Okay, got a weird problem 2nite!

Just got in a booted PC up, pressed the on button and went for a slash. Came back the ascreen was totally blank/black. Which is odd as it only usually takes 15 secs or so to get to the normal desktop screen.

So I waited another min or so and still blank - plus no lights on the keyboard. Hmm.

So I turned off and pressed on again. This time, the BIOS page thingy (mine has a Dell screen) took a lot longer to load up and move on than normal. Then I got the DOS looking page that said that Windows didn't boot properly last time and what do I want to do. It also said something about a recent hardware revision or addition. I selected to boot up normally, and again I got blank page.

So I thought I would unplug everything thats plugged in other than screen, mouse and keyboard. First I unplugged my flash card reader (which is ALWAYS plugged in) and nothing changed. Then I unplugged the USB lead from the front USB port that connects to my new USB HDD enclosure. Suddenly the mouse arrow appeard in the middle of the black screen and my desktop booted up. What was odd tho, was that the USB HDD wasn't connected to the USB lead (the lead was connected to the PC, but the HDD wasn't connected to the other end) and nor was the power on for it.

When it did boot up it started doing it's normal things (logging onto Gmail, and doing the AVG update) then I got a pop up thingy to tell me there was "no disk in the drive" (didn't say what disk) and did I want to retry, continue or cancel? I hit cancel. And it has booted up normally.....

I don't get it - whats wrong?

I will probably do a system restore (man I love that thing!!! ) back to Thursday, which was before I installed the USB HDD (tho I say install, I just plugged it in and windows did the rest lol) as that is the ONLY thing I have added since then - no other hardware, software or programmes.....

Any idea's guys?

 

my idea is your idea mate, System restore

That is very strange indeed though, all i can think of is something conflicted that you installed, cant be anything else can it

 

Just about to do the restore now. so shall see what happens later

 

good luck

 

Right done that, and re-installed the USB drive.

So gotta turn it off now and boot it up again, which I'll do later while I am out

 

Nope, did same thing again

This time, I had everything plugged in as normal, but the USB HDD turned off. It sat on blank screen for longer than it should have, and I unplugged the USB lead that goes from PC to HDD. No change. Unplugged the USB lead that goes from flash card reader to USB hub, and a couple seconds after, my desktop screen appeared. But it missed the blue "WELCOME" screen - straight from black/black screen to desktop.

WTF?

I never used to have to uplug the flash card reader before - I don't get it?

 

Ive honestly no idea what to surgest mate

At least its not stopping you from using it or getting on the net, still annoying as you dont know whats caused this

 

How is the HDD configured in the USB unit?

If the BIOS is seeing this as master it MAY try and boot from it.

What I would suggest is press F12 when the Dell screen appears and select HDD from the boot menu and see what happens.

If this does the same, then I would think you have some sort of driver issue with the USB bay.

 

Adrian - the jumper on the HDD in the USB unit is set to CS, but the HDD is never turned on when I boot up So it's not active. also it's never plugged in. The only thing related to it that is plugged in is the USB cable into the PC, but the other end of it isn't actually connected to the USB HDD

For some reason tho, I am thinking the problem lies with my Flash Card reader. It's a USB plug in device which reads a bunch of cards, and also has a 16mb internal flash disk. Never had a problem before with it, but the last time I booted up, I coudln't get the PC to fully boot untill I unplugged the flash card reader

 

Then you may have a disk letter conflict with the card reader and the USB device.

 

Card reader has letters G: H: and I: and the USB HDD is J:

My listed drives;

A: (floppy)
C: (master HDD - IDE)
D: (DVD-RW drive)
E: (DVD-ROM drive)
F: (slave HDD - IDE)
G: (card reader - Compact Flash)
H: (card reader - internal flash / Smartmedia)
I: (card reader - MMC/SD)
J: (USB HDD)

 

thrush if its fooked just pay somebody to do it honestly..but not pc world ..

my pc fixer is a hacker who knows his onions .....

he just copys my porn folders..charges me Ł20

been there done it matey ..wasted hours trying to fix it

ring a mate the man who can fix it "YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE"

 

What are you talking about Of course it's not fooked I've worked through FAR worse probs without paying someone pal......

 

Oh, and I just booted up with no USB devices plugged in and it booted perfectly with no issues.....

So I don't get it lol.....

 

USB drivers?

Deffo sounds like a drivers issue to me rather than hardware.

 

It's very strange Adrian. I just booted up - with ONLY the flash card reader connected (as I always have it) and no other USB thingies plugged in, and it still stuck on black screen untill I unplugged the card reader

It has NEVER done this before, and only does it since the USB HDD is installed - but it don't matter if I boot up with the USB HDD plugged in or not - as long as flash card reader is plugged in, then it gets stuck on black page...

Odd...

 

Did it update the USB drivers when you installed the HDD?

If so, it could be worth reverting back to the originals.

 

Right, even more weird revelations.

The problem appears to be sorted!

I actually did TWO things when I installed the USB HDD. I plugged that in and let it install, and I also re-routed my flash card reader. All I did was put a USB extension cord (that I have used for ages with loads of different things mind) between my flash card reader and the USB hub it is plugged into, so as to be able to route the card reader to the other side of my keyboard.

But, for some inexplicable reason, the PC does not like to boot when the card reader is plugged into the extension cable!!!!!!!!!

I unplugged the cable, plugged the card reader into the hub directly, and it booted absolutely fine. Just to check I left it off all last night and all today (as normal) and just booted up like 10mins ago - absolutely fine.

So the cause of the problem appears to be the extension cable.

So the net question : How in the fuck could an extension cable be a problem?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

There is a posibility that it's drawing too much power from your pwer supply unit, thus causing it not to boot properly.

 

Just by having it on the end of an extension cable tho Dan? It works fine without the cable and has done for YEARS.....

Can you get firmware updated for extension cables?

 

Because it's an exension cable, it will have to draw power over a greater distance, thus, to compensate for that, may draw more power initially. Just a thought m8, could be wrong tho.

 

So would I need a bigger/better PSU then?

 

Been good as gold again now tho, since fucking off the USB extension cable. Beooted up with both the flash card reader and the USB HDD connected (USB HDD not runed on mind) and it booted fine.

Seems the problem must have been the extension cable - weird!