Photo Credit: Aaronage
One of my clients has been having a really weird hard disk problem on their office PCs. The computers will randomly hang with a BSOD and it has been going on for weeks!
The problem is intermittent. Apparently its favourite time to appear is when I’m not attending this client. Needless to say, it causes a lot of strain on both me and the client because it consumes my time as well as theirs.
One consistent information that I gathered every time this problem happens is that whenever the computer is rebooted afterwards, the hard disk cannot be detected by the BIOS. And whenever I changed the SATA port it’s connected to, the problem will go away… at least until it decides to resurface again; which is usually less than 24 hours later.
I told the client, that it may be due to a motherboard fault as I’ve diagnosed no apparent errors with the hard disk itself. And as much as I’d like to take money off them by charging them for a new motherboard, I told them to go to the vendor they purchased the PC from and claim the warranty since the PC is quite new, about a year old.
They did, and the very same day they got the PC back, the same problem happened again! I was called again and this time I decided to take a closer look at the PC. What I discovered shocked me!
- The hardware returned to the client is exactly 100% the same! Not a single component was changed.
- Apparently nothing was done about the problem.
- My client bought over a dozen computers from this vendor and I’m appalled by the way the vendor handled this issue.
OK, I then went through the routine that was now second nature to me when it comes to this client. Popped out the casing cover and attached the hard disk to a different SATA port.
Rebooted and the PC now works as normal. When Windows loaded, I became more disgusted with the vendor my client bought the PCs from. Why? It seems the only thing they did was to reinstall the OS, which is almost never a cure for computer problems; especially when it is obviously unrelated to the core problem!
Nevertheless, I decided to try and replicate the problem again (since I was there anyway). I rebooted the PC about five or six times and everything went well. I then stared at the open casing and looked at the SATA cable. Hmm… perhaps that’s the problem.
I decided to slightly move the cable a bit. I haven’t even moved it for half a centimetre and Windows coughed out the ever so familiar BSOD onto the monitor. So that’s the culprit, a faulty SATA cable… who would’ve thought?!
Went to the nearest computer hardware shop only to find out that they don’t have SATA cables in stock. Unsurprising because they almost never go faulty.
Since the cables are not 100% spoilt anyway and I have no replacement cables in hand, the hacker instinct in me told me this might be fixed in a more cost-effective way, at least in the short run.
The SATA cables were tangled and twist-wired together with the other cables in the casing. Most likely for cosmetic reasons. However, the cables are bent and twisted so badly that I’m sure the copper strands in them might be damaged.
Took out the cable, straightened it and grabbed a few pieces of scrap paper along with a roll of cellophane tape. I wrapped the paper around the SATA cable and taped it in place. Walla! Instant SATA cable straightener! Plugged the cable back in and the PC now boots properly. Wiggled the cable a bit and Windows didn’t crash. A good sign at last!
Mind you, I’m still getting my client a proper SATA cable, but this hack is just a temporary solution until my next visit.
Moral of the story:
- Sometimes the most irritating problems are caused by the smallest and seemingly irrelevant parts
- And yeah, make sure you buy PCs from reputable vendors; perhaps a company like HTNet Solutions
November 20th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Well well, I have very similar bad experience as well. Problems like:
1) Cannot detected SATA drive.
2) On & off kind of problem like what you’ve mentioned.
Finally, I realized that SATA cable is the culprit. Why is the quality of this SATA cable so lousy?? Does it happen frequently? Or I’m the unlucky person who kept on bump into this stupid thing.
November 20th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
My friend… what a coincidence. I had the same problem … solved on my once-in-a-lifetime-friend who called me only when he has pc problems. He called me yesterday night saying the hard disk not found by the BIOS but recognized in others pc. Best thing was he is an expert who happened to diagnose his other friend’s pc at home. He called me to ask for the remedy and of coz he got all the credit lah. LOL.
yes, all due to the colored SATA cable being faulty. After he story telling me the whole kahuna, I just told him check the cable, if you have spare, change. In few minutes, he called solved. Hahahaha.
The part I hate in your story is the hardware vendor. Yes we have a few here. Cilaka, all tipu customers one. It happened to me once and damn I scold them for good. I end up with one good different better MOBO to bring home.
Nice story here friend.
November 20th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
genius!!
wait until the piece of paper catches fire inside the hot cpu and you will be more genius than einstein.
noob! apparently no one told you never to use too easily flammable items inside a pc. so proud of it and blogged about it too! ha!
November 21st, 2008 at 12:53 am
@JW: I think the cables aren’t really lousy. They’re just not built to tolerate too much bending and folding I guess.
@papajoneh: Yeah, vendors like them give “Computer Guys” a bad rep. The worst thing is that they’re just plain lazy. Why be in the business if you’re not going to put in 100% effort, right?
@PandanKia: Thanks for the compliment but really, I’m no genius. However, I do know that paper burns at about 230° C. And if any of your PC components even reach half that temperature, you have a much bigger problem than pieces of paper taped to a SATA cable. Noob
December 24th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Hmm, it seemed that you could very well be helping me out here because *my* PC had the exact same problems…
1) Sudden BSOD
2) HDD cannot be detected by BIOS
3) Change slot helps until the next blackout (usually 4 months later in my case, it happened twice and today’s the second time)
I’ll post here again if I manage to buy a replacement SATA cable, but for now it seems I’ll have to deal with a blacked-out PC (and on Christmas Eve no less >.>!)
February 17th, 2009 at 10:06 pm
My 320 GB SATA just blinked dead today.
Nothing. And the BIOS doesn’t detect it either. Changed cables with the other SATA HDD that’s working fine. Still nothing.
Will try the HDD on a friends PC, after freezing it, of course, when I get another HDD tomorrow.
Half the photos of my first year with an SLR are in it. Data recovery guys quoted $1600 to recover them. Can’t afford it now, but I plan to save the disk for years down the road when I’ll actually be able to pay that money.
Is it gonna be okay? If the DATA inside is still goodish now?
Plz say something. Kinda need assurances now at the moment. …
August 7th, 2009 at 12:41 pm
got the same problem! I have my sata cable twisted to have neat cable arrangement without knowing that this might cause a big problem with my h-disk. Thanks to you.
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:03 am
I have a few experiences with SATA cables so far. The lessons I seem to have learnt so far are:
1. SATA cables are too delicate to handle. Always try to be as straight as possible with them. Even a small kink can make one erratic.
2. Erratic! That is in fact even more problem than being completely dead. Because you would not be able to reproduce the problem and you will not know when it will get reproduced on its own. Better be completely dead than waking up like a zombie and going back when least expected.
3. The ones without clips are much more bad. Most of the problems I had were with those simple (without clips) cables. Apart from the absence of a tight fit, they also seems to have inferior electrical contact even while properly seated in.
4. In a good PC (means with a well stabilized OS), it is possible that after having a SATA detection trouble, even if it is fixed, the data transfer rate may be set down pityfully by the OS. The way to recover is to make the Windows uninstall the drive/ controller and reinstall it back again!
Just thought of adding my two cents.
Thanks.