Acer Aspire X3400 problems detecting hdd

[Danbre]

Ive been struggleing with this computer for a while now and could really use some help. I had an issue with the hard drive which ended with me tossing it away and trying to use another sata hdd from an old dell i used to use. im trying to install win 7 via usb onto a WD WD1600 160gb sata hdd.

this is the problem i have, when booting my acer, the hdd starts spinning as usual, i can locate the hdd in bios, i run the windows install and before i can get to the screen where i choose which disk to install on, the hdd makes the sound as if ive just pulled the plug on it. Ive even once managed to get to the 'choose disk' screen before it switches off. After that the hdd wont even show up in the bios unless i turn off the pc for 5-10 mins, and then we go back to the beggining of this circle.

Im hopeing someone may have come across a similar problem, any help would be great. If you need some more info, let me know what you need and how i can get it, incase im not already aware.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can help

[gman863]

My experience is this sounds like a hard drive controller issue on the motherboard.

If you aren't 100% positive the current HDD is in good condition, try another drive just to be sure (or run a long DST on it hooked to another PC).

If the hard drive controller on the board is bad, it likely means the motherboard will have to be replaced.

Sorry for the bad news; however I hope this helps.

[robmar0se]

Similar problem, except neither the HDD nor the DVD is recognised in BIOS. Tried all different BIOS settings, different SATA sockets to no avail.

Even tried a PCI-E sata controller card which allowed me to see the HDD but I guess as there are no drivers, Windows 7/84 wouldn't load, an would only enter the recovery partition. Unfortunately the PCI-E controller wouldn't, ot couldn't see the DVD drive, so I guess the only option is to replace the mobo. Not good on a PC that is less than 2 years old