Hard Disk (3F0)

[sr-pc-hulp]

Update

When I do a restart in Windows, then there is no problem.

If I do a cold start then I get the HardDisk (3F0) error. After pressing F10 and leaving the BIOS (without any change) the Windows starts without further problems.

[jiwen]

It seems like a small and non-serious bug that can get very annoying. If it happened to me, I would spend hours finding a solution just because I can, and may lead to me reinstalling everything from scratch, Windows and HP drivers and all. But, that's me. I like to troubleshoot and find solutions to "problems" and a good portion of them I create, ha.

Don't think I have a useful tip for you here.

Have fun.

[MarioJB]

For this particular problem, when the software is clean installed and you still have issues, particularly when you recreate the partition, then you have a Hardware issue with the hard disk drive.   You need to get your computer a new hard drive or upgrade to a new machine, if you do not wish to invest in the current machine.

My computer was under warranty, so I was able to get a replacement.  

Mario

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@sr-pc-hulp wrote:

The suggestions you gave, jiwen, might work.

Only after setting teh window partition to active I got a message that the MBR was missing and whatever I tried, I could get the MBR functioning again.

So what I did is teh following:

As this was a fresh Windows installation, it wasn't so much of a problem to geinstall Windows, but this time without the 100MB reserved partition Windows installer automaticaly makes if leaving this to Windows.

At first it looked like this had solved the problem. All went well noww and starting and restarting the laptop/Windows went without any problem.

So I thought I had solved the problem....but then, after installing Win 7 SP1 the problem was back again.!!!

Does anybody has any clue why SP1 is causing this? (and of course how to solve this).

Oh, the laptop involved is a HP Pavilion dm1-4100ed, 1 month old

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[sr-pc-hulp]

It turned out to be the BIOS (or a combination of this specific BIOS and this specific type/brand of SSD (OCZ series 4 Agility)

When I installed the SSD as boot device in my PC (with a ASUS motherboard) the problem did not occur.

Remains the question if this BIOS can't handle any SSD or is there a specific SSD type/brand that does work with this BIOS/laptop? 

Anyone with a Pavilion DM1 and a SSD?

[jiwen]

Do try the Windows Startup Repair again for up to 3 times like how I suggested earlier, which worked for me, if you have not done so already.

It is unusual for BIOS to not recognise a HDD.

If you've already done the above (properly) and still not get it to work, go to HP.com to get the latest BIOS update for your machine and try again.

If you cannot boot up, you may need to obtain the BIOS update via another computer, write it to USB flash drive and then try to update the BIOS.

The last thing to try if all the above fail is to clean install Windows on your SSD again. This usually works.

Cheers

[sr-pc-hulp]

I did do  the Windows Startup Repair again for up to 3 times, like you said, but negative result.

And also did I download and install the latest BIOS version, but that also didn't tackle the problem.

I also contacted the HP support desk but they couldn't help me either.

So I put back the original HD and put the SSD in another PC where it works fine.

[jiwen]

It is like that with lots of things. When you don't know what you don't know until figuring it out gradually OR NOT.

Well, at least you've got your other HDD working for you.

[harryspide]

Good day, I'm gonna ask you about how to remove the screws on the back of HP Pavillion g4...please reply ASAP thank you very much....

[sr-pc-hulp]

here you can download teh service manual: http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DocumentIndex.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodClassId=-1&cont...

[RobertMfromLI]

First and foremost, especially if this is your first laptop repair, I would strongly suggest:

1. Downloading the service manual noted above by sr-pc-hulp
2. Spending time familiarizing yourself with the instructions in the service manual
3. Follow the instructions in it to the letter (ripping or damaging the wrong cable in your laptop can be an expensive proposition to repair. Inserting the wrong screw in the wrong hole can cause damage to the casing or components - which can be even more expensive to repair).
4. Make a few "screw charts" on blank pieces of paper (and label them - such as "outside bottom" and an arrow or mark showing where the hinge side is): for instance, grab one for the external underside, draw circles on it where each screw hole is, when removing screws, place them in the circles. Do the same for each "section" of the laptop (for instance, one for the top side for when you remove the keyboard and start on the screws under it, one for the motherboard for when you have the case pieces apart, and so on) - and place them someplace safe where you won't knock them over or bump into the screws you place on them).

I get in many laptops customers have started working on - they aren't easy things to work on if you don't know what you are doing or don't take your time to do it right. So, take your time, and create a big enough workspace to allow (a) doing it right, and (b) to allow leaving the parts there for an extended period of time (most people's first laptop repair takes a considerable amount of time).

Anyway, back to the (3F0) error - chipset/motherboard issues are *DEFINITELY* a cause of it (note, I did not say THE cause - I said *A* cause - there are multiple reasons that error may come up). Good luck to you all in dealing with this issue.