Can BIOS block HDD detection?

caseyjay

Commendable
Jun 22, 2016
1
0
1,510
Hi all, I have 2 x HP 2510p laptops, 3 x 1.8inch ZIF HDDs and 3 x ribbon connectors. I thought I had multiple HDD failure because of "Non-system disk/error" message but tested the disks with a USB external enclosure and all are fine.

I've swapped around the ribbon connectors just in case but no change. I am able to boot up using one of the disks via USB. Not sure if I would be able to flash the BIOS while booted from USB HDD? The HP files are quite old and not clear if I can flash bios with a USB pen drive.

Can BIOS versions corrupt and prevent disk access? The BIOS settings for anything HDD related are greyed out. It's odd that the same thing happens on both laptops...thx
 
Solution
bios most likely not the problem as the hard drive is bootable via usb, most likely a pata controller issue either software or hardware.