CF-29 New Hard Drive Not Working

I received my caddy and hard drive today and after installing my new hard drive I am unable to get the computer to locate it. It does not show up in the BIOS or when I attempt to install windows XP, when installing windows it tells me that it is unable to locate the hard disc. I have double checked the connections in the caddy and everything looks good. I am wondering what the next step is did I miss a step somehow? How do I check the HDD? Any ideas? Oh the hard drive is a new samsung spinpoint HM160HC. I do not have another computer that I could test it in so at the moment I am at a loss as to what to do. Thanks
Hudson

 

Well ..... that Samsung was a really great drive, then about 6-7 months ago reports started coming in about problems like yours .....

It could be a bad cable or configuration, but my gut says you got a bad HM160HC. Can you get a refund or replacement? (Suggest maybe the Western Digital 160-250 GB model)

 

unfortunately there seems to have been a rash of issues with the samsung 160gb ide/pata hdd.
check with your vendor and see if he will refund your money. For a long time these were good hdd. I believe I heard that samsung is selling its hard drive division and there may be a reason why with the negative SPIN they've been recieving as of late. I haven't had any failures with the western digital hdd's and have been using the wd3200beve but they're not cheap. best of luck, look into some of the toshiba hdd as I believe these and hitachi were used as oem parts...Driller

 

I agree, you will have a problem with that model drive in the CF-29. What mk toughbook do you have? I have a MK5, and the drive does not work, but it does work in the MK2s we have at work. Don't spend any more time on it, you will need to use a different drive, there are several threads on here about that specific drive.

 

Before you go there... I know you said you removed the caddy and made sure the hard drive was installed correctly, but, on the 29 when you insert it, you sometimes have to give it a good push to make sure it seats inside the slot correctly. Give that a try first. Second, you can pick up an external Hard Drive enclosure for less than 20 bucks at most computer stores. You can disassemble your caddy and put the hard drive in one of those and connect it to the USB port of any computer just to verify the hard drive can be seen. I would try those before condemning the Hard Drive.

 

And then there was the time I plugged in the connector inside the caddy 1 set of holes to the right ??left?? I also had issues since then with a 160 in the Mark 5.

 

hate to admit it but all the info mentioned I did as well. make sure the hdd is not defective but there have been a lot of the samsung hdd that others have said wouldn't work. good luck..Driller

 

Ok, I have installed the new HDD and it does not work either, it is an exact replacement from the seller that I bought the first one from. What is the next step? I am going to try and locate an external HDD holder so that I can test this one. If it is good then what is the next step? Could I have a bad motherboard or a connector? I am kind of at a loss. Thanks for the help.
Hudson

 

Has the machine ever run a hard drive while in your possession?

 

have you tried another different hard drive? It may be the hard drive issue again as it too could be defective. Could be a defective cable in the caddy. I ain't saying it couldn't be the MB but reliability issues with the cf-29 are so good that I'd like to think that is not the problem. Don't forget to get a pata drive to test it with. Do you have anybody nearby that has one you could swap with just to see if it will boot?..Driller

 

Sadlmkr,
While I have owned it I have not been able to get it to run a HDD.
Driller,
I do not have access to another 2.5 PATA HDD so for now that is out.

I ordered a HDD enclosure off of Amazon and as soon as I get it I will be able to test the HDD.

It could be the ribbon cable on the caddy, can I check for continuity with a multi meter on the ribbon cable?

I do not know anyone locally who has a CF29 that I can try out the caddy from. Thanks for the help

 

Have you had the bottom off? I had one yesterday where a broken solder joint let one of the spades for the battery sag. So that kept batts from plugging in. On the same bracket is the hdd plug. It's worth a look.
While your in there replace the thermal pads. I'd send you a piece but I'm down to my last 4 sq inches. 1.5 is the size. If your pads are in decent shape smoosh them together and re-use. They may crumble. Protect 'em.
Back to the bracket. Two screws hold it. One big silver one screwed into the top of the lappy. A small silver one holds the white plug in. You may find that this one spins and find it necessary to hold the brass stand-off with a pair of pliers. It's underneath as your looking at it. (from the bottom of the lappy. You may as well pull the plastic hdd cage too as it will be in the way when you go back in.
Lift on the corner of the mobo and you will identify another screw or two you need to loosen.
The point is to lift the mobo enough to give wiggle room to unplug the white connector plug. If you get that far. You already checked the cable with an ohmmeter right? (continuity)
I'll take a picture when the shop warms up. It was 36 when I lit the heater.

Jeff

 

Images as stated. Item of some interest is the bent pin in the center flick.

The silver screws to be removed are the two adjacent to the on-board ram. The big screw is obvious and not shown. "Gently" lift the corner and the white connector will unlatch. If it seems you need to lift too hard, pull or at least loosen a couple more board screws. Like the one above the upside down S in Panasonic.

 

Jeff, PM me your address and I'll send you some.

 

Ok it looks like my ribbon connector is shot, I noticed that a couple of the pins are bent so that should be my problem. Any idea where to get a ribbon connector for a reasonable price?

 

have seen some on fleabay generic types. don't know about quality of them. techtough may have some that might be up to snuff. try him otherwise I'm sure some may have some available, or get one of the caddy knockoffs with the cable and hdd case for cheap?.. good luck, Driller

 

Something to watch out for. Many hong kong sellers were selling cables for CF-29 and CF-18 as the same They are not... they might look it but the 18 is a little different. What I found was a 29 cable will fit the 18 but the 18 will not. The end that connects to the computer is just a little shorter...1/8 inch. With mine it worked untill I put it into my truck, just a little bump is all it took. I have some pictures on here somewhere when a member was having a problem...he had bought the cable overseas