# Alienware Area-51 M7700 D900T laptop BIOS wont detect Hard drive



## giecsar

Hi and welcome to OCN. You might wanna fill out your system's specs.
Your laptop is pretty old and it is unclear what is the problem....
Have you tried flashing the BIOS? Most likely the BIOS does not support the new drives so it needs an update.


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## Crooksy

hey, welcome to OCN

fill in your system specs on the control panal. then it will be easier for people to help you


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## murderbymodem

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JordanWillis* 
hey, welcome to OCN

fill in your system specs on the control panal. then it will be easier for people to help you

They were in his post....

Here Justin: http://www.overclock.net/specs.php?do=addsystem
That's what they want you to do so it puts your specs in your signature.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *giecsar* 
Hi and welcome to OCN. You might wanna fill out your system's specs.
Your laptop is pretty old and it is unclear what is the problem....
Have you tried flashing the BIOS? Most likely the BIOS does not support the new drives so it needs an update.

I had him try Parted Magic to format the drive as NTFS, and then try to boot off of the Windows CD and install to the partition, but that still didn't work, so at least we've determined that it isn't a harddrive probelm.

I just searched the Alienware support site and I didn't see anything about Bios updates.

Edit: You did remember to plug the drives into power when you were done swapping them around, right?


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## giecsar

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Redmist* 
They were in his post....

Here Justin: http://www.overclock.net/specs.php?do=addsystem
That's what they want you to do so it puts your specs in your signature.

I had him try Parted Magic to format the drive as NTFS, and then try to boot off of the Windows CD and install to the partition, but that still didn't work, so at least we've determined that it isn't a harddrive probelm.

I just searched the Alienware support site and I didn't see anything about Bios updates.

Edit: You did remember to plug the drives into power when you were done swapping them around, right?

Dang, I hate companies who don't provide updates! System builders usually put custom-made motherboards inside the computers so it is critical they provide software updates & support.







Alienware...


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## murderbymodem

Quote:


Originally Posted by *giecsar* 
Dang, I hate companies who don't provide updates! System builders usually put custom-made motherboards inside the computers so it is critical they provide software updates & support.







Alienware...

I saw plenty of drivers, but I didn't see anything about Bios updates. I only took a quick glance as I was in Animation class, I'll do some more thourgh searching later.


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## JDAlicea09

yeah, I can't say I'm too fond of Alienware myself, but it was a free 4k hand-me-down from a friend so I can't complain ^.^;

The laptop is 3 years old, and unfourtunatly, my friend is more the e-peen gamer type then the type to actually pay attention to the specs of his comp so I have no idea the real specs of the laptop.. All I can offer is what the BIOS tells me.

Too afraid to dissect the laptop, I'm more of a software person, not a hardware person...yet

EDIT: Got my friend's user name and password for Alienware support, Alienware themselves won't help me, but at least I have the specs in full. Signature updated!


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## Skullzaflare

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JDAlicea09* 
yeah, I can't say I'm too fond of Alienware myself, but it was a free 4k hand-me-down from a friend so I can't complain ^.^;

The laptop is 3 years old, and unfourtunatly, my friend is more the e-peen gamer type then the type to actually pay attention to the specs of his comp so I have no idea the real specs of the laptop.. All I can offer is what the BIOS tells me.

Too afraid to dissect the laptop, I'm more of a software person, not a hardware person...yet

EDIT: Got my friend's user name and password for Alienware support, Alienware themselves won't help me, but at least I have the specs in full. Signature updated!

it about 5 years old








3 years ago alienware had pentium m's and nvidia 6600gt's

yes, alienware support will not do jack for you, trust me i have been up that road

have you tried only running 1 harddrive? and not using this fastreack software?


