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PC recovery? [message #386975] Thu, 12 September 2019 16:25 Go to next message
hancock4 is currently offline  hancock4
Messages: 6746
Registered: December 2011
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Senior Member
My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.


Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)


Thanks.
Re: PC recovery? [message #386976 is a reply to message #386975] Thu, 12 September 2019 16:41 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Dan Espen is currently offline  Dan Espen
Messages: 3867
Registered: January 2012
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Senior Member
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:

> My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
> computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
> no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>
> Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
> backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)

No hard drive cable sounds odd for an error message. Can you tell if
that's Windows or the BIOS?

I had an XP laptop with similar, non-helpful messages.
I booted from a CD with a Linux distro and it became clear the hard
drive was bad.

I ordered a new drive and the machine worked for many years after that.

Recovery of the data might be possible if some other system can still
read the disk.

I've switched my backup medium to USB thumb drives. I do nightly
backups of all of my user data, and none of the OS since I can always
to a fresh Linux install.

--
Dan Espen
Re: PC recovery? [message #386978 is a reply to message #386976] Thu, 12 September 2019 16:45 Go to previous messageGo to next message
hancock4 is currently offline  hancock4
Messages: 6746
Registered: December 2011
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Senior Member
On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 4:41:27 PM UTC-4, Dan Espen wrote:
> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>
>> My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
>> computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
>> no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>>
>> Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
>> backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)
>
> No hard drive cable sounds odd for an error message. Can you tell if
> that's Windows or the BIOS?

I think it's from the BIOS. I'm booting (or trying to boot)
from the CD-ROM that came with the machine.

My guess is that the disk drive (or some part of it) is 'burned out'
(my layman's explanation).


Admittedly, I should've saw this coming. Before the crash, something
in the machine was making a "shh" sound. It also crashed once before,
but then it was able to reboot.


[snip]
Re: PC recovery? [message #386983 is a reply to message #386978] Thu, 12 September 2019 21:33 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: JimP

On Thu, 12 Sep 2019 13:45:52 -0700 (PDT), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 4:41:27 PM UTC-4, Dan Espen wrote:
>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>
>>> My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
>>> computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
>>> no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>>>
>>> Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
>>> backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)
>>
>> No hard drive cable sounds odd for an error message. Can you tell if
>> that's Windows or the BIOS?
>
> I think it's from the BIOS. I'm booting (or trying to boot)
> from the CD-ROM that came with the machine.
>
> My guess is that the disk drive (or some part of it) is 'burned out'
> (my layman's explanation).
>
>
> Admittedly, I should've saw this coming. Before the crash, something
> in the machine was making a "shh" sound. It also crashed once before,
> but then it was able to reboot.
>
>
> [snip]
>

Sounds like bad sectors on the hard drive.

I have used linux in the cd drive to run a directory program and
copied files off to external storage.

--
Jim
Re: PC recovery? [message #386984 is a reply to message #386978] Thu, 12 September 2019 21:39 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Dan Espen is currently offline  Dan Espen
Messages: 3867
Registered: January 2012
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Senior Member
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:

> On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 4:41:27 PM UTC-4, Dan Espen wrote:
>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>
>>> My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
>>> computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
>>> no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>>>
>>> Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
>>> backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)
>>
>> No hard drive cable sounds odd for an error message. Can you tell if
>> that's Windows or the BIOS?
>
> I think it's from the BIOS. I'm booting (or trying to boot)
> from the CD-ROM that came with the machine.

Hmm, you are trying to boot from CD and it complains about a hard disk
cable? That doesn't make sense to me. Maybe you should unplug the
disk drive completely to see what effect that has.

> My guess is that the disk drive (or some part of it) is 'burned out'
> (my layman's explanation).
>
> Admittedly, I should've saw this coming. Before the crash, something
> in the machine was making a "shh" sound. It also crashed once before,
> but then it was able to reboot.

I've replaced all my rotating disks with SSD.
I'm not sure if that's an option for you,
I doubt XP even supports SATA.

