a disk read error occurred

Anyone want to help with this one? It's an old ('01 or '02) Compaq Presario desktop. It worked fine a few days ago. Tonight, I go to turn it on and I get: A DISK READ ERROR OCCURRED. PRESS CTRL+ALT+DEL TO RESTART Booting with an Ubuntu Live CD shows that both drives in the machine are readable. The problem (I suppose, I'm no tech person) is likely to be a BIOS setting. Some info about the machine: 1.33 Ghz processor 512k RAM 250 Gb primary hdd (approx. 1 yr. old) 40 Gb secondary hdd (orig. hdd, erased and used for data storage) A mechanical problem with the drive is all but ruled out (since it seems to be read under the Ubuntu Live CD) The drive is only about 1 year old and has seen very little use (booted for a few hours, several times a week). Although I updated the BIOS when I installed the new drive, it is still a pretty old BIOS, with archaic options. Any help here would be appreciated. I mainly use Linux now, but I need my Windows machine for certain work-related tasks and I do have data on it that is new since the most recent backup that I'd like to avoid trashing in favor of a reinstall. Also, if you know of a comprehensive howto somewhere, let me know. I'm not afraid to roll up my sleeves… Thanks much, Dave

Hi Dave.

Try going into BIOS Setup (F1 I think on the older Compaqs) and loading the Default settings (F5 or F9, I don't remember). Then Save and Exit.
Immediately go back into BIOS Setup and on the Boot tab, set the hard drive (IDE 0 usually) as the first boot device. Save and Exit.

See if that helps.

If not, see this "How to" I put together a while back on running chkdsk: http://forums.whatthetech.com/Windows_Made_Easy_t95574.html

Post back with results. Good luck.

Thanks for the guidance, I'll post back with detailed results

Rich,

I followed your recommendations in resetting the BIOS to its defaults, and changing the boot order so that the hard disk boots first. Neither of those actions made a difference.

As for using the Recovery Console, I've tried with the original OS CD and with the XPRC CD you linked to in your HowTo and both had the same results:

PRESS ANY KEY TO BOOT FROM CD..



SETUP IS INSPECTING YOUR HARDWARE'S CONFIGURATION

[the screen goes black and stays that way for however long I let the computer sit.]

BTW, I've checked the time in the system BIOS and it displays the correct date and time. I assume this means there has been no interruption in the CMOS power supply?

I'm stumped.

Dave

Notesetter, take a close listen to your computer. See if you hear the hard drives making and clunking or clicking noises as the computer sits, or when you power it on. Is the 250Gb a Seagate Barracuda by any chance? Sounds like you have a bad hard drive, but you'll first have to unplug the drives and hook them up one at a time trying the recovery console (chkdsk /r) checkdisk on each one individually. This way you know which drive is really causing the trouble. Although, your results appear to point to the 250GB boot drive.

Indeed, it is a Seagate Barracuda. I've disconnected the secondary drive and tried to boot the Recovery Console disk with the same result as before: after it tells me it's "INSPECTING MY HARDWARE CONFIGURATION", the screen goes idle and it just sits. The noises it makes don't seem out of the ordinary, and it's visible to the BIOS. I just checked and I bought the drive last April, so it's less than a year old-plus it really hasn't seen heavy usage. A quick google search turns up hits regarding firmware issues. Could this be the problem? Is there any chance of fixing it now?

I ask you about it being a seagate barracuda, because if I had to pick a new 250Gb hard drive that would fail in only a few months it would be the seagate barracuda. Please go to seagate.com and download their diagnostic tool and run it on the drive. But, chances are you will have create an RMA ticket and replace the drive. I shunned all Seagate products over a year ago due to the enormous amounts of problems I had with 250GB Barracudas. If you google "seagate barracuda screeching noise" you'll read all about the issues I had. I ordered dozens of these drives and had well over 50% of them making screeching noises right out of the box. I contacted Seagate and they told me they had no idea what I was talking about. I have had a half dozen of them fail. One of them was in my personal machine. They run excessively hot, and the company doesn't want to admit they made a huge manufacturing defect in the drives. (They don't know what I'm talking about but over half of the drives I ordered are screeching? That makes it what, several million that are screeching?) The 320Gb were no different. I have since refused to use any Seagate products and will never purchase another one. I have one sitting on my bench right now that has to be RMA'd for a customer. Its an 80Gb.

When you do replace this drive, make sure you have a fan installed in the case that blows directly over the drive. I believe that the number one reason this drive fails is because it runs so darn hot. You're committing homicide on your data if you don't blow a fan over these things.

The diagnostic tools on the SeaGate website require Windows to work. The disk can't boot into Windows.

Please see this link:

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools/

Follow the links and instructions to use SeaTools for DOS. It does not require a working operating system.

Started Long Test 3/6/2009 @ 14:08.51 Long Test PASSED 3/6/2009 @ 15:13.12 SeaTools for DOS v2.13bPGE thinks the drive is okay. Trying to boot still yields the DISK READ ERROR.

Well, I had to do some thinking on this one. Without the right tools it makes this a little difficult to work with. Is this a SATA hard drive? What is the model # of your compaq presario?

I can think of a couple other things to check.

• Make sure the ribbon cables connecting the hard drive and CD/DVD drives are firmly seated in their sockets, at both ends. Do this by unplugging then replugging them, carefully!
• If you have a IDE (not SATA) drive, check the jumper on the drive and make sure it's set for Master or Single and is connected to the last connector on the cable (furtherest from the system board).
• Replace the ribbon cable connecting the drive to the system board.

@ appleoddity: The drive is an ultra ATA, Barracuda 7200.10. The Compaq Presario is a model number 5410 US. @ Rich, I've already taken the steps you've suggested except for number three. Although, would the fact that I can test the disk with SeaTools and read it under an Ubuntu Live CD seem to preclude a cable problem? Thanks to both of you for taking taking the time to share your expertise. Dave

As for temp, when SeaGate Tools for DOS ran the long test, the temp went up to '32'. I assume this means 32 degrees Celsius, which (if my math is accurate) is about 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Is this hot for a disk drive, or is 90 degrees not typical under normal use (i.e., not simply running a test program on the hdd)?