Tower fell over, now returns Hard Disk Error (3F1)

[smellincoffee]

Yesterday morning an older relative of mine tripped on their computer cables and caused the tower to  slide off its base and onto the floor.  The floor was carpet and the "fall" was slight, 2-3 inches.   However, when they tried to boot it it returned a hard disk error.  I ran the diagnostic tool, but an error message informed me that SMART check was unavailable:

================

Hard disk error: please run the Hard Disk Test in System Diagnostics
Hard Disk 1 (3F1)

HP PC Hardware Diagnostic UEFI
SMART Check: NOT AVAILABLE
Short DST: NOT AVAILABLE (1: NOT AVAILABLE)

Current Version: 1.19.0.0 - BIOS
For more information, please visit: www.hp.com/go/techcenter.PCD

======================

I thought perhaps maybe a connection had been jostled loose when it fell. I opened the case to see if anything obvious was disconnected, but I have no experience with internal computer hardware.  I've never so much as plugged in a stick of RAM or  pulled out a DVD drive.   I knew enough not to touch the motherboard,  and I can name the major components inside, but that's it.  The hard disk drive appears to be behind the DVD drive. 

Am I right in thinking that I would need to take out the DVD drive before I can check the disk drive's physical connections to the power and motherboard? I have attached 3 internal shots, but I don't know if they are helpful or not.

Re: warranty,  it expired sixth days ago. The unit was a Christmas gift from me to my parents. 

[mdklassen · Accepted solution]

The first photo features the green-coloured stick of RAM, and one of the "posts" holding the heat-sink tightly down to the motherboard.

The second photo features the circular blue-coloured "motherboard-battery", the edge of the green-coloured stick of RAM, part of the circular heat-sink & fan on top of the processor, and, maybe, a black-coloured "data" cable connecting to a white socket on the motherboard.

The third photo features the stick of RAM, that same "post", and the black-coloured "data" cable, with the white-end, connecting to the disk-drive. Also, the red/black wires supply power to the disk-drive.

Check that the "data" cable is securely-connected to both the disk-drive and the motherboard.

Check that the red/black power-connector is securely-connected to the disk-drive.

Or, take the computer to a technician, for professional trouble-shooting.

[smellincoffee]

Hi, mdklassen, thank you for your reply.    I took two more photos from a better angle, one that demonstrates that the first  data/power cable in the third photo before came from the DVD drive instead of the HDD.   In the second photo below, is the red cable with the blue end the data cable, perhaps? It disappears underneath the HDD, and I haven't been able to get an angle on it.  I'm contacting a friend with a computer repair/home networking shop to see if she is interested. 

[mdklassen]

For a SATA disk-drive, looking "top-down" (at the label, not the electronic circuit-board), the arrangment is:

+----------------+

|                |

|                |

|                |

|    LABEL       |

|                |

|<---3.5 inches->|

|                |

|                |

|                |

|                |

|                |

|                |

|                |

+----PPP-DDD-----+

The PPP is the wider cable, bringing electrical power to the disk-drive,

and the DDD is the "data" cable.

The SATA cable can be "flipped" -- end-for-end -- because the socket on the motherboard is identical to the socket on the disk-drive.  So, take a close look on the motherboard for the "other" end of the SATA cable(s). Check that the cables are properly & fully connected.

[smellincoffee]

Mdklassen, I just wanted to let you know that with your help, I determined the data cables were securely connected. I decided to buy another HDD and install it.  It POSTed perfectly, I installed windows, and now that  system is back in business, and is the system I'm writing this on. Thank you for your help. 🙂