"Invalid Partition Table"... NOT a problem with the drive(s)

Scataphagos · Dec 25, 2022

Scataphagos said:
That's what I was thinking... add a disc controller to the mobo.

I've been trying and swapping 4 SSDs. None work in the trouble computer, all work in the other computer. Yes, I've tried to connecting to different SATA ports... replaced SATA cables, too.

I have a boot disk where I could install an image to a drive, but I don't have an actual "rescue disc". Will look into that.

I created a rescue disk. It ran one time but gave me only one option and was to reinstall Windows. Did that. Computer boots from that drive.

Tried one of the other drives the computer wouldn't read... still doesn't... now in addition, the computer doesn't recognize the rescue disk as bootable. Considering that's also a SATA device, no big surprise.

I checked Amazon and Newegg for add-on SATA controller cards... looks like a decent one cost more than is worth doing.

Bad_Badness · Dec 25, 2022

Scataphagos said:
Ditto. I have LOTS of backup... cloned drives, saved images, even backup machine. None of that is helping on this one.

I did solve once a problem by disconnection the coin battery for the BIOS AND reseating the CPU. A pain, but it did reset the BIOS more than just a battery disconnect. FWIW

Scataphagos · Dec 25, 2022

Bad_Badness said:
I did solve once a problem by disconnection the coin battery for the BIOS AND reseating the CPU. A pain, but it did reset the BIOS more than just a battery disconnect. FWIW

I tried that... no joy... but thanks for the tip.

Scataphagos · Dec 25, 2022

spooz said:
If it is a hardware problem then the disk controller on the motherboard is the most likely cause. To fix that without a new MB you could get a controller card to install on the MB. You say that the disk in question runs fine on another machine, have you tried using a disk from the other machine on the problem one? I forgot to mention this in a previous post: if you boot your rescue media there is a "Fix Boot Problems" option. It works most of the time particularly if the partition table is corrupt. All the tests you have run show there isn't a problem, and yet there clearly is. So whatever is wrong is not being detected. My best guess is it's your disk controller.

PS. Before you do any of the above connect your problem drive to a different connector on the MB. Good Luck!

My solution... might have bought add-on SATA controller, but instead bought another T5810 on eBay for $72.

easymon1 · Dec 25, 2022

flash the bios dell - https://www.dogpile.com/serp?q=flash+the+bios+dell&sc=I8Fe3RrTAW3P10

guest_trader_1 · Dec 25, 2022

M.W. said:
This guy apparently shilled cheap dell systems for years and spoke of hardware,only. Completely omitted the software and backup side of things. I can't imagine anyone,who takes this business seriously ,to not make backups. My main data repository is stored on a striped nvme array (14GB/sec throughout) and backed up automatically every two ours onto a local mirrored hdd array, every 12 hours the mirrored array is synced with my backup in the cloud. Never had an issue of data loss and can restore in minutes and even in the event of a complete loss locally I can restore the backup from the cloud in several hours.

People call Dropbox all sort of names these days...

Local mirror, striped nvme array. Very fancy

M.W. · Dec 25, 2022

Nvme array purely for throughput performance. All else I consider standard backup smarts. One local copy, you can use a Nas as well, and one copy in the cloud. You can go fancy and implement file versioning as well, if needed.

angrytrader said:
People call Dropbox all sort of names these days...

Local mirror, striped nvme array. Very fancy

vanzandt · Dec 25, 2022

Scataphagos said:
You've run your mouth and annoyed me enough... ON IGNORE!!

hahahahahah
How'd I know that one was coming.

Really amateur question, but could it be a power supply issue to the SSD, since none of the others you plugged in worked either?
I'd take a digital volt-meter and figure out which prong supplies power and see if you're getting the right voltage on that prong. It probably has a ribbon chord connecting it to another board.... jiggle that originating board and see if the digital volt-meter shows any fluctuation. One little solder joint on a board not making good contact, can mess up everything. You might even show the right voltage, but under load it will break down. That's why I said to jiggle the board that feeds the SSD.

spy · Dec 25, 2022

vanzandt said:
I'd take a digital volt-meter and figure out which prong supplies power and see if you're getting the right voltage on that prong.

You're kidding, right? The guy just decided to junk it and buy another one off eBay... and you want him to do real work!?!?

easymon1 · Dec 26, 2022

spy said:
You're kidding, right? The guy just decided to junk it and buy another one off eBay... and you want him to do real work!?!?

Hell, he already spent more than seventyfive beans worth of time when he grabbed the replacement.
"Progress not process" may separate the path to results from the path to "the answer".
When the replacement arrives and goes live then Scatman can fiddle and fart around with the suspect box to fugure out what's the dang deal. Or he may just shrug and say fuggit, who gives a sht? lol