Pavilion dv9500 won't boot with both HDD and SSD

[olddv9500]

Dear All,

I have an old Pavilion dv9500 (dv9690ew to be precise).

TL;DR HDD or SSD alone work great, but together it takes ages to get to BIOS (or pass POST) and Windows doesn't boot ("Operating System not found" message). BIOS is updated to the last available version - F.5A.

It's running Windows 10 (an up-to-date version 2004) on a Seagate Momentus Thin 500GB 5400RPM 2.5" SATA II HDD in the first bay for quite a long time (original drives died).

I've recently upgraded RAM to 4GB (some used 2 x 2GB DDR2 SODIMM 667MHz 5300S Samsung sticks) - works like a charm.

I also wanted to add an SSD to speed things up even more, so I've bought a new SATA III Goodram CX400 256GB (https://www.goodram.com/en/products/ssd-cx400-sata-iii-25/). It's based on Phison PS3111-S11 controller.

And here the fun begins. After adding the SSD to the second bay:

• Windows won't boot ("Operating System not found" message appears),
• startup is extremely slow, it takes more than 2.5 minutes to even get to BIOS (after hitting F10 it says "Please Wait..." and, well, I wait),
• I cannot perform hard drive test in BIOS - a message "No IDE Device" shows up,
• I've managed to run Windows recovery command line tools from USB (after waiting 2.5 minutes it booted) and used diskpart - it shows the SSD total size as 0.

What's funny? The SSD alone works great! I've installed a fresh copy of Windows 10 and it runs smoothly.

I tried zeroing the SSD with diskpart "clean all", making a raw partition, formatting it as NTFS, installing Windows once more on the SSD, making the partition inactive - nothing seems to work.

As mentioned in TL;DR I've already updated BIOS to the last available version - F.5A.

I've also put original RAM just in case, but that changed nothing.

I have a lot of data on the HDD, so I want to use both disks. I also wanted to clone the system from HDD to SSD (I've even made a second partition on HDD and moved all the stuff like documents, pictures, etc.).

I don't want to experiment with the HDD to much as it's full of data and I don't have a backup (I know, I know, I should make it). I've tested making the system partition inactive, but after switching the drives (SSD in bay one and HDD in bay two) it get's even worse (it can't even boot from USB). Unfortunately I don't have a SATA to USB adapter to clone system partitions that way and that probably wouldn't change anything.

The question is: does anyone have an idea what can I do to make those disks work together? I'm actually not sure what is the problem - the SSD alone runs fine, quick test in BIOS is OK, so it seems that it's not the BIOS. Is it possible that those disks just won't run together?

Best regards,
Phil

[The_Fossette]

@olddv9500

I reviewed your post and I understand that you have installed a new SSD on the computer and both the hard drive and SSD are not working together.

Don’t worry, I assure you I will try my best to get this sorted.

The computer that you have is pretty old and I believe that it doesn’t support dual hard drive configuration. I suggest you use the hard drive as an external drive and run Windows from the SSD.

I hope that answers your question and you have a great day!

P.S: Welcome to the HP Support Community 😊

If you wish to show appreciation for my efforts, mark my post as Accept as Solution. Your feedback counts!

Cheers!

Stay Home – Stay Safe

[olddv9500]

@The_Fossette

Thank you for your reply.

Indeed I have installed a new SSD on the computer and it doesn't work with the HDD installed earlier.

You're right that this is an old laptop, but I assure you that it can handle two hard drives - it came with two from the factory. By looking at the manual I think that it had 2 x 160GB drives - 320GB listed under "Dual hard drive configurations" on page 12 rings a bell.

I actually considered the solution you proposed although I'd like to keep the disk inside if that's possible. Having it dangling on a cable is not the most convenient thing when there's a dedicated bay for a second drive under the cover.

I've searched the forums (not only HP) and I didn't find anyone having similar problem. There's a lot of posts when SSD doesn't work (even on this forum), but in my case the SSD works fine. Just bringing both drives together gives the symptoms I've described.