--
Dan Espen
Re: PC recovery? [message #386985 is a reply to message #386978] Thu, 12 September 2019 23:08 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: J. Clarke

On Thu, 12 Sep 2019 13:45:52 -0700 (PDT), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

> On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 4:41:27 PM UTC-4, Dan Espen wrote:
>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>
>>> My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
>>> computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
>>> no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>>>
>>> Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
>>> backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)
>>
>> No hard drive cable sounds odd for an error message. Can you tell if
>> that's Windows or the BIOS?
>
> I think it's from the BIOS. I'm booting (or trying to boot)
> from the CD-ROM that came with the machine.
>
> My guess is that the disk drive (or some part of it) is 'burned out'
> (my layman's explanation).
>
>
> Admittedly, I should've saw this coming. Before the crash, something
> in the machine was making a "shh" sound. It also crashed once before,
> but then it was able to reboot.

A physically crashed disk will often make a "shh" sound as the heads
grind the oxide off the platters. If it's physically crashed it's not
usually field-recoverable without the luck of the Gods and probably
not laboratory recoverable.

That said there are other things that can go "shh" so it may not be
the disk at all making the sound.

Have you unplugged and replugged the cable?
Re: PC recovery? [message #386997 is a reply to message #386975] Fri, 13 September 2019 01:58 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Andy Burns is currently offline  Andy Burns
Messages: 416
Registered: June 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

> When I try to reboot it says no hard drive cable

Presumably it's using IDE (PATA) cable rather than SATA cable?

I do remember some motherboards had a message along the line of "no 80
conductor cable installed" if the detected an older 40 pin cable being
used, maybe give tha cables a wiggle ...
Re: PC recovery? [message #386998 is a reply to message #386984] Fri, 13 September 2019 02:00 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Andy Burns is currently offline  Andy Burns
Messages: 416
Registered: June 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
Dan Espen wrote:

> I doubt XP even supports SATA.

It does, but swapping from IDE to AHCI drivers after installation can be
a somewhat 'tricky'.
Re: PC recovery? [message #387004 is a reply to message #386998] Fri, 13 September 2019 06:24 Go to previous messageGo to next message
mausg is currently offline  mausg
Messages: 2483
Registered: May 2013
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Senior Member
On 2019-09-13, Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:
> Dan Espen wrote:
>
>> I doubt XP even supports SATA.
>
> It does, but swapping from IDE to AHCI drivers after installation can be
> a somewhat 'tricky'.

You could put it better than that!.

--
Maus@ireland.xxx
Will rant for food.
You are taking the IPCC, right?
Re: PC recovery? [message #387008 is a reply to message #386975] Fri, 13 September 2019 09:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: songbird

hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:

> My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
> computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
> no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>
>
> Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
> backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)

shut the machine off. unplug it. give it a few moments
to disipate charges.

take off cover, ground yourself so you don't give anything
a static jolt and then check all your cable connections.

i would not fully disconnect them if there are a lot just
to make sure you don't lose track of what is connected where,
but i pull them apart a little and then push them back
together.

then put the cover back on, plug the machine back in and
see if it will start.

if it does, do an immediate back up to trusted media.

if it doesn't... new disk or machine time. you can often
still find used parts or compatible parts for old machines
but in the end i was glad to finally upgrade mine to
something more modern and a lot more energy efficient and
quiet (not needing a lot of fans for this machine replaced
the old fans that sounded like a jet taking off). it will
probably pay for itself in less juice used.


songbird
Re: PC recovery? [message #387010 is a reply to message #386983] Fri, 13 September 2019 11:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Joe Pfeiffer is currently offline  Joe Pfeiffer
Messages: 764
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> writes:

> On Thu, 12 Sep 2019 13:45:52 -0700 (PDT), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>> On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 4:41:27 PM UTC-4, Dan Espen wrote:
>>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>>
>>>> My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
>>>> computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
>>>> no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>>>>
>>>> Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
>>>> backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)
>>>
>>> No hard drive cable sounds odd for an error message. Can you tell if
>>> that's Windows or the BIOS?
>>
>> I think it's from the BIOS. I'm booting (or trying to boot)
>> from the CD-ROM that came with the machine.
>>
>> My guess is that the disk drive (or some part of it) is 'burned out'
>> (my layman's explanation).
>>
>>
>> Admittedly, I should've saw this coming. Before the crash, something
>> in the machine was making a "shh" sound. It also crashed once before,
>> but then it was able to reboot.
>>
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>
> Sounds like bad sectors on the hard drive.
>
> I have used linux in the cd drive to run a directory program and
> copied files off to external storage.

