Laptop hard drive assistance please.

gramps

gramps

Messages
41,855
Name
'Gramps'
Edit My Images
No
I have an old Dell XPS15 L502x (which does everything I want) and a bit over a year ago I swapped things around a bit.
I replaced the previously installed hard drive with an SSD and used the old drive as a 2nd drive, removing the DVD and fitting a caddy for the 2nd drive to fit into.
Everything has worked well and recently I decided to replace the old 2nd drive with a larger one (2TB) so I removed the caddy and swapped the drives over.
I went into Administrative Tools and initialised the new drive and set it up as a simple single volume, then copied all of the contents off the old drive onto the new (2TB) one.

Everything went well but on several occasions since then I have had problems with the laptop seeing either the drive, or its contents.
Sometimes it doesn't see the new drive at all, at other times it sees the drive but not the contents and still other times it sees the drive, sees the folders but not the contents of the folders :thinking:

If I then close down the laptop and restart, pressing F2 (Setup), most times it shows both drives as present and pressing F10 (Save & Exit) seems to solve the problem with both drive, folders and contents being visible and usable ... but next time I power up I'm likely to get the same problem all over again!

Any ideas what could be going on here and what I can do to resolve it.
I would hasten to add that I am not looking to replace the laptop. :)

16GB Ram installed and using Windows 10 Home (up to date).
 
Just thinking. is the processor up to the task with the upgrades. have you tried starting up the computer with the delete button held down to get into the BIOS You may be able to alter some settings there. you can save and exit new settings in it. go into advanced mode top right not shown here But (f7)

kYwDX8L.jpg


and if you got into it under boot heading you can select which drive first (boot option) oln here it is my samsun ssd which is first


PXhBZ1W.jpg


then save new settings on exit
that then should boot your computer onto your main drive ((c) which is what you are after
 
Last edited:
Core i5 processor is fine for everything I do and, as said, setup settings (showing the two drives) are saved before exit each time.
 
Would it be possible to temporarily put the old drive back in the caddy to see if the problem goes away?
 
Tori_T said:
Would it be possible to temporarily put the old drive back in the caddy to see if the problem goes away?
Click to expand...
It would ... if the problem went away what could that mean?
Both drives appear okay and the new one is NEW and it clearly isn't losing any data.
 
It could mean:
There'd been a poor connection between the drive & caddy, or the caddy & lappy.
If it goes away then comes back when the new drive is refitted, there's a possibility of an intermittent drive fault, or some obscure compatibility issue.
 
Thanks, I'll give it a try. :)
 
Oh, if your new drive does continue to play up when replaced, one option may be to swap the SSD and HDD and change the boot order in BIOS to see if that works.
Looking on the net, someone said the L502x doesn't support HDD booting from a caddy, but I couldn't find a definitive answer to that; consider it something to try that may or may not work.
 
gramps said:
It would ... if the problem went away what could that mean?
Both drives appear okay and the new one is NEW and it clearly isn't losing any data.
Click to expand...
Dont be decieved by the drive being new. In general computer components fail on the "bathtub curve" the fail rate is "high" when new and if they get over the first few months theyre usually ok for about 6 years where fault numbers start to rise again.
 
A 40 minute Dell SupportAssist Full Hardware Diagnostic Test has reported everything to have passed ... not sure how significant that is but included both drives passing a 'stress test'.
 
What verion of win 10 are you using?
Right click on the start menu and select system. What is the version no. ? ( Eg. 1709, 1803 .)
 
Last edited:
It might be the connections as Tori says.

I know a few times, I had to format the new drive in an external caddy before using it.
 
Cockney said:
What verion of win 10 are you using?
Right click on the start menu and select system. What is the version no. ? ( Eg. 1706, 1803 .)
Click to expand...

Windows 10 Home 1803
 
ok I had a similar issue a while back on another laptop I had It turned out a lot of cd drive caddies have issues with drives over 500gb
so it could well be a problem with the caddy.
 
gramps said:
Windows 10 Home 1803
Click to expand...
I've seen this before on older win 10 installs randomly not registering drives.

Google and download the latest win10 media creation tool.
Run it.
When it gives you the option select upgrade this pc.
Follow your nose and it will install the latest version. (Docs & data will be safe)
Its highly likely the problem will be cured.
 
Did a forced update to Win 10 and that appears to have resolved the issue, though did need to restore a few thinks like desktop background etc.
 
gramps said:
Did a forced update to Win 10 and that appears to have resolved the issue, though did need to restore a few thinks like desktop background etc.
Click to expand...
Good, glad it sorted for you.
 
I spoke too soon ... switched on this morning and no 2nd drive again :(
Time to get the screwdriver out again ... or hammer!

Update: Removed the 2nd drive and caddy and put the drive into a USB caddy and plugged into USB socket ... works fine (time will tell).
So I have to assume that there is either a fault with the caddy or motherboard connection, or that the Dell XPS l502x doesn't really support a 2TB drive in that slot :thinking:
 
Last edited:
Update:

Repacement caddy arrived this morning so plugged it in and powered up > F2 Setup > great both drives show in the BIOS.
Exit BIOS into Win 10 ... Win 10 doesn't see the 2nd drive and in Admin Tools > Computer Management > Storage, no sign of the 2nd drive :thinking:

Did a bit more Googling and found something about 'USB Emulation' and 'Legacy USB Emulation' maybe causing problems, so "in for a penny, in for a pound". Went back into the BIOS and changed 'USB Emulation' to 'Disabled' and did 'Exit with changes' ... lo and behold quick load of Win 10 and 2nd drive shows and all folders/files fully accessible.
Doubting my good fortune I powered down again to see what would happen with a new power-up ... exactly the same ... straight into Win 10 and no issues whatsoever with 2nd drive! :clap:

I have no idea if this will be a long time solution, or what it has actually done to resolve the problem (anyone any ideas?) but hopefully this has now resolved the issue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top