Thank you, stsr505089, for figuring out an issue with a thickness of the hard drive.
I was replacing a dead hard drive in Dell Inspiron 1525 and fell with the same issue: for some reason BIOS does not recognize newer thin 7 mm hard drives so you have to get a thick 9.5 mm hard drive as a replacement. So i had to buy one more new hard drive that is 9.5 mm thick. Hopefully, now everything is up and running.
That's pretty odd.
When i inserted the first new hard drive that turned out to be a 7 mm in thickness, I checked how it's seated by unscrewing the small bottom cover (that gives you access to memory modules) - the hard drive contacts were inserted into the interface slot, but despite that it was not recognized by BIOS. So that really looks like there is some mechanical switch or something that prevents using thin hard drives. Pretty bizarre solution from Dell.
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2
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Wade Lodge, give us the model or serial number for both of the drives.
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 oldturkey03 crwdne2934271:0
80 GB - Western Digitial - S/N: WXE508HR5459
320 GB - Hitachi - S/N: 333ATAHS
Thanks!
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 Wade Lodge crwdne2934271:0
I would think that you are having a interface issue here. Especially since your computer reads the drive when it is connected via USB. What are your BIOS settings for the HDD. I am sure you already checked this, but make sure the SATA channel is turned ON in the BIOS. Second, you need to either install the RAID drivers when prompted or set the controller to ATA compatible in order for the OS disc to see an SATA drive. I know from one of your previous posts that you did the last part. Any chance you have a desktop or other computer that supports a SATA drive where you could install the HDD and see if it functions with the SATA interface?
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 oldturkey03 crwdne2934271:0
I tried it on an Acer desktop and it was detected, but before that I tried it on another Dell laptop, an Inspiron 6400, BIOS verse A13 and it wasn't detected there either! The only option in this BIOS relating to SATA was called Serial ATA DIPM, which was enabled. I also tried it disabled. Wasn't detected either way. Is it something to do with the Dell BIOS?
crwdns2934271:0crwdnd2934271:0 Wade Lodge crwdne2934271:0
It sure does look like it. Your drive is recognized in USB mode, and on other computers but not the Dell, which leads me to believe it is the BIOS. I wonder if it does not support the interface
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