Troubleshooting Hard-Disk Drives; Troubleshooting Ide Hard-Disk Drives - Dell OptiPlex N Troubleshooting Manual

14. Replace the computer cover, reconnect the system
to AC power, reconnect any telephone or telecom-
munication lines, and turn on the computer.
Is the problem resolved?
Yes. You have fixed the problem.
No. See Chapter 7, "Getting Help," for instructions
on obtaining technical assistance.
T
roubleshooting Hard-Disk
Drives
Hard-disk drive problems can be caused by a number of
conditions, including problems with the drive itself, a
hard-disk drive controller card, the optional SCSI back-
plane board, the SCSI host adapter, or an interface cable.
This section is further subdivided into three procedures
for troubleshooting hard-disk drives:
•

"Troubleshooting IDE Hard-Disk Drives"

•
"Troubleshooting SCSI Hard-Disk Drives in a Sys-
tem Without a SCSI Backplane Board"
•
"Troubleshooting SCSI Hard-Disk Drives in a Sys-
tem With a SCSI Backplane Board"
Troubleshooting IDE Hard-Disk Drives
Use the following procedure to troubleshoot a hard-disk
drive problem if your system includes one or more inte-
grated drive electronics (IDE) hard-disk drives.
CAUTION: This troubleshooting procedure can
destroy data stored on the hard-disk drive. Before
you proceed, make sure you have backed up all the
files on your hard-disk drive.
1. Boot the system from a diskette, enter the System
Setup program, and verify that the hard-disk
drive categories are set correctly for the installed
hard-disk drives.
Refer to your system documentation for the correct
settings of these categories. You can also use the
automatic drive-type detect feature to correctly set
the drive-type number and the drive parameters for
each drive.
6-14 Diagnostics and Troubleshooting Guide
Are the system configuration settings correct for the
installed hard-disk drive?
Yes. Go to step 3.
No. Go to step 2.
2. Correct the system configuration settings, and
reboot the system.
Is the problem resolved?
Yes. The system configuration settings were set
incorrectly. You have fixed the problem.
No. Go to step 3.
3. Turn off the system, including any attached
peripherals, and disconnect all the AC power
cables from their power sources. Also, disconnect
any telephone or telecommunication lines from
the computer.
4. Remove the computer cover.
CAUTION: See "Protecting Against Electro-
static Discharge" in the safety instructions at
the front of this guide.
5. Check the hard-disk drive interface cable connec-
tions to the drive and to the IDE connector on the
system board or the controller card (if one is
installed). Check the DC power cable connection
to the drive.
Are the cables firmly connected?
Yes. Go to step 7.
No. Go to step 6.
6. Reseat the cable connectors, replace the computer
cover, reconnect the system to AC power, and
turn it on.
Is the problem resolved?
Yes. The cables were loose. You have fixed the
problem.
No. Go to step 7.
7. Turn off the system, disconnect it from AC power,
and remove the computer cover.
8. Remove the hard-disk drive.