Periodic boot failures prior to Win7

[v35_pilot]

Hello, I am experiencing a periodic desktop computer boot-up issue (pre-Win7 stage, hence the post in the hardware forum) that is somewhat challenging for me to debug. Perhaps someone here has some ideas?

The computer is a recertified Dell XPS 8300, Intel Core i7 running Windows 7 Home Premium x64. BIOS is current. I replaced the main system hard drive with an Intel 120DB SSD, a 320 series model, and I added a RAID card for the two 1TB data drives. As of now I am running RAID 1 for these drives.

About one out of every three boots, the SSD system drive apparently is not detected and the boot fails after the BIOS completes. I have checked power connections and SATA cabling to the SSD by disconnecting and reconnecting to ensure proper connection, but have stopped short of pursuing a replacement for the new SSD, as the Intel diagnostics utility (for when Windows is up) does not seem to indicate any anomalies.

I suppose another concern may be the motherboard itself, and given this computer is under warranty I may look into replacing that, too, but before I do what other debugging options could I try to narrow down the cause?

[Just Plain Fred]

Hello, I am experiencing a periodic desktop computer boot-up issue (pre-Win7 stage, hence the post in the hardware forum) that is somewhat challenging for me to debug. Perhaps someone here has some ideas?

I suppose another concern may be the motherboard itself, and given this computer is under warranty I may look into replacing that, too, but before I do what other debugging options could I try to narrow down the cause?

pilot,
Hello... Do you still have the original HD? (or a spare) If so i would try to replace the SSD, and give it a good workout ...Also When posting does your RAID card show the two 1TB drives as "on board" Regards Fred

[v35_pilot]

pilot,
Hello... Do you still have the original HD? (or a spare) If so i would try to replace the SSD, and give it a good workout ...Also When posting does your RAID card show the two 1TB drives as "on board" Regards Fred

Thank you, Fred, for your time - Actually one of the hard drives became the partner in the RAID1 setup, but that is a good idea. I most likely have a spare SATA HD around somewhere so I could do that.

During initial BIOS posting I do see messages coming from the RAID card BIOS and the messages do show both HDs online and healthy. It is right after those messages that Windows is supposed to kick in but the SSD will sometimes not be available, or so it seems.

[Just Plain Fred]

Pilot,
One other thing .... Did you initially Partition ,or set up your SSD... Might Have a read about "Offsets" Offset Alignment Regards Fred

[v35_pilot]

Pilot,
One other thing .... Did you initially Partition ,or set up your SSD... Might Have a read about "Offsets" Offset Alignment Regards Fred

The SSD was brand new out of the box and I had the Win7 installer do its thing as a brand new install on the SSD. In looking at your provided link I followed the steps to verify the offset and it appears to be correct.

[v35_pilot]

Another perhaps interesting clue: This anomaly does not occur throughout the day if a reboot is needed (say, after a Win7 update is applied and a reboot needed). It only seems to happen after the computer has been off for several hours.

[JoeP517]

See the link at this thread - http://windowssecrets.com/forums/sho...l=1#post810458.

Joe

[v35_pilot]

See the link at this thread - http://windowssecrets.com/forums/sho...l=1#post810458.

Very interesting. Not sure that I am suffering from the exact symptoms mentioned in the article but it does read as if Intel is replacing all 320s being called in. Thus, I am going to call first thing Monday and start that process. Thank you very much for posting it.

Fred - I am still in the process of locating and installing Windows to a traditional SATA drive because I still think that is a valuable troubleshooting tactic. The only impediment is that this affects my office computer, which is used for my remote consulting work during the business day.