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## JDAlicea09

Yes I have, I tried running it in ATA mode with the SeaGate 120GB. In ATA mode, FastTrack only detects the HD, it doesn't "do" anything to it. I've formatted the HD using PartedMagic and a Western Digital Utility Disc (which did say it successfully formatted it) but it still doesnt detect the HD in the BIOS or Windows installation. Also, the laptop is 3 years old, I have on the Support Site said the order was placed on 08/23/2005

All steps I've done from start to finish is elaborated in detail in my OP


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## Skullzaflare

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JDAlicea09* 
Yes I have, I tried running it in ATA mode with the SeaGate 120GB. In ATA mode, FastTrack only detects the HD, it doesn't "do" anything to it. I've formatted the HD using PartedMagic and a Western Digital Utility Disc (which did say it successfully formatted it) but it still doesnt detect the HD in the BIOS or Windows installation. Also, the laptop is 3 years old, I have on the Support Site said the order was placed on 08/23/2005

All steps I've done from start to finish is elaborated in detail in my OP

hmm, late order lol

hmm, go on the alienware site, under drivers, lok for that laptop and see if there is a driver for harddrive, or controller

xp may not have built in drivers for the chip they use
do you have a vista disc? if so, load it up and see if it can see the harddrives

wait, bios doesnt see the harddrives?


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## JDAlicea09

Quote:

hmm, late order lol

hmm, go on the alienware site, under drivers, lok for that laptop and see if there is a driver for harddrive, or controller

xp may not have built in drivers for the chip they use
do you have a vista disc? if so, load it up and see if it can see the harddrives

wait, bios doesnt see the harddrives?
Ahh yes, I forgot to mention in my OP that I attempted to install Windows 7 Beta to the laptop and 7 didn't detect my hard drive(s) either.

I went to the Alienware support site and i found:

Promise Non-RAID Controller Driver 1.00.0.29

Promise RAID Controller Driver 1.00.1.37

unfourtunate part is I dont have an antique known as a Floppy Disc so I can't use these atm, if they'd even help at all.

During the Xp installation it says "Press F6 to install Third-Party RAID or SCSI Drivers" but when I press F6 nothing happens and it just skips right by it. I press F2 at the Recovery option and it goes right to it...


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## Skullzaflare

Quote:



Originally Posted by *JDAlicea09*


Ahh yes, I forgot to mention in my OP that I attempted to install Windows 7 Beta to the laptop and 7 didn't detect my hard drive(s) either.

I went to the Alienware support site and i found:

Promise Non-RAID Controller Driver 1.00.0.29

Promise RAID Controller Driver 1.00.1.37

unfourtunate part is I dont have an antique known as a Floppy Disc so I can't use these atm, if they'd even help at all.

During the Xp installation it says "Press F6 to install Third-Party RAID or SCSI Drivers" but when I press F6 nothing happens and it just skips right by it. I press F2 at the Recovery option and it goes right to it...


good, there is drivers for it then

ok, windows 7 you can use a usb drive to use the drivers

otherwise for XP, you will need to download a program called Nlite
use it to integrate the drivers, then you dont need to press f6 during load, it will auto detect the drivers (assuming this is the problem)

but of course i forgot again
you said bios doesnt detect the harddrive. that alone strikes me as odd


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## JDAlicea09

Yup, the BIOS doesn't detect the HD is even there. On the Main screen it shows

IDE 0 Optical Drive [CD-ROM]

IDE 1 Optical Drive [None]

No talk of detected HD, but in the boot order menu, it shows there is a HD there, I have what it says on my OP in ATA mode. I don't recall what it labeled it under RAID mode, something by the name of Array whatever, but yup.

Completely mind-boggles me as well, thats why I've come down to the BIOS may need to be reset, but RedMist urged me to post on here to see what information I could learn from you guys.

I will try the program you suggested Skullz, I let you know the results


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## Skullzaflare

Quote:



Originally Posted by *JDAlicea09*


Yup, the BIOS doesn't detect the HD is even there. On the Main screen it shows

IDE 0 Optical Drive [CD-ROM]

IDE 1 Optical Drive [None]

No talk of detected HD, but in the boot order menu, it shows there is a HD there, I have what it says on my OP in ATA mode. I don't recall what it labeled it under RAID mode, something by the name of Array whatever, but yup.

Completely mind-boggles me as well, thats why I've come down to the BIOS may need to be reset, but RedMist urged me to post on here to see what information I could learn from you guys.

I will try the program you suggested Skullz, I let you know the results


AH, so originally it was in a raid setup, thats why you seen a array name
anyway, it may not show the hdd's on post, but if it shows it in boot order, it detects it

so then it should just be a driver issue then


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## JDAlicea09

I hope so, I get out of school in about 5 minutes, Ill get right on Nlite when I get home.


