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- HP Community
- Desktops
- Desktop Boot and Lockup
- Hard Disk errors on system boot

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02-19-2019 07:17 PM
Pretty much every time I start my desktop PC, during POST, I get the blue "Hard Disk error (3F?)", run system diagnostics.
Running full HDD and memory tests shows no faults.
I have 3 HDDs installed. When I remove 2, I still get the error.
Things I have tried, all which produce the same error:
- Connecting just the first HDD to the system, and leaving the other 2 disconnected
- Connecting each of the other 2 HDDs one at a time, so only 1 HDD is connected at any one time
- Moving the SATA data cable to a different SATA port on the motherboard (when I do this, the 3F? drive number changes to match the SATA port used)
- Trying different SATA cables
- Using different SATA power cables
When I boot with no HDDs connected (just my optical drive), it boots OK and lets me know it cant find a bootable disk.
Does it sound like I have an issue with my motherboard. It is a great MB but 2 years old and out of warranty.
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
02-19-2019 08:03 PM
I forgot to mention in my original post.
The 3 HDDs: 1 is an SSD, and the other 2 are Seagate 6TB Ironwolf drives.
I cannot get the error to happen when I only have the SSD connected. The error happens almost every time when I have either one of the Seagate 6TB drives connected.