WD800BEVE 80GB IDE HDD not accessiable at power on

WD 80GB IDE HDD not accessible at power on in Toshiba Port é g é 3110CT

I have a Western Digital 80GB IDE 2.5" HDD(WD800BEVE)
The HDD has been installed in an old circa 2000 Toshiba Port ég é 3110CT.

The problem is that the WD 80GB IDE HDD is not accessible at power on.

I have never been able to get the WD 80GB HDD to become accessible at power on in the Toshiba. This is a new HDD.

If one enters BIOS and then exits, the HDD _ is_ accessible and Windows XP loads as 'normal'.

If the system is restarted from Windows XP OS, the HDD is also accessible and reloads the Windows XP OS without problems.

Once the WD 80GB HDD is spun up and operating the Windows XP system operates with no problems and Western Digital diagnostic tools indicate the HDD is operating without any errors.

A similar ATA-6/100 80GB Hitachi HDD operates without any startup problems and doesn't exhibit the problems of the WD 80GB IDE HDD.

If the WD800BEVE HDD is connected to a IDE-USB adapter it is accessible without problems.

I have also placed the WD 80GB IDE HDD in another Toshiba Port ég é 3110CT and the same thing happens.
It isn't accessible at power on.

Any ideas on how I could get the WD800BEVE HDD to become accessible at power on.

Toshiba Port ég é 3110CT 30W AC power.
My Toshiba is set to maximum power in BIOS and the HDD is set to ATA enhanced mode. The only other option is ATA standard which disables HDD access altogether.


Western Digital(WD800BEVE) 80GB 2.5" IDE ATA-6/100

5 VDC
Read/Write 500 mA
Idle 400 mA
Standby 45 mA
Sleep 38 mA
Power Dissipation
Read/Write 2.50 Watts
Idle 0.85 Watts
Standby 0.23 Watts
Sleep 0.19 Watts
​

Hitachi 80GB 2.5" IDE ATA-6/100

Requirement +5 VDC (+/-5%)
Startup (Watts, peak, max.) 5.0
Read / Write (Watts, avg.) 1.8
Active idle (Watts, avg.) 0.80
Low power idle (Watts, avg.) 0.60
Standby (Watts, avg.) 0.2
Sleep (Watts) 0.1
​

Summary

WD 80GB IDE 2.5" HDD is not accessible at power on, but is accessible when exiting from BIOS or after a Windows XP restart.

 

When in Windows with the WD 80 GB drive, type chkdsk -r C: or whatever the letter of the WD drive is in command prompt and reboot the computer. This will run check disk on it and repair file system errors.

 

Maybe you could try mess with jumper settings:
EIDE (PATA) Mobile Hard Drive Jumper Settings

 

Thank you for you're thoughts and pointers.

I thought for a moment I was on a winner when I saw the pin jumper setting for Reduced Power Spinup (RPS), however it's not fixed the problem.

So, just to refresh.

To boot the Windows XP OS on a Toshiba Port ég é 3110CT using a WD800BEVE HDD the following procedure is used.

1. Power on the notebook hold the esc key down.
2. Press F1 to enter BIOS.
3. Press End to exit BIOS with Y to save.
4. The Windows XP OS boots up.

Using a diagonal jumper on pin C->B to enable Reduced Power Spinup (RPS) on the WD HDD had no impact.

All diagnostics I have run on the disk pass without errors.

The HDD at power on does (sounds like it) access the HDD with a quick green LED HDD 'flash' and the 'click' of the heads engaging, but then nothing.

The system can be started via BIOS and whenever the active system is restarted via the WinXP OS restart.

Just cann't seem to get it to start from a power on.