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## Jarky

Hi there. I was thinking that you may want to try an Ubuntu Linux install to see if can go through the process entirely. If it passes, you know the hardware is mostly sound, and if it fails -- it's not some Windows specific-issue.

You were able to have the drive(s) appear properly in BIOS at one time to attempt a windows install, right?

I do think that Skullz has you on the right track with the promise-IDE controller driver w/install, but if still have problems after that try an Ubuntu install (8.10).


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## murderbymodem

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JDAlicea09* 
I hope so, I get out of school in about 5 minutes, Ill get right on Nlite when I get home.

Nlite is awesome, basically you make a disc image of your windows install and use nLite to integrate service packs or drivers into it.

I can do that for you if you can't figure it out








Heck if this thing isn't fixed by next weekend I'll probably have you drop it off at my house and spend my weekend getting this damn thing working lol

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jarky* 
Hi there. I was thinking that you may want to try an Ubuntu Linux install to see if can go through the process entirely. If it passes, you know the hardware is mostly sound, and if it fails -- it's not some Windows specific-issue.

You were able to have the drive(s) appear properly in BIOS at one time to attempt a windows install, right?

I do think that Skullz has you on the right track with the promise-IDE controller driver w/install, but if still have problems after that try an Ubuntu install (8.10).

Like I said, Parted Magic detected the drive and successfully formatted it. Parted Magic is a Linux Live CD for partitioning, so if it saw it then I'm sure Ubuntu would see it as well and install just fine.


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## Jarky

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Redmist* 
Like I said, Parted Magic detected the drive and successfully formatted it. Parted Magic is a Linux Live CD for partitioning, so if it saw it then I'm sure Ubuntu would see it as well and install just fine.

Well, the reason I suggested it was to further test the system as it sounds like he was swapping out ram and disabling card-readers in bios, etc. My point was to try another OS if things were kosher.


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## JDAlicea09

lmao i am an idiot. I figured id try he USB method by putting the controller driver on a FD and installing XP, and when I got to the partition list, it said it saw a available partition... i got so excited i didnt read... it was my flash drive....

But this is MAJOR progress, I now know its not a BIOS issue, but as skullz said its a driver problem... more to come


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## murderbymodem

This will tell you everything you need to know about using nLite.


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## Skullzaflare

Quote:



Originally Posted by *JDAlicea09*


lmao i am an idiot. I figured id try he USB method by putting the controller driver on a FD and installing XP, and when I got to the partition list, it said it saw a available partition... i got so excited i didnt read... it was my flash drive....

But this is MAJOR progress, I now know its not a BIOS issue, but as skullz said its a driver problem... more to come


usb doesnt work on XP, only vista and windows 7
XP requires floppy or built in


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## Higgins

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Skullzaflare* 
usb doesnt work on XP, only vista and windows 7
XP requires floppy or built in

He meant he left his USB flash drive plugged in and windows read it as a HDD.

There should be a setting in the BIOS to "Load optimal defaults" if not, removing the CMOS battery should be straight forward.

Open up the laptop from a maintinance manual on the alienware website (if they have one). Laptop batteries are attached to a two wire plug for ease of access so it will most likely be in a bright colored heat wrap covering. Unplug it and remove the battery for 30 seconds, plug everything in and boot, and it should say it was reset.


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## Skullzaflare

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Higgins* 
He meant he left his USB flash drive plugged in and windows read it as a HDD.

There should be a setting in the BIOS to "Load optimal defaults" if not, removing the CMOS battery should be straight forward.

Open up the laptop from a maintinance manual on the alienware website (if they have one). Laptop batteries are attached to a two wire plug for ease of access so it will most likely be in a bright colored heat wrap covering. Unplug it and remove the battery for 30 seconds, plug everything in and boot, and it should say it was reset.

yes, but i was replying to this part
"I figured id try he USB method by putting the controller driver on a FD and installing XP"


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## JDAlicea09

yeah, learned that through experience...but now there is another error

Using Nlite (pretty sure I used it right) I integrated the drivers into the XP installation, but no go. Still doesnt detect a hard drive


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## murderbymodem

Quote:



Originally Posted by *JDAlicea09*


yeah, learned that through experience...but now there is another error

Using Nlite (pretty sure I used it right) I integrated the drivers into the XP installation, but no go. Still doesnt detect a hard drive


Copy the XP CD to you harddrive, open in nLite, integrate the drivers, save as .iso file, and burn to a new blank CD?