Sounds worse than that -- this sounds like the hard drive controller is
fried. The only way to get this one back involves taking a controller
from a similar drive and swapping it.
Re: PC recovery? [message #387011 is a reply to message #387010] Fri, 13 September 2019 11:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: JimP

On Fri, 13 Sep 2019 09:01:23 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer
<pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> wrote:
> JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> On Thu, 12 Sep 2019 13:45:52 -0700 (PDT), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>>> On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 4:41:27 PM UTC-4, Dan Espen wrote:
>>>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>>>
>>>> > My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
>>>> > computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
>>>> > no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>>>> >
>>>> > Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
>>>> > backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)
>>>>
>>>> No hard drive cable sounds odd for an error message. Can you tell if
>>>> that's Windows or the BIOS?
>>>
>>> I think it's from the BIOS. I'm booting (or trying to boot)
>>> from the CD-ROM that came with the machine.
>>>
>>> My guess is that the disk drive (or some part of it) is 'burned out'
>>> (my layman's explanation).
>>>
>>>
>>> Admittedly, I should've saw this coming. Before the crash, something
>>> in the machine was making a "shh" sound. It also crashed once before,
>>> but then it was able to reboot.
>>>
>>>
>>> [snip]
>>>
>>
>> Sounds like bad sectors on the hard drive.
>>
>> I have used linux in the cd drive to run a directory program and
>> copied files off to external storage.
>
> Sounds worse than that -- this sounds like the hard drive controller is
> fried. The only way to get this one back involves taking a controller
> from a similar drive and swapping it.

External case for that hdd so it can be copied while hooked to another
computer.

Warning in that some of these 'external backup cases' will format any
HDDs put in them. Personal experience. I thought I could copy files to
the drive in the external case. Nope. It wiped the drive and said it
was ready to accept files. The box it came in said nothing about that.


--
Jim
Re: PC recovery? [message #387013 is a reply to message #386984] Fri, 13 September 2019 12:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Charlie Gibbs is currently offline  Charlie Gibbs
Messages: 5313
Registered: January 2012
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Senior Member
On 2019-09-13, Dan Espen <dan1espen@gmail.com> wrote:

> I've replaced all my rotating disks with SSD.
> I'm not sure if that's an option for you,
> I doubt XP even supports SATA.

It does if it's running under VirtualBox. :-)

--
/~\ cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid (Charlie Gibbs)
\ / I'm really at ac.dekanfrus if you read it the right way.
X Top-posted messages will probably be ignored. See RFC1855.
/ \ "Alexa, define 'bugging'."
Re: PC recovery? [message #387014 is a reply to message #387011] Fri, 13 September 2019 12:44 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Charlie Gibbs is currently offline  Charlie Gibbs
Messages: 5313
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On 2019-09-13, JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> wrote:

> On Fri, 13 Sep 2019 09:01:23 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer
> <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> wrote:
>
>> Sounds worse than that -- this sounds like the hard drive controller is
>> fried. The only way to get this one back involves taking a controller
>> from a similar drive and swapping it.
>
> External case for that hdd so it can be copied while hooked to another
> computer.
>
> Warning in that some of these 'external backup cases' will format any
> HDDs put in them. Personal experience. I thought I could copy files to
> the drive in the external case. Nope. It wiped the drive and said it
> was ready to accept files. The box it came in said nothing about that.

That's why, when I look for an external case, I insist on the bare minimum
with no bells and whistles. Certainly nothing like a "one-touch backup"
button or other such fluff. After this warning I'll be even more vigilant.

--
/~\ cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid (Charlie Gibbs)
\ / I'm really at ac.dekanfrus if you read it the right way.
X Top-posted messages will probably be ignored. See RFC1855.
/ \ "Alexa, define 'bugging'."
Re: PC recovery? [message #387015 is a reply to message #387011] Fri, 13 September 2019 13:36 Go to previous messageGo to next message
scott is currently offline  scott
Messages: 4237
Registered: February 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> writes:
> On Fri, 13 Sep 2019 09:01:23 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer
> <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> wrote:
>> JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> writes:
>>
>>> On Thu, 12 Sep 2019 13:45:52 -0700 (PDT), hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
>>>> On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 4:41:27 PM UTC-4, Dan Espen wrote:
>>>> > hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>>> >
>>>> > > My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
>>>> > > computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
>>>> > > no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>>>> > >
>>>> > > Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
>>>> > > backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)
>>>> >
>>>> > No hard drive cable sounds odd for an error message. Can you tell if
>>>> > that's Windows or the BIOS?
>>>>
>>>> I think it's from the BIOS. I'm booting (or trying to boot)
>>>> from the CD-ROM that came with the machine.
>>>>
>>>> My guess is that the disk drive (or some part of it) is 'burned out'
>>>> (my layman's explanation).
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Admittedly, I should've saw this coming. Before the crash, something
>>>> in the machine was making a "shh" sound. It also crashed once before,
>>>> but then it was able to reboot.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> [snip]
>>>>
>>>
>>> Sounds like bad sectors on the hard drive.
>>>
>>> I have used linux in the cd drive to run a directory program and
>>> copied files off to external storage.
>>
>> Sounds worse than that -- this sounds like the hard drive controller is
>> fried. The only way to get this one back involves taking a controller
>> from a similar drive and swapping it.
>
> External case for that hdd so it can be copied while hooked to another
> computer.

