Big laptop challeng to figure out latitude "primary hard disk not found" "no bootable device"?

Question

So I have 3 latitudes, c600, c810, & c840. The c600 recognizes ALL 3 hdd & all 3 cd drives when swapped around. The c810 & c840 dont recognize any of the 3 hdd or cd drives. Tried using 3 different windows bootable cd's & no help. Also swapped RAM around without any results. The c810 & c840 keep saying "primary hard disk not found" or "no bootable device". Both show in bios "hard drive: none" & this is not able to be changed. I have changed boot sequence to be cd first & of course put in boot disk, but no help. I have searched & searched & lots of people seem to have this problem with lots of others blabbing on about change boot sequence, bad hdd, bad disk or not bootable disk & always the result seems to be the same = nobody really has an answer, & it has nothing to do with cd, cd drive, or hdd being bad or unbootable. Sooooooo, anyone out there who really is a super geek or just plain ol' amazing wizard????

Answer 1

I feel your pain. Sukks when everything seems to check out ok & only answers you get seem to be ignoring info you give or repeating same answers that didnt work or help.



I have found that if you remove/disconnect cmos battery on laptop & then reconnect it will then recognize hard drive. You may need to install a simple program such as dos or win3, but I am guessing you already know that & just are having trouble with the recognize hdd.



So try disconnect cmos batt & then I bet it will see the hdd. I think on the c800 series latitudes you have to remove "P" screws and then there is still metal attached to wrist rest that has 2-4 screws. between that metal piece & wrist rest (top) there should be the battery & it does not look like normal "coin" style batteries. it will be a series of watch type batteries all connected with plasic coating so maybe 3 inches long & 1/2 inch wide. be careful with ribbon wires.



Hope that helps & let me know if not as then it would really be a puzzle for me. :-)

Answer 2

So I assume you swapped HDs just to check?



Anyway, the problem is that the C810 & C840 won't recognize the HDs, they can't be defective since the C600 does recognize them.



The Bios don't let you change or select the HD because it can't find it. What are the models of your HDs? Are they set to master single, auto o what (jumper config). Have you tried to update the bios of your renegade puters?



Do you see at least the HD led turn on once on the non working pcs? Stays lit, turns once and goes off or it is always off?



Would you feel comfortable opening the non working laptops and checking the IDE cable and power line that feeds the HDs?



There are not magic recipes for laptops, or easy fix when hardware is involved and despite this website tries to provide help, well we are somehow "virtual technicians" relaying on you to provide accurate info so do not blame all people, we just try to help and we are not getting paid for it.



Edit: Not all the bios detect HDs by default, some BIOs requires that you set the jumpers like they say or no HD will be detected, that is why it might be wise to check if there is a Bios update for your puters, never hurt to update it either because it also adresses other stuff that benefit your puter.



But let's assume the bios is fine and the laptops just stopped recognizing the HD's, your problem seems to be hardware related, not the HDs since they work on the other puter, but if they are being powered up then the area you should look will be the IDE interface. That's what I would do.

Answer 3

attempt restarting the workstation some cases with the potential button in case you nevertheless get this same message then there are some possibilities, the two your complicated force is broken (loss of all archives wherein case it needs repairing/changing), the IDE/SATA cable that connects the complicated force has come loose interior the workstation (unlikely). on the different hand it must be your working gadget this could choose reloading which includes formatting the force and reinstalling dwelling house windows, although this could wipe each and all of the archives on your complicated force. i could advise contacting your supplier for complete diagnostics yet from experience i've got self assurance a complicated force failure. sturdy success with this.