Seriously? I just can't win. (Laptop help needed.)
6I open my laptop this morning to play some games. I was playing it last night, no problem. I remember Windows popped up with a message that it was going to restart last night to install updates.
This morning, open the lid, no bootable devices found.
No, I don’t have a boot disk. (Yes, I already know that’s fucking stupid. Please give me a break. I haven’t owned a computer in a really long time.)
I try F1, F10, Del, whatever other buttons the internet tells me try to. It says the same thing, checking media, then no bootable device found.
According to the internet, since it’s a Dell, (please give me a break on this as well, someone gave it to me since they were no longer using it.) My HD connection most likely came loose and I have to take it apart and plug it back in firmly.
Before I start ripping it apart, anything else I should try?
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I have no advice, but oh dear, and good luck!!!
Which OS? and model number may help…
@mikibell thanks.
Windows 10, and is an Inspiron 15-3537
@RiotDemon I know that I read an article about Microsoft bricking different acer hardware… but I think it was 7 or 8 that did it… thus the detailed question…
@jbartus @dashcloud @placidpenguin anyone have any ideas? (I know there are more techy people, but those are the people who came to mind)…
I totally forgot to blame @ELUNO for this.
@RiotDemon I accept the blame.
Ask again later
In exchange, I attempt to curse with the Geek Squad Goat. You will fix your laptop within the next 7 hours.
/8ball Does the curse take effect?
@ELUNO
Cannot predict now
/8ball Stupid 8 ball! Answer me!
@ELUNO
Outlook good
/8ball How about now?
Wait, so when pressing F1, DEL, etc when booting up, it didn’t take you to the BIOS screen?
@ELUNO it didn’t until I held the button down. It just retried to boot.
From dell support forum:
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/software-os/f/4997/t/19651115
I just ran into this very issue after my Dell laptop, which came with Win10, no longer booted (no bootable device found). Mine was directly after the Dell Update Utility installed a new Bios.
After the first panic, I restarted and pressed F12. There were two categories of booting: Legacy and UEFI. I decided to go with UEFI, which is a more modern approach to BIOS. The system booted!
I restarted, went into the BIOS (F2) and changed, in the boot section, from Legacy to UEFI to permanently remedy the situation.
Now, not all computers have the new UEFI mode, but they do and you run into a “no bootable device found”, you may want to check this. No guarantees as your situation may be different…
@mikibell Yup. That should be it!
@mikibell already in UEFI option.
As an update, I did manage to get into the bios, and it says:
Fixed HDD [Not Detected]
@RiotDemon Hmm :S. Try taking out the hard drive and putting it in again? Maybe it is loose? You shouldn’t need to open the whole thing. (depending on the model I guess.) It is usually just a screw or two that opens a small compartment underneath it or to the side.
@ELUNO looking it up now. I’ve done it before on a different lap top… Only to accidentally burn out the motherboard later in the day playing something too intense for it… So I’m a little leery.
@RiotDemon @ELUNO
/image leeks on a boat
Weird that it happened right after an update, but on the plus side hard drives are user replaceable. So, if if a loose connection is the problem, it’s relatively easy to fix.
The last two DELL hdd replacements I did had no access door on the bottom. Had to open the clamshell. Kind of annoying, but there are some pretty good instructions out there. Tricky parts were releasing the keyboard clips, and releasing two different styles of ribbon cable clips without breaking anything. Watch the videos before prying on things and you’ll be OK.
@walarney That sounds like the 9530’s… we have a bunch of them in our org and the techs make angry faces every time they have to pop one open. Buncha little torx screws just to get to the RAM / HDD
Dell wants to give me anxiety, I swear.
Took out the HD, put it back in.
Turned computer back on. Still has the black screen saying checking media and after a few very long seconds it says, Failed.
However, after what it seemed like forever, it is now “working on updates”
So it’s working.
Hooray!
Thanks everyone.
@RiotDemon
I don’t like that your system did that. You might google the prob in case it’s recurring.
@f00l when I looked at the hdd, there was a tiny tiny gap, so it had shifted.
I probably need to not be so rough when putting the laptop down on the couch.
@RiotDemon I would be shocked if a shifting drive was the root of your issue, sad to say. There really isn’t enough travel allowed in a properly secured drive to separate it far enough from a SATA connector to fail to connect. Were screws missing?!
I would strongly recommend going into the boot selection menu, going to diagnostics, and getting at minimum a SMART test done on the drive.
This is one of those issues that I would insist on replacing the drive for on a client’s computer to eliminate a factor because it’s just so bizarre. A new 2.5" drive can be had for around $50 these days depending on capacity, a bit more and you could go SSD if you like.
