Computer does not boot with a 3rd hard drive plugged in

I recently bought a Western Digital 2 TB drive to install on my system for additional storage and once it was installed my computer refused to boot.

Thinking that it might be a problem with the drive I shut down and removed the drive then everything worked fine. Now here is the kicker I switched the 2nd drive out for the new drive and then the computer boot right up (though it did not show that it existed).

The problem isn't the cables or ports either because I have changed those and verified they are working with the 2nd drive. Any help would be most appreciated.

OS: Windows Server 2008, Windows 7, Windows XP (selection doesn't matter at this point as I can't get to the boot loader)
MB: MSI K9A2 Platinum
CPU: AMD Phenom x4 9850
HDDS:
- 1 Hitachi 500GB SATA
- 1 Hitachi 1TB SATA
- 1 Western Digital 2TB SATA
Power Supply: ABS 1100 Watt

Draco

Posted 2011-05-04T17:38:56.573

Reputation: 31

1@Draco - For clarity, you might want to specify in the question which drives are PATA (if any) and which are SATA. I was about to ask, but then saw the SATA tag. – Iszi – 2011-05-04T17:45:34.977

2What does your BIOS say about the boot order of the drives? I'm guessing the 2TB is somehow taking precendence. – None – 2011-05-04T17:51:10.460

have you tried booting with a linux live cd? and if so can you see all three drives? – mjrider – 2011-05-04T17:53:43.080

I have yet to try a live cd, but I have looked at the boot order of the drives and the 1st hard drive is the one that boots currently (I have modified the boot order a couple times to see) – Draco – 2011-05-04T17:56:50.643

Try different SATA cable on the hard drive causing an issue (never mind, just finished reading the rest of your post). – LawrenceC – 2011-05-04T17:58:33.237

3did you try to change power supply? – kokbira – 2011-05-04T18:17:37.707

I do not have a spare currently, but I can remove most of my peripherals so only the video card, MB, and hard drives are plugged in. (all 3 drives will spin the machine just will sit at the screen before the boot options) – Draco – 2011-05-04T18:25:31.150

To expand on what Iszi wrote--if you have two PATA drives jumpered as slave or two as master, the machine might not boot. – CarlF – 2011-05-04T19:06:42.830

I am well aware of the problems of PATA drives but if you look at my post and the tags you'll see these drives are SATA not parallel. – Draco – 2011-05-04T19:08:55.370

WD does have some downloadable software that may help you out called "Acronis True Image WD Edition Software". I believe it replaces a older version that I used to solve these type of problem in the past. I hope it help. – N4TKD – 2011-05-04T20:25:27.020

Answers

It's possible that the new drive is bad; you could try it in a separate computer to see if the same thing happens.

(There's at least one model of 2TB drives that have a history of being problematic; I'd hate for you to waste a lot of time troubleshooting everything else if the problem is with the drive itself.)

Heath

Posted 2011-05-04T17:38:56.573

Reputation: 705

I was hoping to avoid it but I think I'll end up returning or exchanging it sometime this week to see if it is the drive as no one else has been able to shed more light on the issue then I already had. Also if the model your referring to is the western digital cavier green 2TB drives then that is what I have. I also still wonder why it interferes with boot operations only when the 2nd drive is plugged in. – Draco – 2011-05-04T19:32:57.987

Sounds like a BIOS problem.

Some things to try

Updating BIOS to the latest version
Turning ACHI on and off for SATA

Matias Nino

Posted 2011-05-04T17:38:56.573

Reputation: 1 486

Well the drive showing up might just be a situation of not being recognized. Perhaps boot with just the two drives and format your new drive.

As for not booting up with the third drive, are you sure your not plugging it into a RAID SATA spot on your motherboard, with the BIOS not expecting you to plug anything in there? Check your motherboard labelling and try swapping the arrangement of the drives.

It could also be a power issue, what is your power supply rated at?

and more importantly, what is the specific error the BIOS gives?

Resorath

Posted 2011-05-04T17:38:56.573

Reputation: 1 027

I never said anything about a BIOS error, the drive simply isn't detected by the BIOS at all. As for rating if you are referring to estimated usage its around 523 watts and the PSU provide 1100. Now as far as the SATA ports I have swapped the port with the working drives and a few empty slots and nothing changed. If my drive isn't recognized then I can't format a drive that the computer says doesn't exists. That being said I thank you for the input. – Draco – 2011-05-04T20:08:03.260