Which drivers did you integrate?
I'm pretty sure you should be using the FastTrak 100 drivers from http://www.promise.com/support/downl...wnload_eng.asp


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## JDAlicea09

did all that and burned it to a disc as an ISO, i integrated the:

7700_NonRAID_1.00.0.29

AND for the hell of it

7700_RAID_1.00.1.37

go all through the driver loading and at the point when the partition list is supposed to show, the no hd screen shows instead


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## murderbymodem

I think I hit the jackpot:
http://www.promise.com/upload/Suppor...TX2-TX2000.pdf

http://www.promise.com/support/downl...ios&os=0&go=GO

http://www.promise.com/support/downl...ver&os=0&go=GO

First link is troubleshooting tips, be sure to read that, the next one is a Bios update, which I'm not sure how you would go about applying, and 3rd is the driver.


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## JDAlicea09

hmmm ill look into that, but one quicky question...

how would you go about transfering drivers to a floppy disc?


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## Skullzaflare

Quote:



Originally Posted by *JDAlicea09*


hmmm ill look into that, but one quicky question...

how would you go about transfering drivers to a floppy disc?


copy paste, then when the f6 thing comes up, click f6, then wait


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## JDAlicea09

oh.. didnt reilize it was that east lol thanks ^^

Ill be picking up a floppy disc tomorrow


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## murderbymodem

You can try integrating those drivers I linked to and see if it will work without a Bios update. It looks the the Bios is mostly for adding support for harddrives over 137gb, and your 120gb drive wasn't being detected either.


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## JDAlicea09

now I havent actually tried to use these drivers RedMist posted, but looking over them, I noticed that the FastTrack BIOS version is at least version 2, the BIOS version on mine is 1.00.0.33. The only way I can update it is by flashing the updated drivers... through Windows. The site says I would have to reinstall windows, but I need to get it on there first before i can! Im kinda puzzled


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## JDAlicea09

All drivers integrated with Nlite and it did not work.... i guess my last option before i say screw it and pass it on is Floppy


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## JDAlicea09

SOLVED!!!

The laptop is up and running. Sorry for the long silence, but the driver pulled from the Alienware website put onto a floppy disc allowed the HD to be detected in the partition list. Thanks for all those who participated in helping me get this bad boy working again!


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## wirelesschip

JDAlicea09 can u provide me with the link for the working drivers please im stuck with this computer for a while man help me out thanks!!!


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## Joe_Hesser

I have all the stock driver disks for my M7700 what drivers do you need ?


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## ben3

Quote:


Originally Posted by *JDAlicea09* 
SOLVED!!!

The laptop is up and running. Sorry for the long silence, but the driver pulled from the Alienware website put onto a floppy disc allowed the HD to be detected in the partition list. Thanks for all those who participated in helping me get this bad boy working again!

Please send a link to the driver which solved your problem. I'm having the same identical problem.

Thanks


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## ludnix

I am having this same issue, if you could please post the drivers you used it would be great!


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## eckoii

Of course one more person with the same issue to add to the list. Gotta love Alienware! Anyone have any updates?


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## -Muggz-

I just wanted to note how sickening it is that someone spends an ungodly amount of money for a product after which they have no intention of troubleshooting or helping.

Glad to see it has been resolved.

Whats even more sad, is everyone helps troubleshoot for free here. You didnt have to buy a $4000 pc from OCN to receive help.

Id be willing to spend some of my own money to make sure the buying public understands of why not to buy from these snakes.


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## ludnix

I haven't been able to try using an external flobby disk, but I tried install vista and win7 using a DVD and USB with the drivers with no luck. I find it odd that it's a driver issue when not even ubuntu or any other linux software can even find a harddrive. I've tried multiple harddrives with no luck so either I do infact need the correct driver, or I need to replace the motherboard / harddrive cable.