@jbartus apparently from what I was searching, Dell laptops are notorious for the hdd getting loose.
@RiotDemon what kind of storage medium do you have. Solid state, hard drive or hybrid. We ran into a bad batch of hybrid drives at work.
@sohmageek just a hard drive.
@RiotDemon FWIW- If yours is the sort that has a screw to hold the drive in place (either on a mounted sled or through the drive like some m.2/SSDs)…
A little blue locktite on the screw may help prevent it from working itself free.
Also, I would definitely take the extra time to run a utility to check the SMART status of the drive… a quick google led here:
http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html
@RiotDemon as I stated, it would have to have been blatantly loose, not a “tiny tiny gap” for that to really make sense as the issue. When you opened the compartment was there not a screw(s) holding the drive in place? The conductors on a SATA connector are around a quarter of an inch long, for a drive to lose connectivity it would have to be loose enough to come loose from the connector further than 1/4 of an inch.
awesome that you fixed it…
Here is how to make a boot disk though…
Another option would be to boot from a recovery drive DVD/USB. If you didn’t create one after the upgrade, booting from Windows 10 installation DVD or flash drive can get you to some recovery/repair options. Be careful on selecting options/clicking if you go this route, as it is easy to start install (which would wipe any data on hard disk).
If you don’t have a Windows 10 installation DVD/USB, on another (working) PC you can follow the route of using the “Media Creation Tool” (google it) to download image from Microsoft and create one.
@mikibell @RiotDemon seriously, get a $10 thumb drive and use the MCT (link) to make a drive. This is useful for repairing system errors and various other bits of trouble shooting. You can’t even get into Safe Mode now without one of these (and even then it’s a crap shoot!
)
@jbartus You can get into Safe Mode without one if you’re willing to force 3 or so failed boots (usually by powering it off during early startup).
@mikibell The recovery thumb drive for my new laptop is pink. I wonder where I got it…
@sammydog01 I vaguely remember a deal of the day site having a great sale on pink thumb drives…can’t remember which one though…oh well…meh…
@dashcloud that’s a crap shoot too though. Sometimes they are really stubborn about going into safe mode. They like to go into “Recovery Mode” a lot.
@RiotDemon
Have you tried Dell tech forums etc?
Have you tried tormenting Dell over the phone about this? I know their consumer tech support may be garbage, but sometimes you get lucky.
I I get to where I have to call about some kind of equipment (I try to avoid at all costs):
I’m always incredibly persistent but polite. I will except nothing except “ok now it’s fixed” or “I honestly believe that you are competent and have exhausted the possibilities” as an outcome. I just don’t let go and keep insisting. And I never allow them to assign to “fault” to me or a third party.
The fact that I called them means that, as a tactical strategy, the “fault” must be assigned to Dell or whoever I called.
Because otherwise they will, automatically, waste my my time and their time, and be lazy and not work for a solution. And they will pretend that the cause is something, anything, that they have an excuse to avoid actually dealing with.
Sometimes my “art of war” attitude is unnecessary, tho it almost always is with first and often with second line support.
Eventually you may get to someone who actually wants to fix the problem because that’s how that person operates. Or you persuade them that they won’t get rid of you until they do fix it, and come up with incredibly useful info. Those people actually have a wealth of data. The trick is getting to one who is competent, and willing to use the data they have.
Fortunately I only have to do this a few times a decade. It’s annoying to have to put on the mindset to deal with them.
Oops! Did you get it working? Great!
@f00l yes, thanks though!
As @mikibell mentioned, you should have recovery and/or installation USB stick around.
Here’s directions:
Recovery drive- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/instantanswers/3a747883-b706-43a5-a286-9e98f886d490/create-a-recovery-drive ( while you can make one without system files on it, the usefulness is somewhat limited)
Windows 10 install media- https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/windows10
The great thing about install media is as long as you haven’t changed computers, you don’t need a key to install Windows.
If, in fact, your hard drive actually dies, (hopefully your files were backed up), Windows 10 is actually really good at finding drivers for all of your stuff, so the loss of your recovery partition/official backup media isn’t that big a loss.
This is my favorite type of problem: one that’s been fixed by the time I pay attention to it.
/image problem solved
@parodymandotcom Wow, great work! I’m promoting you to be in charge of all the forum’s laptops.
Microshaft strikes again! Auto updates break another computer. Welcome to the future!
@givemeyoursoul
Or welcome to mac/chrombook/Linux/tablet/etc.
@givemeyoursoul Sounds like a place where all the employees jacked-up trucks
/image jacked-up truck
@thejackalope *drive jacked-up trucks…