyway. i just don't wanna lose warranty. but i like your idea in general ;-)

 

WT* ..!?
Thats the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard

You could try it out, just to know if the HDD works or not.

Ok, have you tried running the 2nd HDD in it own slot, alone. with the 1st slot vacant ?? Does the 2nd HDD show up in the BIOS ??

And what is the current BIOS version installed ??

 

HP has hit a new high for the purity of their bull****. The RAM and HD are consumer upgradable components.

The point of removing one is:

1) To see which HD has the OS (if you don't know)

2) to make sure that both HDs are functioning. It seems to me that this possibility hasn't been covered in this thread yet.

 

1) it's definitely the primary HD with the OS on it, since this is the one with Vista pre-installed. i got the second one at a later date

2) i thought about the possibility the second one might be faulty... so...

so... i'll keep you posted... gonna ring them now!

 

Just boot the 2nd HDD alone in the 2nd slot (not voiding your warranty !!) and see if it shows up in the BIOS....which would help you know if the HDD works (as I said in post #24)

And ask HP if there is an option to toggle AHCI/IDE, and also ask what is the default HDD mode - IDE or AHCI....

 

i know... but a guy with a funny indian accent assured me that this can only be done by a HP support centre.

that's what i call outrageous!

 

Half of these call-centre guys are computer illiterate. I was, when I was 16, and working in Dell's London Call Centre

 

i agree!!! BUT... finally after i don't know how many calls someone who actually knew what he was talking about!

first: there's no space-limit as i have been told by HP before (360GB???)
second: the two HDs need to be of equal size in order to prevent conflicts
and third and most importantly the issue seems to be the RPM!!! since my primary drive is a 5400rpm and the one i tried to install a 7200rpm it can cuase the difficulties i experience.

he therefore suggested me to get an equal hard-drive to the one that's already pre-installed

so far so good... now... can you guys agree to that?

 

Unless its a BIOS limitation, maybe (but senseless)

Have you tried running the 2nd HDD in it own slot, alone. with the 1st slot vacant ??

And what is the current BIOS version installed ??

 

haven't tried it yet with the 2nd HDD on its own... will do shortly though

BIOS version F.56

 

Also try upgrading to the latest BIOS..F-58A

And if you are logged in windows atm, could you download HD Tune and upload a screenshot of the INFO page, with the 1st HDD selected ??

 

FINALLY!!!

just a little follow-up. some of you might still remember this thread... i might be interested in the outcome.

a quick overview:

i bought a new HP Pavilion dv9700 with a 320GB (5400rpm) hard dirve on bay one. i tried to instal a second 320GB drive (7200) into the second bay - without success...

now, after a few thousand phonecalls and ridiculous suggestions from HP staff i've finally been told where the problem might be found.

long story short: 5400rpm and 7200rpm equals: conflict!

now i've installed a second 5400rpm and finally... everything's up and running 640GB!!!

NOW I'M HAPPY!!!

thanks a lot for your effort to solve my problem!!!

 

I didn't know that dual drives had to have the same RPM. Good to know your problem has finally been resolved.

 

This is not true at all. I have used simultaneously 5400 and 7200rpm drives in my laptop and have had no issues at all. You will only run into issues if you decide to run a raid array on the drives. This is because almost every laptop which supports dual drives has a software raid controller, which usually can only install raid on a homogeneous set of drives.
Maybe your problem is related to your laptop not being able to source enough current to power both drives.

K-TRON