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## murderbymodem

I'll ask JDAlicea to pop on here and explain how he fixed it tomorrow when I see him at school.


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## JDAlicea09

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ludnix* 
I haven't been able to try using an external flobby disk, but I tried install vista and win7 using a DVD and USB with the drivers with no luck. I find it odd that it's a driver issue when not even ubuntu or any other linux software can even find a harddrive. I've tried multiple harddrives with no luck so either I do infact need the correct driver, or I need to replace the motherboard / harddrive cable.

I also in my desperate attempts to get the laptop working tried to install Windows 7, but unfortunatly that was a no go as well. I tried looking for Vista compatable drivers to install Windows 7, but if they exsist at all for just generic download, the ONLY way i see getting Vista drivers for the D900T is Driver Detective which I have done before and it says it does find drivers, but that costs money.

I did also find it hard to believe that its a simple driver issue that prevents everything from detecting the HD, but sadly thats the case









I wouldn't doubt their is another method to getting this laptop to work again, but the only way I know FOR SURE will work is using a USB Floppy Disc drive with the RAID driver pulled from the link i have in my original post. Take yourself to a Best Buy Geek Squad and see if you can bum a USB Floppy Disc drive real fast just to install Windows, even if they charge you $5 I don't see why they wouldnt help you out. Just don't seem clueless about what your doing or they might try to bag you for more.

For all previous posts and future posts about the link to the drivers I used, please refer to my original post at the very bottom of the post at my **EDIT** queue for directions.


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## ludnix

Thanks for replying JDAlicea09, I'll get a hold of a USB floppy drive and stick and give XP a try. I'll be sure to post back if I have any success.


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## Vietblood315

omg im so glad i found this lol
all i need now is a floppy disk
i hope i get this computer working again


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## Spike501

Found this thread and got excited. Bought a cheap USB floppy drive and tried the above mentioned solution. I tried loading both the RAID and Non-RAID on separate attempts to no success with known working HD's both singly and paired. Any other suggestions or questions as to my system or attempts? I am getting desparate and am thinking of parting it out on e-bay.









Thanks


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## Dr. Crypto

This is the same laptop as one of my Alienwares.

You are going to need the Promise non-RAID driver. I had the same issues when I bought a new drive for the system.

Also, make sure that you have set the jumpers as specified for two drives.

You don't have to log in to use this link:

http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/a...i=&p_topview=1

Regards;

Crypto


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## andy h

One of the most frustrating things with the alienware d900t is its inability to *find hard drives*







.
One reason for this is the graphics card if you get *operating system not found* or if you get *scanning id* followed by a series of *â€¦..* Then chances are itâ€™s the graphic card







. I often have to remove the graphic card cover and apply pressure to the heat sink to get the ruddy thing to work







. The graphic card is located front left of the hard drive next to the *caution hot surfaces*. Try this before going to the expense of replacing the hard drive


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## brainshop

I am having the exact same problem with my m7700. I was wondering if you could post the exact procedure and steps that remedied the problem. I have read through the entire blog and am trying to figure it out, unfortunately, I am not much of a computer repair guy (as this is the first time I have actually tried to fix one), so a lot of this is like a foreign language to me. Any help would be greatly appreciated!


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## blazingood

Hi all, joined specifically to post on this thread.

I too inherited a D900t from a friend who had nothing but problems with it. One of the issues he had was the HDD issue mentioned several times in this thread. Luckily the first time he had the issue the machine was still in warrentee so it got returned (at his cost) and they replaced the motherboard.

Go forward 3 months and the same issue happens again, anyway long story short it was no longer covered for repair. He tried all he could to get it functioning but ultimately gave up. This is the point i got the non functioning machine.

I made numerous enquiries to companies and eventually found one called goldenstarUK which is Clevos repair agent. I called them and described the problem and explained that the first time it happend Alienware replaced the MoBO. They said to send the machine to them which I did. They offer a diagnostic service before any repair (around Â£50 if i recall correctly) and gave a breakdown of the costs before proceeding.

