Hard drive not found (3F0) error

[That_TechGuy]

I have a G42-415DX notebook that I bought around a year ago.  It's been a solid day-to-day computer up until now.  It froze a few days ago, and when I tried to start it back up, it got to the HP splash screen (prompts you to hit 'Esc' for system settings) and started beeping.  It stayed this way (beeping from the motherboard, not the speakers) for a minute until I shut it down.  When I tried to start it back up, I got nothing but the system diagnostics screen.  No option to load the BIOS or any of that, it "boots" strait to system diagnostics now.  I ran all the diagnostics and the memory checked 100% fine, but the computer says there is no hard drive installed.  It gave me a "3F0" error code (no bootable device installed).  I've tried absolutely everything I can think of.  I took the hard drive out and checked the connectors for corrosion or burns and everything looked clean.  I removed re-seated the drive several times but it didn't fix anything.  I tried swapping a good hard drive from a different laptop, also with windows 7 installed, into the G42 with the same result.  Also worth mentioning, the other laptop wouldn't boot to windows with the G42's hard drive either.  I popped in my Ubuntu DVD and ran the OS live from the disk to see if the built-in disk utility could see the drive and it does not.  The DVD drive itself shows up under the host SATA controller, but no hard drive.  Also, there's a very small (maybe 1 inch long) cable on this laptop that connects the hard drive to the motherboard.  1 end connects via normal SATA ports but the other seems specific to this laptop.  Maybe this little cable is the issue, or the connection on the motherboard side?  Both connectors on that end also appeared to be clean, nothing loose or obviously broken.

The G42 didn't come with any windows disks b/c there's a recovery partition pre-loaded on the drive (which I can't access).  

Is this a hardware issue or do I need to flash/update my BIOS?  I have a lot of very important personal information and family photos on the G42 so if anyone knows a way to fix this problem outside of a new hard drive or laptop, or has any ideas for further troubleshooting, I'm all ears.

[ManjunathTech]

Hi,

 The failure ID you provided indicates that your Hard Drive has Failed & needs to be replaced.

If your notebook is still under warranty, contact HP and arrange to have the drive replaced.

If you are out of warranty and would like a guide on replacing the Hard Drive yourself, please let me know.

Let us know how it goes!

*Although I am an HP employee, I am speaking for myself and not for HP.

****Click the White Kudos star to say thanks****

****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****

Regards

Manjunath

[Huffer]

Unfortunately, a new hard drive is not going to fix the problem as you say you have swapped in a known good drive and still get the "no hard drive" message. It sounds like an issue with the SATA controller on the board. Try resetting the BIOS to default settings and then I guess it would be OK to order a new drive connector and try it. They very rarely go bad because they have no moving parts, but if it is bad it would give these symptoms. 

Even if the G42 drive does not boot to Windows in the other computer the data on it is likely intact if you get a SATA to USB adapter and plug into another computer the data can be recovered. Post back if you want to discuss motherboard replacement options. 

[That_TechGuy]

A few things here, not really any new developments as of right now.  First of all, thank you for the reply.  I tried to get into the laptop's BIOS but it doesn't allow me to do so.  I tried hitting Esc when prompted, holding the Del key during boot, and hitting Del repeatedly during boot.  Nothing brought me to the BIOS.  Could this indicate an issue with the BIOS that's maybe causing the firmware not to see the hard drive?  Could they have been corrupted?

At any rate, I'm going to try to recover my files from the hard drive of the laptop.  If the drive is still good, I should be able to slave it in to my desktop as a non-bootable device and pull my files from it.  If my desktop can't see the drive, then I guess I found the problem.  I was also considering slaving in a formatted hard drive to the G42 and using a Windows or Ubuntu disk to see if I can install an OS to the blank drive.  Shouldn't that tell me if the connections are good?  Maybe there was a conflict with the Windows 7 install on the hard drive of my other laptop (the "known good" drive I tried to put in yesterday) and the hardware in the G42.  A driver issue perhaps.  Will post updates as long as I have them.  Thanks again for the assistance

[Huffer]

The Bios entry key is F10. Yes you can slave the drive into another computer to test it. The other "good" drive should have at least started to boot. Yes if you can get any OS disk to see any hdd in the machine the mobo is OK.

[PrincessLinda]

Manjunath,

My computer is no longer under warranty. Its an HP G50 Laptop. It crashed recently and won't allow me to download my information from my exterior Hard Drive. And anything else I try to download it says that there is no driver found. What do I do?

Linda

[dedy526]

i have the cd/dvd i tried to but it doen,t work

[newfloral]

Hi there! I need some help! I just bought a new HP laptop yesterday- Pavillion G6. I tried to install Windows 7 but I got this error message- Boot device not found! As far as I know it has factory installed freeDOS. I tried to install the OS via DVD and USB and...same message! I made check test of the hard drive, it finished: PASSED! Please tell me where could the problem be end how to solve it! Thanks in advance!

[AttackofZaq]

Hello newfloral.  I understand you're having some trouble booting your new notebook.

Have you made sure to set the CD-ROM or USB device as the primary boot device in the BIOS?  Try the following.

1. Reboot your notebook and press F10 until the BIOS screen loads.
2. Navigate to the System Configuration section.  
3. You should see an option which says "Boot Options."  Select this.
4. Select "Boot Order."
5. Verify that the optical drive or USB (whichever you want to boot from) is listed first.  
6. Navigate to the "Exit" section and save your changes.
7. Reboot the notebook with the bootable media in the drive.
8. Verify whether the issue was resolved and post the result.

If this doesn't resolve the issue I suggest you contact either HP Support or the retailer immediately.  The number is 1-800-474-6836 for US/Canadian customers.  If you're in another part of the world you'll need to visit HP Support Worldwide to get your region's contact information.

I'll keep an eye out for your reply.  I hope you have a great day!

[newfloral]

Thanks for the quick answer! I did all the things you advice me to, but ...same thing! I will try one more time and then maybe I will give it to the service! Thanks again!