That's not what the Professor meant. In the PATA (IDE) world, a significant fraction
of the controller electronics are on the drive itself - the PCB board afixed
to the drive. If you have a working drive of the same model, and the
dead drive did _not_ have a head crash or other media issue, then you can swap
the PCB from the good drive to the bad drive to recover the data.
Re: PC recovery? [message #387016 is a reply to message #387011] Fri, 13 September 2019 13:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Joe Pfeiffer is currently offline  Joe Pfeiffer
Messages: 764
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> writes:

> On Fri, 13 Sep 2019 09:01:23 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer
> <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> wrote:
>>
>> Sounds worse than that -- this sounds like the hard drive controller is
>> fried. The only way to get this one back involves taking a controller
>> from a similar drive and swapping it.
>
> External case for that hdd so it can be copied while hooked to another
> computer.
>
> Warning in that some of these 'external backup cases' will format any
> HDDs put in them. Personal experience. I thought I could copy files to
> the drive in the external case. Nope. It wiped the drive and said it
> was ready to accept files. The box it came in said nothing about that.

All the external backup drive cases I've ever seen require you to plug
the existing drive -- with its controller -- into the case. I'm having
a hard time imagining why anyone would even try to market one that
required (or even enabled) removing the drive controller electronics,
and then plugging it into the external box.

Come to think of it, there's some chance the interface electronics on
the motherboard is what's failed...
Re: PC recovery? [message #387018 is a reply to message #386976] Fri, 13 September 2019 14:52 Go to previous messageGo to next message
hancock4 is currently offline  hancock4
Messages: 6746
Registered: December 2011
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 4:41:27 PM UTC-4, Dan Espen wrote:
> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>
>> My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
>> computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
>> no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>>
>> Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
>> backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)
>
> No hard drive cable sounds odd for an error message. Can you tell if
> that's Windows or the BIOS?
>
> I had an XP laptop with similar, non-helpful messages.
> I booted from a CD with a Linux distro and it became clear the hard
> drive was bad.
>
> I ordered a new drive and the machine worked for many years after that.
>
> Recovery of the data might be possible if some other system can still
> read the disk.
>
> I've switched my backup medium to USB thumb drives. I do nightly
> backups of all of my user data, and none of the OS since I can always
> to a fresh Linux install.

The specific error messages were:
PXE-E61 Media test failure check cable
1960 NO OS found

Thanks!
Re: PC recovery? [message #387019 is a reply to message #387018] Fri, 13 September 2019 14:55 Go to previous messageGo to next message
scott is currently offline  scott
Messages: 4237
Registered: February 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
> On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 4:41:27 PM UTC-4, Dan Espen wrote:
>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>
>>> My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
>>> computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
>>> no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>>>
>>> Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
>>> backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)
>>
>> No hard drive cable sounds odd for an error message. Can you tell if
>> that's Windows or the BIOS?
>>
>> I had an XP laptop with similar, non-helpful messages.
>> I booted from a CD with a Linux distro and it became clear the hard
>> drive was bad.
>>
>> I ordered a new drive and the machine worked for many years after that.
>>
>> Recovery of the data might be possible if some other system can still
>> read the disk.
>>
>> I've switched my backup medium to USB thumb drives. I do nightly
>> backups of all of my user data, and none of the OS since I can always
>> to a fresh Linux install.
>
> The specific error messages were:
> PXE-E61 Media test failure check cable
> 1960 NO OS found

Either the drive electronics didn't respond, or more likely
a READ command failed with a media error.
Re: PC recovery? [message #387023 is a reply to message #387016] Fri, 13 September 2019 18:34 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: JimP