They were able to repair the Motherboard instead of replacing and they also provided a Battery for the machine which it had previously not had. I think the cost in the end was around Â£250 which for a Â£3500 laptop was considerably better than the Â£700 Alienware wanted to replace the MoBo again.

Clevo seem to have a few repair centers about http://www.clevo.com.tw/en/about/worlds_s.asp

If you have exhausted all possibe software/user replaceable options then this might be your best option. I tried so many things including xp that booted from a CD rom disc but nothing worked as the hardware itself was faulty.

The laptop os still going strong, infact I am using it right now to write this post on Vista ultimate 32 bit









Hope this can help others that are having difficulty with their machines.

Cheers


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## JDAlicea09

lol im suprised after all this time, people are still having problems with this fossil

Now since it was a length of time ago i will try my best to remember step by step the correct procedure to pull this off

1.) Make sure in BIOS the multicard reader is disabled
2.)Connect any HD that fits the laptop
3.)On another computer, refer to my OP for the link to recieve the driver
4.) Attach portable floppy disc drive, insert floppy disc, and copy over the folder DLed from alienware
5.) Make sure the drive is connected to the alienware, organize the BOOT Order to put CD-ROM drive first, then USB Floppy second
6.) Press F6 before it starts loading all the built-in drivers and select your driver to load into the setup, continue, and your HD should appear in the list

Sorry if this isnt as in-depth as some would like, I honestly completly forget the exact order on how i got it to work considering during the time i tried 80,000 different ways


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## brainshop

Thank you soooo much! I will try this this weekend, as soon as I am off work.


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## ramcharger

Ok guys...I am new to this forum and i need your help

I am having same issues with my m7700.exact same config of the OP

i read all the replies and they were extremely useful but still my Hard drives are not detected...Its not showing up in the POST or boot menu...

i checked with 2 hard drives WD 80GB and 250GB...all i need is to tun the laptop with the 80GB hard drive

These are what i tried
1. followed instruction by OP and others and disabled the card reader
2. it goes to loading files but cannot detect the hard drives
3. slip streamed the drivers ( mentioned in the link before from alienware website) as well as using usb floppy
4. the only thing i couldn't do is run both raid and non raid drivers from floppy. i saved the drivers in 2 different floppies but the setup checks only the first one i insert
5. checked with 2 cables, 2 hard drives

i don't know what else to do!!
please advice


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## shawn012507

Guys the key is in the boot order, if you dont have that right nothing will work including having the the correct drivers(http://support.alienware.com/Support...anu=8&item=831). So all in all, you need floppy drive with floppy disk, load the drivers above on disk via another computer, plug the floppy disk before you turn on the computer, press f2 to tweak the boot order, save and exit. Once it starts to load it will say to press f6 to load drivers, press it. Select the WINSATA or whatever it is and continue. Like i said its all in the boot order.

The boot order should look like this.

1.cd drive
2. usb floppy
3sata hardrive

If that doesnt work, try different configurations of the listed above.


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## Cieb

anyone been able to fix this issue yet? ive read about 10 separate forums on this about this issue and haven't really seen anyone fix it =(

-ive done just about everything that ive read from this forums and other
-ive tried booting from floppy using both
7700_NonRAID_1.00.0.29 & 7700_RAID_1.00.1.37
-ive tried using nlite and had no luck
-ive got the same HDD that was in there before
-Both HHD work great and im able to use them on another computer just fine
-ive change the boot order
-ive reset the cmos
-ive used one hdd at a time

-at this point point im at a lose for what todo
-i have a BIOS v146 1.00.04 Phoenix

-i haven't update the bios because.. well havent been able to find the correct bios
-i have this for the http://www.eurocom.com/support/drive...D900t_bios.htm
-im not able to download the newist update because it require a username
-even if i had the user name and password i dont think i can update past bio i have

-i also think after reading a lot of the forum etc about people not really being able to get the HDD reading that it might just be that my SATA RAID Controller has gone out .. but theres no way to check that

-


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## skateduck

to all who suffer from this laptop; i have worked months and finally have defeated the beast.

