On Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:44:10 +0100
Post by Håkan WikströmPost by JT MoreeIt seems that the IDE subsystem in the laptop is dying. Windows won't
boot anymore. The smart subsystem cannot finish running tests on
multiple hard drives and CDrom access takes forever during POST. It's
slow during live CD access I think but it's always slow.
I've considered getting an external USB enclosure for the drive but i
can't get it to boot USB.
I had similar problems a while back. I had very poor disk write performance
and I noticed the disk failed SMART tests more and more often. I put an old
10GB 2.5" disk in it and had no problems so the decision to get a disk
upgrade was easy for me.
Try running a SMART test on the disk (http://smartmontools.sf.net - it can
be run from a bootable CD); a regular quick test will most likely be able to
pinpoint if it is the drive or the controller.
Ever since I bought my R3240US brand new 2.5 years ago I have had
recurring problems with corrupted data. Eventually I discovered that
the problem was the connector on the bottom of the motherboard. The
connector on the hard disk that came with the computer (60 GB, 4200
RPM) did not mesh tightly with the connector on the motherboard. This
was due to just plain rotten design. I bought a new 7200 RPM 80 GB
drive, partly to get something faster, and partly in the hopes that it
would fit better. It did not and I continued to have corrupted data now
and then. I tried inserting pieces of cardboard and wedges, but never
could get a reliable connection. I can't tell you how many times I had
to run fsck to repair the filesystem.
Recently it refused to boot. And when I ran fsck it made a couple
thousand corrections. Afterwards my data appeared to be intact, but I
still couldn't boot the OS (Feisty, amd64). I struggled with it for a
while, then (using 20 GB I had left unformatted) I installed Gutsy,
accessed the old data, copied all my stuff to DVDs, and left the
computer sitting. Then I bought a brand new Lenovo T61, installed
Gutsy amd64, restored all my data, and that is what I am writing this
on.
My R3240 served me reasonably well, but I am not impressed with the
quality of the design or components. I will never buy another HP
laptop. As soon as I get around to it I am going to put the old
original 60 GB drive back into the R3240 and donate it to a local Linux
group. I have a USB enclosure that I can use for the 80 GB drive, which
I will then use as a backup medium or something. I have a couple extra
batteries and an extra power brick that I'll offer here or put on eBay,
since the Linux group won't need them.
If you have problems with the drives it may be the connectors, not the
drives. I would suggest poking around to see if you can access the
connections.