On Fri, 13 Sep 2019 11:37:22 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer
<pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> wrote:
> JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> On Fri, 13 Sep 2019 09:01:23 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer
>> <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> wrote:
>>>
>>> Sounds worse than that -- this sounds like the hard drive controller is
>>> fried. The only way to get this one back involves taking a controller
>>> from a similar drive and swapping it.
>>
>> External case for that hdd so it can be copied while hooked to another
>> computer.
>>
>> Warning in that some of these 'external backup cases' will format any
>> HDDs put in them. Personal experience. I thought I could copy files to
>> the drive in the external case. Nope. It wiped the drive and said it
>> was ready to accept files. The box it came in said nothing about that.
>
> All the external backup drive cases I've ever seen require you to plug
> the existing drive -- with its controller -- into the case. I'm having
> a hard time imagining why anyone would even try to market one that
> required (or even enabled) removing the drive controller electronics,
> and then plugging it into the external box.
>
> Come to think of it, there's some chance the interface electronics on
> the motherboard is what's failed...

On mine, I just unplugged the SATA drive from the computer, opened the
case of the external drive, and plugged that into the USB port.


--
Jim
Re: PC recovery? [message #387024 is a reply to message #387018] Fri, 13 September 2019 19:12 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Dan Espen is currently offline  Dan Espen
Messages: 3867
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:

> On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 4:41:27 PM UTC-4, Dan Espen wrote:
>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>
>>> My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
>>> computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
>>> no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>>>
>>> Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
>>> backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)
>>
>> No hard drive cable sounds odd for an error message. Can you tell if
>> that's Windows or the BIOS?
>>
>> I had an XP laptop with similar, non-helpful messages.
>> I booted from a CD with a Linux distro and it became clear the hard
>> drive was bad.
>>
>> I ordered a new drive and the machine worked for many years after that.
>>
>> Recovery of the data might be possible if some other system can still
>> read the disk.
>>
>> I've switched my backup medium to USB thumb drives. I do nightly
>> backups of all of my user data, and none of the OS since I can always
>> to a fresh Linux install.
>
> The specific error messages were:
> PXE-E61 Media test failure check cable
> 1960 NO OS found

Good deal.
First Google hit I got on that says loose cable.
Seems to me, that means it can be anything from bad cable to dead drive.

I still don't understand the part where you said you were trying to boot
from a CD. Maybe a bad hard drive can get in the way of the BIOS trying
to boot from CD, in which case you should try unplugging the hard disk
to do a CD boot. The CD boot will just establish that the machine is
still working.

Assuming the PC is working, try re-plugging the drive in, but if you
can, use one of the other cables. Usually desktops have multiple
hard drive cables and you should be able to boot using any of them.

--
Dan Espen
Re: PC recovery? [message #387025 is a reply to message #387024] Fri, 13 September 2019 19:33 Go to previous messageGo to next message
hancock4 is currently offline  hancock4
Messages: 6746
Registered: December 2011
Karma: 0
Senior Member
On Friday, September 13, 2019 at 7:12:59 PM UTC-4, Dan Espen wrote:
> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>
>> On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 4:41:27 PM UTC-4, Dan Espen wrote:
>>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>>
>>>> My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
>>>> computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
>>>> no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>>>>
>>>> Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
>>>> backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)
>>>
>>> No hard drive cable sounds odd for an error message. Can you tell if
>>> that's Windows or the BIOS?
>>>
>>> I had an XP laptop with similar, non-helpful messages.
>>> I booted from a CD with a Linux distro and it became clear the hard
>>> drive was bad.
>>>
>>> I ordered a new drive and the machine worked for many years after that.
>>>
>>> Recovery of the data might be possible if some other system can still
>>> read the disk.
>>>
>>> I've switched my backup medium to USB thumb drives. I do nightly
>>> backups of all of my user data, and none of the OS since I can always
>>> to a fresh Linux install.
>>
>> The specific error messages were:
>> PXE-E61 Media test failure check cable
>> 1960 NO OS found
>
> Good deal.
> First Google hit I got on that says loose cable.
> Seems to me, that means it can be anything from bad cable to dead drive.
>
> I still don't understand the part where you said you were trying to boot
> from a CD. Maybe a bad hard drive can get in the way of the BIOS trying
> to boot from CD, in which case you should try unplugging the hard disk
> to do a CD boot. The CD boot will just establish that the machine is
> still working.
>
> Assuming the PC is working, try re-plugging the drive in, but if you
> can, use one of the other cables. Usually desktops have multiple
> hard drive cables and you should be able to boot using any of them.

thanks for your help.