this is how it is done;

hardware: you must buy an external smart floppy drive; about 15 dollars ebay
you must buy an external laptop hard drive housing from apricorn

software: you must download the non-raid drivers from alienware

now you are ready to begin:

download the promise non raid to a floppy;
go to bios and set to ata and put floppy in top of boot order followed by cd rom drive
now restart and hit key to boot from windows cd
hit f6 for external scsi floppy
when you get the prompt then load the promise drivers and continue
then you eventually get prompt that you cannot load the promise drivers and the windows install may not function; just skip the loading of the drivers and install windows anyhow.

you then restart and get the blue screen of death;

now you must remove the hard drive from your laptop and insert it into your external drive house; and go to another computer and install the house to it and find the drive in my computer; and then drag the promise drivers on to the hard drive and place them in system folder, system 32 folder, and alienware folder.

now put the hard drive back in laptop and let her start---have windows cd in drive but do not touch anything; it will automatically take you to windows install; sit back and enjoy the next 39 minutes and say skateduck i luv yu.

ok, now you are ready to download all the drivers from your alienware "hive" for this laptop otherwise nothing will work including the internet; use another computer to do this and load and save on a thumb drive.

then take thumb drive to transfer the downloads from the live computer to your laptop; just find the setup exe file in each download to install them.

good luck


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## skateduck

excuse


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## skateduck

to all who suffer from this laptop; i have worked months and finally have defeated the beast.

this is how it is done;

hardware: you must buy an external smart floppy drive; about 15 dollars ebay
you must buy an external laptop hard drive housing from apricorn

software: you must download the non-raid drivers from alienware

now you are ready to begin:

download the promise non raid to a floppy;
go to bios and set to ata and put floppy in top of boot order followed by cd rom drive
now restart and hit key to boot from windows cd
hit f6 for external scsi floppy
when you get the prompt then load the promise drivers and continue
then you eventually get prompt that you cannot load the promise drivers and the windows install may not function; just skip the loading of the drivers and install windows anyhow.

you then restart and get the blue screen of death;

now you must remove the hard drive from your laptop and insert it into your external drive house; and go to another computer and install the house to it and find the drive in my computer; and then drag the promise drivers on to the hard drive and place them in system folder, system 32 folder, and alienware folder.

now put the hard drive back in laptop and let her start---have windows cd in drive but do not touch anything; it will automatically take you to windows install; sit back and enjoy the next 39 minutes and say skateduck i luv yu.

ok, now you are ready to download all the drivers from your alienware "hive" for this laptop otherwise nothing will work including the internet; use another computer to do this and load and save on a thumb drive.

then take thumb drive to transfer the downloads from the live computer to your laptop; just find the setup exe file in each download to install them.

good luck


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## stuntronic

This is going to be shorter than it should, but the couple page long post i just wrote got deleted... shaping up to be a great day.

anyway ive been working on this fossil about 48 hours, ive finally got post AND bios to pick up the drive (bios reads it as sata 738 something on pci scsi) but windows is still giving me problems. i load the promise non raid controller via usb fdc and at partition select it says "setup cannot access this disk" if i press enter it further tells me:

Setup cannot install to the selected partition.
You can only install to GPT disks on IA-64 machines and MBR disks on X-86 machines.
You can only upgrade installations on GPT disks on IA-64 machines and MBR disks on X-86 machines.
To go back to the previous screen press ENTER

if i press D it tells me:

"setup is unable to perform the requested operation on the selected partition. This partition contains temporary Setup files that are required to complete the installation."

I have formatted the drive and deleted the partition, on another live computer it says its formatted MBR which makes sense, its an x86 os on an x86 system.

this is just one drive btw, no jumper (2.5" pata ide 160gb) and an x86 XP os.

skateduck could you please write out the exact paths of the directories you placed the alienware promise drivers in? C:\system\ etc i havent tried that yet.

also if anyone knows about laptop jumpers please chime in, google is yielding little in the way of results


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## stuntronic

more info: using the floppy; card reader disabled.
in post, the hdd size is incorrectly displayed 800gb or something like that, maybe 80 it goes to fast to count all the digits.. bios doesnt display a size as im sure youre all aware, but the windows install displays it has 215gb when it says setup cannot access this disk.

i just partitioned the drive into 2 50gb partitions and 50 unpartitioned, one labeled one unlabeled, windows isnt doing anything different though same errors and same erroneous 215gb size listed.

the drive works fine in the other computer, in fact i installed windows xp (with the floppy promise controller) on the live laptop im using right now to post this.