Do you (or anyone reading this) have an idea is this actually a hardware problem? I suspect it must be as the slow down happens after "System BIOS shadowed" and "Video BIOS shadowed" messages and before recognizing the optic drive.

I'll appreciate any suggestions. 

[The_Fossette]

@olddv9500

Awesome job on diagnosing the issue correctly and performing smart troubleshooting before posting your question on HP forums. Kudos to you on that score.  It is a privilege to work with tech-savvy and technically competent customers like you.

Yes, I checked the service guide for your computer and see that the maximum tested hard drive capacity on your computer is 500GB and as you have installed more than 500GB hard drive (Including the SSD) it may be causing the slowdown. 

I double-checked and there are no drivers available for Windows 10 for your computer. However, I recommend you install all the Windows updates (Including optional) and check if it helps.

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers!

[olddv9500]

@The_Fossette

Thanks for appreciating my actions before posting. And thank you for answering the questions I asked. I'm very grateful.

Do I understand correctly that there may be a cap on the total size of hard drives installed? The important thing here is: is there a (somehow confirmed) cap or there may be? I couldn't find anything regarding this topic in the manual - actually there's a statement that dv9500 "Supports all Serial ATA (SATA) 9.5-mm, 2.5-inch hard drives" (although "all" seems to be a bold term).

This information is somewhat different than what was said in other threads on the forum.

1) From 2009: "HP Pavilion dv9500 Replacement Hard Drive". Huffer stated there "1 TB drives are now available and there is no theoretical reason you can't use one." In 2013 someone mentioned there: "I recently installed a 1TB hard drive on my Pavilion dv9500nr laptop.  The hard drive works fine [...]"

2) From 2011: "What size HDD for DV9500 ?". Another manual is referred there, but basically the message is the same - supports all drives.

If not a cap on the total size than what can be the problem that the disks won't work together?

What comes to my mind is that there's an issue with the physical connection in the second bay. But this is very unlikely.

I'll try to test that - maybe I can get my hands a another HDD (possibly smaller to test the potential cap).

I'm running a new installation of Windows 10 with the latest updates from the SSD. I'm satisfied with the performance. Maybe that's even better than cloning. I tried connecting the HDD with inactive system partition, but no luck there.

Any ideas? Anyone?

[KrazyToad]

@olddv9500

I suggest you try with a small size Hard drive and check since the Notebook has only been tested with max 500 GB as per the Service Guide, so there is no way to confirm if the issue is with the Hard drive size or the secondary bay

[olddv9500]

@KrazyToad

Sorry for the delay in responding. Thanks for the suggestion.

Unfortunately I don't have a working small hard drive at hand to try if there's a cap on total hard drives capacity.

I've found the original drives (I was right, they are 160 GB each), but the're dead. The laptop won't start with neither of them (as a single drive in bay one), it just stuck on the BIOS logo, so no point in trying that with the working drives.

Either way trying that will not solve my problem with those particular drives. Let's say SSD + smaller HDD (total capacity of maximum 500 GB) won't work – so, no cap, other issue? I'm still in the same spot. And if they work? Well, does it really prove there's a cap? Maybe just my HDD and SSD will not work together? I think drawing conclusions would require more tests – probably another SSD.

I doubt that the potential cap on capacity is the problem. As I mentioned, there are some thread on the forums that contradict that. This situation is a mystery to me.

I'll probably test some configurations if I get my hands on a working SATA hard drive. Running two drives over 500 GB would give an answer that the issue is not related to a cap on capacity.

Currently, I just use the SSD and the HDD is lying in a drawer. Not optimal, but probably I won't need the data from the HDD soon (maybe ever – I'll probably forget what's there).

I'll figure something out when I need it (booting from USB and copying the data to an external USB drive is a no cost option, buying SATA to USB connector shouldn't be a pain).

Still, if someone has another idea what may be the problem and what could be a solution I can test it. I'm rather at peace with using only the SSD and the HDD in the drawer, but maybe someone else will benefit from reading on possible solutions.

[The_Fossette]

@olddv9500

All the BIOS have certain cap and it can support only up to that capacity of the hard drive. 

Cheers!