I have the XP CD, and am trying to boot from that. It won't boot
otherwise.

I think my next step is to open it up and try different cables,
or at least reinsert the cable.

Hopefully, I can recover the old disk and keep on using the PC,
but I suspect the disk is gone. To recover would likely cost too
much for what it's worth to me.
Re: PC recovery? [message #387028 is a reply to message #387023] Fri, 13 September 2019 22:08 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Joe Pfeiffer is currently offline  Joe Pfeiffer
Messages: 764
Registered: January 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> writes:

> On Fri, 13 Sep 2019 11:37:22 -0600, Joe Pfeiffer
> <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> wrote:
>>
>> All the external backup drive cases I've ever seen require you to plug
>> the existing drive -- with its controller -- into the case. I'm having
>> a hard time imagining why anyone would even try to market one that
>> required (or even enabled) removing the drive controller electronics,
>> and then plugging it into the external box.
>>
>> Come to think of it, there's some chance the interface electronics on
>> the motherboard is what's failed...
>
> On mine, I just unplugged the SATA drive from the computer, opened the
> case of the external drive, and plugged that into the USB port.

Exactly. You didn't remove the PCB with the disk controller from the
underside of the disk drive.
Re: PC recovery? [message #387034 is a reply to message #387018] Sat, 14 September 2019 03:38 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Anonymous
Karma:
Originally posted by: Terry Kennedy

On Friday, September 13, 2019 at 2:52:17 PM UTC-4, hanc...@bbs.cpcn.com wrote:
> The specific error messages were:
> PXE-E61 Media test failure check cable
> 1960 NO OS found

PXE is network boot. Your system probably falls back to trying to boot from the network if none of the local media (hard drive / CD-ROM / floppy) contain an operating system.

Depending on the age of the hardware, the BIOS may display information about the devices detected in the system if you go into setup mode (usually F2 or the DEL key while it is doing its thing). But don't change any settings, at least not without writing everything down first.

The BIOS in some systems also allows you to override the built-in boot order and specify which device you want to boot from. This is often the F11 or F12 key. If that works for you, it should give you a list of devices. If your hard disk shows up, try selecting it (normally with the arrow keys) to try to force a boot from it. That will either work (unlikely), error out nearly instantly (indicating a major problem with something) or take a while before erroring out (which would indicate bad sectors on the drive).
Re: PC recovery? [message #387049 is a reply to message #387018] Sun, 15 September 2019 00:28 Go to previous message
pechter is currently offline  pechter
Messages: 452
Registered: July 2012
Karma: 0
Senior Member
In article <ff90574f-184b-47d5-9197-783c1a21b7a3@googlegroups.com>,
<hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com> wrote:
> On Thursday, September 12, 2019 at 4:41:27 PM UTC-4, Dan Espen wrote:
>> hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com writes:
>>
>>> My PC crashed. I got a blue screen "serious error and the
>>> computer will shut down". When I try to reboot it says
>>> no hard drive cable. It runs Windows XP. It is an old machine.
>>>
>>> Any reasonable way to recover the machine? (I have most stuff
>>> backed up, but some recent stuff is not.)
>>
>> No hard drive cable sounds odd for an error message. Can you tell if
>> that's Windows or the BIOS?
>>
>> I had an XP laptop with similar, non-helpful messages.
>> I booted from a CD with a Linux distro and it became clear the hard
>> drive was bad.
>>
>> I ordered a new drive and the machine worked for many years after that.
>>
>> Recovery of the data might be possible if some other system can still
>> read the disk.
>>
>> I've switched my backup medium to USB thumb drives. I do nightly
>> backups of all of my user data, and none of the OS since I can always
>> to a fresh Linux install.
>
> The specific error messages were:
> PXE-E61 Media test failure check cable
> 1960 NO OS found
>
> Thanks!

The PXE-E61 sounds like it's not seeing the hard disk and is trying to
boot from a PXE boot server on the ethernet and can not find network
link.

Bill

--
Digital had it then. Don't you wish you could buy it now!
pechter-at-gmail.com http://xkcd.com/705/
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