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## ale_jandro

mine have the same issues of the above problems but it doesn't see the CD Rom as well please please someone help me


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## ale_jandro

has anybody been able to fix this problem? its happening to me too and its driving me crazy please help me


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## alias 86

ok i'm trying to "reflash this MB bios" as its faulty could be the chip or software but with out flahing it i m not sure. can it be done?


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## Skizit

again I am someone with the same laptop same problem. I was playing warcraft 3 one day and my game froze. thought nothing of it so I rebooted. It came back up and said "no operating system found" after more than a year of buying new hard drives and flashing bios etc I have run out of options. I have spent several hours reading this thread and trying everything in it on my own laptop but I still cannot get the bios nor the windows xp install to recognize a harddrive. also tried linux installs and the hirens boot cd. still nothing sees a hdd of any sort

my last attempt at this was buying a brand new harddrive. i purchased a sata ssd and the proper adapter to convert sata to 2.5'' ide. unfortunately this did not fit in the factory casing. it can however be modified to safely fit. i would be willing to attempt cutting on a $4000 laptop IF i can get the new drive to properly install windows xp. i do not want vista, i do not want windows 7 or 8 etc. this pc will have windows xp and ubuntu 10.x dual booted. but unfortunately im at the end of the rope and i cannot figure out what else to do see the drives

till i get my system specs updated here they are.

standard alienware d900t
added ram to get 3gb
everything else is factory except the hdd


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## pishta

Put Promise ATA and RAID drivers on a USB---

OK, I brought my Clevo D900T (Alienware M7700, M-conn Phantom, etc) back from the dead over the past few weeks and had LOTS of time to get it back on the road. I have 2 SATA 120Gb drives in raid 0 (striped) and I was able to get the machine to build a 240Gb array using the BIOS RAID setting (F2 at boot) and disabling the card reader, then the CNTRL-F button to get into the Promise SATA378 TX+ controller. I used the 1 option to automatically build the array from the 2 disks, easy enough. I told it to create and initialize (or whatever that option is using the Y option) easy enough. So I reboot and the BIOS detects a 240GB array so onto WIN install...but Im installing WIN7! Soooo it asks for a driver to access the hard disk controller, and I have them on a USB drive already along with all the other Clevo D900T drivers. I point it to the USB RAID folder and then to the XP folder. It comes up with the SATA378 ATA driver and the Fast track TX RAID driver, I choose the RAID driver. IT starts to load and load....and then returns to the screen. It doesnt like the RAID driver. So I revert the BIOS to ATA mode and do it all over again. Now it recognizes the 120's and starts to install. I get everything working (including sound!) from the Clevo XP drivers after choosing the 3rd .inf file in the sound folder (it wants to upgrade the sound driver after you get it up and working but dont do it, itll break the driver) Even the wifi was working. So I decide to do a backup/restore to a 32 GB USB after I get the RAID array up again. FAIL! I Image the drive to the USB (make the USB a network drive, only way it will write to a USB, know MS says it can be done but they also say it cant be done in the same document???) so I tell the restore disk to look to the network J drive and it cant find it...? Well, I give up and try to reinstall win7 from a boot disk. Now when it asks for the controller driver, NONE WORK! Not even the one I had working 3 days ago. I have 8 different versions of the RAID and ATA drivers (different release numbers) and none work. I think I may have nuked the Promise chip? So Im looking for the Promise BIOS flasher floppy file to reflash my controller back to 1.0.0.22 as I heard thats one that worked. I have 1.0.0.31 now and I can tell you it doesnt. Im downloading XP again and will throw the latest Debian linux build onto it again, worked great and it even had sound which workied in only 1 other linux build, Puppy 5.7. I love the huge laptop but the way they did the HD controller sucks. might just throw 1 SSD in it and live off the net, if I get it working again. other option is to get WIN7 installed on a drive and swap it into this machine and then fix MBR, boot to safe mode, shutdown and restart and build the drivers up again. Sloppy but its worked before.


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