On 27 Nov 2013, at 11:36, Chris Dennis <cgdennis@???> wrote:
> Hello folks
> 
> I'm trying to give a new lease of life to an HP Compaq computer, previously running Windows XP, with bad blocks on its 80GB SATA disk.
> 
some systems have a sata legacy mode which can cause issues. also if the new drive is SATAII or SATAIII you may experience problems on 1st generation  SATA I controllers.  however I’ve never had any issues, with SATA versions but i recently had an issue with the legacy mode on an old dell (2004).
 
(if its that old your probably better putting an IDE(PATA) in instead) 
> The plan is to install Linux Mint on a new hard disk.
> 
> But every disk I've tried (two new ones, and a couple of old ones, all bigger than 80GB) fails to be recognised by the BIOS.  I can hear faint buzzes and clicks from the drives -- even the new ones.
> 
> If I put the old disk back, the BIOS is happy, and the system starts (but that's no good, because the disk is failing).
> 
> I can't find any relevant settings in the BIOS to tweak, nor jumpers on the drives.
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> cheers
> 
> Chris
> -- 
> Chris Dennis                                  cgdennis@???
> Fordingbridge, Hampshire, UK
> 
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Please post to: Hampshire@???
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https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/hampshire
LUG URL: 
http://www.hantslug.org.uk
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