help salaving an old Dell

[bben46]

If the default BIOS is not recognizing either drive, then I suspect a motherboard problem. Possible troubleshooting help - Try the HDs in another computer. Remember to set the jumpers for slave if you want to boot from the HD in the other computer, Or master if you want to remove the HD in the other one (unplug the data cable) and boot from the HD you suspect is bad.

 

One risk of doing this is possibly damaging the other Motherboard - not common, but possible.

I use a cable - usb to HD adapter with a separate Power supply for this kind of test.

 

Here is a link to the one I use, but there are other manufacturers of the same thing.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2329300&CatId=3770

[roomspace]

If the default BIOS is not recognizing either drive, then I suspect a motherboard problem. Possible troubleshooting help - Try the HDs in another computer. Remember to set the jumpers for slave if you want to boot from the HD in the other computer, Or master if you want to remove the HD in the other one (unplug the data cable) and boot from the HD you suspect is bad.

 

One risk of doing this is possibly damaging the other Motherboard - not common, but possible.

I use a cable - usb to HD adapter with a separate Power supply for this kind of test.

 

Here is a link to the one I use, but there are other manufacturers of the same thing.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2329300&CatId=3770

sounds good tip. It might worth a check.

[Sinophile]

Ok, I used something similar to what Bben posted a link to. So far the motherboard has at least recognized the device, and is letting me install Linux onto it. I will post once Linux installs.

 

2 hours later: Ok, so Ubuntu refuses to recognize my USB wireless network adapter. I tried googling a driver, and it is all very technical.

 

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WifiDocs/Driver/Ndiswrapper

Edited January 19, 2011 by Sinophile