Mobile HDD detected by Linux, not detected by BIOS

WD Internal Drives Desktop & Mobile Drives
1

Hi,

I recently had to replace a hdd in a 6 year old laptop. It gave a lot of read errors and found that the replacement hdd is not detected by the BIOS, but when I installed Ubuntu Linux, it shows the hdd is there and installs nicely. After installation, the laptop doesn’t boot since it doesn’t detect the new hdd. Moving the new hdd to another laptop, it is detected and boots nicely into Linux. Back to the original laptop, no boot.
Old hdd = WD Scorpio Blue 320GB 5400rpm 8MB Serial ATA
New hdd = WD Blue Mobile 320GB 5400rpm 16MB SATA3

Any idea why the new hdd is not detected by the BIOS?

Thank you for a reply/solution

2

Hello,

Does the original laptop supports SATA3? if it does, try changing the cables.

Also, check the bios settings to see if anything changed when you took the old drive out.

3

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.
Good question and suggestion. Considering the fact that the laptop is from 2011 and SATA3 from 2009, I’d expect support. But I’ve put the question to the manufacturer to be sure. There’s no cable involved.

4

Question: should a SATA3 hdd always be detected by a SATA2 controller?