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Question

Weird issue regarding hard drive

Jun 27, 2018 2:17PM PDT

I have an Acer Predator Helios 300 gaming laptop.

Along with it I bought a 1 TB Western Digital HDD ( 2.5 inch of course ) and tried to connect it to the SATA1 cable ( there's an easy-to-get-to HDD caddy in the laptop ).

The problem here is that the HDD didn't get read at all. It spins ( which means it connects power ) but there's no data at all. windows can't read it and in BIOS it shows SATA1 : None.

Here's what makes things interesting; the same hard drive runs normally when connected to a PC's SATA cable. runs perfectly, spins and gets read like a charm.

Another crazy thing is that same hard drive can be read normally using a USB3.0 Rack ( via USB obviously ) on my own laptop ( the predator helios ).

I know what's going on in your mind now; "Obviously the laptop's SATA cable is faulty.". That's exactly what I thought but Nope, that isn't the case at all.

I have connected another old laptop's Hard drive I had before and it works like a darn charm. I also sent the laptop back to the seller to check it for manufacturing issues and they said the laptop's clean.

any ideas ?

PS: My OS is windows 10 64 bit ( which comes pre-installed on my laptop )

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Share EXACTLY what model HDD this is.
Jun 30, 2018 2:36PM PDT
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Answer
I have an ACER predator here.
Jun 27, 2018 2:20PM PDT

So similar design and my is setup with the usual M2 SSD and the second HDD.

In your case I'd ask WD as well as Acer what's up.

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I did so before
Jun 27, 2018 4:39PM PDT

I have contacted Acer and they told me " the HDD is compatible and it should work. you should ask WD"
I asked "WD" and they gave me stupid steps to make sure the hard drive is fine.

none of them were helpful

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Then, sadly
Jun 27, 2018 4:48PM PDT

Something is incompatible. I agree it should work but then again I may be missing part of the story.

Try putting the drive in and use Speccy to see if the drive is in the reports. If all this fails, try another make/model drive.

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Answer
(NT) sounds like a problem with the caddy
Jun 27, 2018 6:44PM PDT
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What do you mean?
Jun 27, 2018 6:46PM PDT

what do you mean a problem with the caddy? isn't the caddy just for housing the hard drive?

also if there's a problem with it, how can I fix it ?

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HDD caddy
Jun 27, 2018 6:57PM PDT

HDD plugs into caddy, the caddy plugs into laptop cable. A caddy can go bad and give same symptoms you described.

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Something's not right.
Jun 27, 2018 7:13PM PDT

first of all thanks for your replies and your efforts. much appreciated.

I have gone through what you have posted but something doesn't seem right.

My laptop doesn't have a "middleman" between the hard drive and the SATA cable.

there's a SATA cable that's connected to the motherboard which is connected directly to my hard drive. there are no "caddies" like the ones in your posts.

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The last thing.
Jun 27, 2018 7:22PM PDT

Be sure the BIOS is current. The BIOS initializes the drive, waits for it to spin up, etc.

That is, be sure there is no FAST BOOT enabled since a slow spin up HDD can need the fast boot disabled.

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what is fast boot?
Jun 27, 2018 7:31PM PDT

I know UEFI's secure boot and I have tried disabling it but with no luck.

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Look in any Advanced area of BIOS
Jun 27, 2018 7:43PM PDT

Old MBR type BIOS were basically just two, AMI and Award. Now every motherboard manufacturer seems to have their own type, so might consider going to manufacturer site and downloading the manual on it.

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OK, I just went on what you posted.
Jun 27, 2018 7:23PM PDT
"( there's an easy-to-get-to HDD caddy in the laptop )"

That leaves a problem with the cable then. Make sure there's nothing in the fitting that might interfere. If necessary, and you can do it, replace that cable.
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I'm sorry
Jun 27, 2018 7:30PM PDT

I'm sorry for that misleading phrase.

I thought a caddy was just a housing thing not a "middleman" of sorts.

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Answer
SATA versions?
Jun 30, 2018 12:23AM PDT

Are the laptop SATA and HDD SATA different versions of SATA? ie, one is SATA 2 and the other SATA 3? I had a desktop where the SATA 1 on the motherboard couldn't talk to a SATA 2 drive.

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That happens
Jun 30, 2018 8:17AM PDT

And while it wasn't supposed to, it does happen.

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How Come ?
Jun 30, 2018 8:23AM PDT

What I know is that SATA is backwards compatible. and as a proof, https://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/8142/~/difference-between-sata-i%2C-sata-ii-and-sata-iii

which clearly testifies that: `SATA II specifications provide backward compatibility to function on SATA I ports. SATA III specifications provide backward compatibility to function on SATA I and SATA II ports`

Regardless, my laptop's SATA is SATA3 and I believe the hard drive is SATA 3 is well. It can be SATA 2 but i'm not totally sure to be honest.

It turned out that the problem is in the SATA cable itself on my laptop which 90% is faulty or doesn't function as it should to say the least.

I tried multiple different HDDs, ones that I know work for certain, on the laptop and they didn't work at all.

I'm looking to replace the Cable now as we speak.

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A mistake on one side or the other. Or, both
Jun 30, 2018 8:34AM PDT

Per the spec, they're supposed to work. But, one of the engineers implementing the spec read something differently than the other. A signal they're supposed to send or respond to. One thought it was optional, and the other mandatory. Or, a timing is a little off and they get out of sync. Or, ...

Without very detailed diagnostics, and without being able to see the source codes,. it's difficult to know for sure. At our level, It Just Don't Work.

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Agreed
Jun 30, 2018 9:08AM PDT

Yeah I understand your point and totally agree.

but that was a very bold statement to make to actually find it doesn't support backwards compatibility.

I believe the faulty cable is the more likely theory in my situation.

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Yeah, fits the symptoms
Jun 30, 2018 9:21AM PDT

A bad cable fits what you're seeing. Or, a bad chip on the motherboard. Far less likely. And, essentially impossible to fix. So, let's root for the cable.

One other possible cause for incompatibility that I forgot to type out was: Just a Plain Ole Bug. A value left in a register and used, which produced a cascade of garbage after that piece of code executed. A test coded backwards. A Copy&Paste of some code and forgot to change the variable names. Something along those lines.

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Hopefully it's not the ole bug
Jun 30, 2018 9:23AM PDT

because if it is, then how the heck am I to fix it ?

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By making the maker fix it.
Jun 30, 2018 9:43AM PDT

I have a bad story about a HP buggy laptop. When it went back to them they destroyed the laptop in repair. Never found a fix and HP lost me forever.

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Incompatibility
Jun 30, 2018 2:16PM PDT

I was referring to if it failed only with that one specific drive. That would imply a corresponding pair of bugs/implementation mistakes. IOW, I assume they tested it with a bunch of drives, and all of them worked. So, it's a rare interaction that doesn't.

In your case, it doesn't sound like that's the case.

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(NT) doing the happy dance for you
Jun 30, 2018 2:02PM PDT
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Stop it.
Jun 30, 2018 2:20PM PDT