Bios & HDD

[scotty]

I have this Dell I wanted to install the new Fedora on. I have been having problems and was wondering if anybody could offer any suggestions. When I boot the machine it tells me it cant detect the HDD. I enter the bios and it finds the drive and load into my old Red Hat. Every time I reboot this happens. I have checked the drive jumpers I tried a couple of different jumper setting and the one I have now is the only one the bios recognizes.
The bios loads real slow and I flashed it to the latest version. Nothing seems to help.
Thanks in advance.
Scott

[Axewielder]

You might try replacing the CMOS battery on the motherboard

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000239.htm

[DonP]

If every time you power down the BIOS forgets about your hard drive, you need a new CMOS battery as Axewielder says. How old is this Dell? CMOS batteries can last 5 years or longer, depending on your luck.

[scotty]

Thanks for the input. I dont know why I didn't think of this. I pulled the old battery and put a meter on it. It checked out fine. Then I realized someone had put the battery in upside down.
Thanks guys

[thetroy]

Yep, I'm surprised the battery on my PC is still working since I bought it in 2003 and it has seen a lot of use.

[DonP]

Yep, I'm surprised the battery on my PC is still working since I bought it in 2003 and it has seen a lot of use.

I think the battery might charge while the PC is being used. If not, the battery isn't being used when the PC is powered on. The battery just gets used when the PC is off to remember the settings until you power up again.

[thetroy]

I think that's true, but don't most batteries have their lifespans reduced considerably if they're always being ovecharged?

[Spivonious]

I think that's true, but don't most batteries have their lifespans reduced considerably if they're always being ovecharged?

This battery never gets charged; it's just a regular old alkaline.

In computers made within the last 7-8 years, the motherboard always gets power even when the machine is off, as long as the computer stays plugged in. The battery only gets used if the computer is unplugged so the machine can maintain the CMOS information.

[thetroy]

That's what I was thinking might be the case since the board stays lit up as long as the AC cord is connected.

[GTarman68]

*in my best Indian Voice*

Have you tried reloading Windows yet?