t30 harddrive issue

[goodtobemg]

First off Hello, Im new to the forums here and also somewhat computer illiterate.
I have a t-30 and was attempting to use a different harddrive for some other software apps I have. after several unsuccesful attempts ( message: no harddrive detected ) I reinstalled the original harddrive and am geting the message- No operating system found- Could this be something software related or does it sound like my bios has failed??
Thanks
Michael

[goodtobemg]

Ok so maby ill get more with a better question..... Is there anything I could have done in the bios( while I was messing with these other hdds) that would cause the pc not to reckognize the os.... It is currently set to boot from harddrive...???
Michael

[Majestic]

Welcome to the forums!

The BIOS should automatically detect the drive when it is installed. Make sure the caddy & drive are fully seated into the bay. Also make sure to use all the screws when mounting the drive into the caddy. That will help with the proper alignment in the connector. If the drive isn't fully seated in the motherboard connector, the system won't see the drive.

[jronald]

I have found 2 odd things with T30 HDDs
#1, the floor is a little high and only the top line of pins engage the socket. I have had one so bad I had to take the palmrest off and press it down to get it to align.
#2, Aftermarket HDD trays dont always align correctly, and once again, the pins dont align.

Ron

[robert213]

Is there anything I could have done in the bios( while I was messing with these other hdds) that would cause the pc not to reckognize the os....

Press [F1] during power-up and verify for yourself.

I recently learned that a person can use a DOS bootable CD to start their computer and copy programs on CD and run those programs on a USB Flash Drive. The BIOS has to be configured to place the USB Flash Drive in front of the internal HDD.

Read through my older posts and you will learn how-to create DOS bootable CD, Windows XP bootable CD, and DOS bootable USB Flash Drive.

[banyanleaf]

Are you sure you didn't place the hard drive upside down when putting the hard drive in?

BTW, to boot your machine without a hard drive, the easiest way is to use a Linux live CD, like Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, etc. Puppy Linux can be boot from CD in a few minutes and run completely on RAM.

All of the Linux distros can be downloaded for free from their website or from http://www.distrowatch.com/

T30 is not a good candidate for running your OS on USB because it has USB1.1. It is too slow. CD Rom is a much better choice.

[cadillacmike68]

You need to understand where various error messages come from. "No Operating System' is an MBR error message. The fact that you got a 'no operating system' when you put the original drive back means the POST completed, and passed control to the MBR which the machine successfully read. Then when it looked for an OS on the partition indicated by the MBR it didn't find one.

Was the original HDD in the computer (either in an ultrabay or a USB connection) at the same time the new HDD was in the main slot?? If so, winblows XP overwrote the MBR and assigned the original HDD a new set of letters.

check the various pages in this link on how to clear the XP specific info from your original HDDs MBR:

http://www.goodells.net/multiboot/partsigs.shtml

Also was the 2nd HDD ever successfully read in the T30 before you put it in the main slot.

Do you have an ultrabay caddy for a 2nd HDD - get one if you plan to setup extra HDDs. I also recommend Acronis Disk Director - which i used (with the ultrabay trays) to make several clones of my T30 Original HDD. And yes, HDDs fit a little snugly into T30, but i have had no problems with 3 T302 and getting HDDs in or out of the main slot.