Hard Drive Issue?

Hi - I wonder if you can help.

I am using a Packard Bell EasyNote MZ36 laptop, running Ubuntu Linux 15.10. I inherited this old thing from my son, as a broken Windows machine with BSOD issues. I replaced the Hard Drive, added some RAM, and all has been well for a couple of years.

But now I have boot issues.

On first boot the HDD light comes on fora second, then goes off as the BIOS screen loads, and then gives a slight flicker. After a wait, I get a "No operating system found"message. After trying again a few times, I don't get the flicker - I get a blinking HDD light, and the OS loads. It's gradually taking longer to boot up, and I fear one day it just won't.

Once it boots, it works fine. The extended self-test utility finds no problems with the drive.

Any thoughts?

I have a Compaq Presario A900 running Vista Home Premium. If I put my HDD in that machine, would it boot up OK (assuming the HDD is sound)? I thought this might be a way of establishing if my problem is with the drive, or with something else like power supply.

 

Thanks.

Yes - I am aware that 15.10 is at the end of its life. But I am reluctant to upgrade to the latest (16.04.1) version while I have a potentially major hardware issue.

I was thinking of taking the suspect drive and putting it in the Compaq which runs fine, rather than the other way round. Is that also not a good idea?

I'd like to keep this old laptop going - it's comfortable, like an old pair of shoes.

So what should I do to isolate the issue?

 

if the linux hard drive is formatted with Ext2 / Ext3 / Ext4, then you can get drivers for windows, like
https://www.paragon-software.com/home/extfs-windows/
where you can natively read and write to linux hard drives from windows.
the osX versions of these drivers work wonderfully.

 

Thanks.

That is really helpful advice - and stopped me from doing something potentially really stupid.

I'll get an adaptor for the drive - which is formatted with and Ext4 partition. And yes - the working machine is a Windows Vista laptop.

Once I'm in, what's next? I have already tested the drive using the extended self test in Ubuntu, and it came up fine. If it also checks out OK when hooked up to the other laptop, do I then assume that there is connection or power supply issue?

One step at a time, I suppose.

 

OK.

Interesting.

Booted with just battery today. I have NEVER done that before (the battery is very old). Booted first time - which hasn't happened in quite a while!

One swallow does not a summer make, though, so I will continue with the experiment.

Thanks.

 

Yes - its a nice snug fit.

While I can see your logic, it's odd that the machine works perfectly well for many hours once booted up. But I'll try it again on battery next time. And I'll also try a different power adapter and cord -I'm sure I have one.

 

Booted again from battery.

I'm going to try taking the battery out tomorrow.

 

OK. I think that hopeful theory is dead. It's been consistently failing to boot regardless of power source.

Is the behaviour of the HDD LED significant? When it fails I get solid LED for about a second, then the BIOS screen, then a minor flicker. When it boots I get solid, then the BIOS, then a bright flash, followed by normal boot sequence.

Next step is to test the drive on the other laptop.

 

From your last post, it sounds like the controller chip on the hard drive's pc board is going south.

 

OK thanks mdonah. I am having real problems now, and thought it wasn't going to boot today. Took about 20 or more attempts. Once it boots, all is fine until I turn it off.

I'm guessing the controller chip isn't something that it would be economical to fix on an elderly laptop. Sad if true - I've become quite attached to this old thing.

 

Sad but true. Not even sure if you could find a motherboard for that machine these days.

Just for s**** and giggles, what is the exact model of this laptop?

 

It's not the laptop, it's the hard drive. Best option if it is the controller chip on the hard drive's pc board is simply replace the hard drive. The problematic hard drive may or may not be able to be refurbished and even if it could be, why bother. Hard drives are cheap enough.

 

Thanks mdonah. OK- I misread your earlier post: the hard drive's PC board.

The HDD is a lot newer than the laptop - but still about 3 years old.

If the controller chip is dying wouldn't that cause problems after boot-up? The machine runs fine once it has finally found and loaded its OS. And the HDD passes all the self test routines - wouldn't a problem show up in tests?

Could the controller chip just affect the boot process? -it seems like it's the initial spin up and mounting is the problem.

And while this is all interesting, I guess it's academic. I need to definitively test the drive on another machine. Is that right at this stage?

The mekanik - thanks. If you are interested it's a Chinese built Packard Bell EasyNote MZ36 Model Argo C2.

 

The controller chip could cause the exact problems you're exhibiting. It did on a hard drive I had put into one of my laptops despite it having a label stating that the hard drive was "unsuitable for laptop use" (I had contacted the seller about it and he assured me the hard drive would be fine in the laptop — yeah, right.).

 

Sorry, I misread that as well.

I was thinking EIDE/SATA controller.