Completely bricked new laptop [ Edited ]

[BritishUK]

Hello,

I currently own a HP Pavillion DV7, I don't know the exact model number (and it's not really relevant) but it's the one with the 1TB Hard Drive, i7 processor, 8GB RAM and Windows 7 64 bit.

Anyway, I usually peform a high level wipe on my hard drives periodically to keep them running smoothly and every computer I have previously owned has enabled me to do this without issue. My laptop was starting to lag a bit so I figured it was time to give it a wipe (I intended to recover it using the recovery discs as always) However, what has happened on this occasion is, whilst wiping using the software "WipeDrive" the power cord slipped out and the system powered down mid-wipe. This has I/O locked me out of the hard drive.

(Please note the software in question is highly reputable and I have used it before without issue)

There is an article on the softwares website addressing this issue (Article) however it's useless for me because it will no longer recognise the bootable CD as I assume the drivers have been wiped for the BluRay Drive and they aren't present on the CD for the wiping software (It says "No bootable device -- Indert boot disk and press any key"). The only CD that will boot is the recovery CD (Which I assume is because the drivers for the BluRay Disk drive are loaded with it from the disk) but it wont let me reinstall the OS from there anyway due to the I/O lock.

Diagnostic test cites error code 306.

The drive hasn't failed though, it's just locked. Is there any way I can get it to read the bootable CD so I can follow the instructions in the article above?

Would it be possible for me to use a live linux CD to achieve the same? Is this command just a standard command in the linux kernel?

"hdparm --user-master u --security-unlock WIPE /dev/sda"

[DavidPK]

Hi,

It shouldn't really be a driver issue as the optical drive will be under the control of the bios at boot.

Try the following.

On another PC, download and install Killdisk on the link below.

http://software.lsoft.net/KillDiskSuiteFree-Setup.exe

Download and install ImgBurn on the link below.

http://download.cnet.com/ImgBurn/3000-2646_4-10847481.html

Go to the Kill Disk application you have installed in All Programs, open the main folder, then select Bootable Disk creators and from that select Bootable DOS CD Creator which will burn the bootable ISO to a blank CD.

Let me know if this disc will boot in your notebook.

Regards,

DP-K

[BritishUK]

Hey

Yes I've got that to boot. Tried doing a wipe but it's just hung at 0% (assume that's the I/O lock, but it has detected the disk which is a start)

I wonder why the "WipeDrive" boot CD won't work on the laptop? It does on my desktop..

[DavidPK]

Hi,

It is odd that the WipeDrive disc won't boot.

Just so that I'm certain, when trying to wipe the HDD did you select (80h) and press f10 + the typed confirmation?

Regards,

DP-K

[BritishUK]

Yeah it just stays at 0% and doesn't wipe any sectors. Upon rebooting the same problem as before.

Also when I put in the wipedrive disk in my laptop it just says "No bootable device -- Insert boot disk and press any key"

[DavidPK]

Hi,

Has KillDisk definitely hung - the reason I ask is the last time I used this utility it took over 2 hours on a 250Gb HDD so it may well take a while to register even 1% on Tb drive.

Regards,

DP-K

[BritishUK]

I think it has, even the "sector" thing was stuck on 00 and it also comes up with some other error message when it initially boots, somthing about can't read Hard Drive or somthing.

Swapping the SATA cable from port 1 to port 2 seems to give a different error message (3F0 as opposed to 3F1/2) and instead of saying "HD error" it just says "reinstall operating system". However when I actually get to the recovery screen (Through recovery disk) it gives an error dialouge saying "DeviceIoControl" and when I select factory image recovery it says "The destination drive is not connected"

So frustrating lol.

[DavidPK]

Hi,

The second sata port is not bootable which is why you're getting the destination error.

The original error you mention in your first post ( 306 ) - was this just displayed or did you run a test on the HDD from the Bios menu and receive this error code?

If you haven't, run the test on the HDD from the Bios Menu, not the f2 diagnostic utility, ( under the Advanced tab ) and let me know the result.

Regards,

DP-K

[BritishUK]

Yeah that's from the diagnostic

"Hard Disk 1 Quick" (303
"Hard Disk 1 Full" (305)

SMART OK

Can I just check, if I am completely unable to fix this can I still just buy a new HD (from anywhere) and still use the recovery CD? I'm still gonna keep trying to fix this, just don't want the whole laptop to be dead forever if worst comes to worst.

[DavidPK]

Hi,

Well those are failures of the short and comprehensive Disk Self Tests, which would explain why KillDisk is unable to access the drive.

Yes, you can get a new Hard Drive from anywhere and use your Recovery Discs to reinstall the OS - the Recovery Discs only check for a 'tattoo' on the bios chip to validate the installation.

Is your notebook out of warranty?

Regards,

DP-K