Clearing Cmos ?? Will it help ?

[wewildbill]

On each startup, if I let My comp go normally, I get a cant find HDD ! If I go into setup on startup, and enter Standard Cmos setup, it will show my HDD and Cd-Rom . Without making any changes, I then go to exit and save and hit the (Y). At that point the setup will continue and boot up normally and evrything works.
Will clearing the Cmos and selecting the default Bios values fix this problem ?
Second Question: If I do that, then on startup, is all I have to do is insert the CD-Rom for the motherboard to set the default values , or do I have to do them all manually ?

[BipolarBill]

This sounds as simple as a weak mobo battery. Try replacing it.

[wewildbill]

Yup, Bill,, that was my thought, until a new battery didnt help !
It's a problem I havent encountered but battery seemed the first choice. Thanks

[BipolarBill]

Go ahead and clear CMOS, but I think a new drive cable may help. Once you clear CMOS, you must enter BIOS setup. You can set defaults there. If you have an HDD detection category, go ahead and manually detect the main drive. Select #2. The next time you boot, BIOS won't have to detect the drive - it's parameters will be remembered.

[wewildbill]

OK, clearing Cmos did not have any effect.
On startup, it still wont find the HDD until after I go into setup.
I dont have to do anything once I'm there, Just click on save and exit to have my HDD boot properly from there on.
I also changed cable from Ide slot to HDD and swappped the HDD to IDE secondary,Same problem. I even tried another good HDD.
Still No Luck ??????????

Where do I go from here ??

[BipolarBill]

What brand of HDD are you using? If it's a WD, remove all jumpers when it's alone on a cable.

Next is a BIOS update.

No joy? Use a 3rd-party IDE controllers like a Promise Ultra.

Otherwise, it's new mobo time.

[wewildbill]

Success !!!
Or so far anyway.
You hit the nail on the head Bill .
I have a WD harddrive and removed and removed the Jumper that designated it as the Master. Since then, about 10 boots, it has come up every time.

I really appreciate your help !
This is a great plcae for novices like me with Help like you around >


:t

[BipolarBill]

Oh yeah - the "WD jumper issue" is well known here. It's really easy to miss the fact that no jumpers are used when the drive goes stag. Most people just scan quickly for the Master setting and miss it completely. It's a good thing that the drives are so nice, eh?

Enjoy! :t

[mobiker]

I always just use the cable select and have no problems I have WD hard drives and it seems to work