Dell Mini Inspiron 910 / "Fixed HDD" -> "None" / "Operating system not found"

[Antiermitianos]

Hello everyone,

almost a week ago i tried to boot my Dell Mini Inspiron 910 as so many times have done before, but instead logging to Windows it asked for a password. I had never used a password. That seemed weird.

I tried randomly and it locked stating System Disabled: [03482] & Service Tag: [CW466H1]. Thus, i needed a BIOS password. Member "smoggie" suggested to me 3 passwords and the first of them was is ok, i know this because i tried also the other 2 and when i insert them the machine responds with a pop-up message which states that "password is incorrect-continue anyway?". When i insert the first password the machine does not reply. No answer means everything ok, i assume.

However, when i enter the BIOS i notice that next to "Fixed HDD" it says "None" !?
I tried to Restore to Factory Settings. The machine tries to boot, but it stops and it displays something like:


"................................................. ...
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM.
Operating system not found."


I also noticed that the F?? buttons - when in BIOS - do not function. A bleep sound comes when i press any of these buttons with no response on screen.


Is there any workaround, any suggestions ? Do i have to change HDD and if so how am i supposed to install the operating system ? The machine is not under warranty !


There is a youtube video (watch?v=qAHcW3Wp3dw) which shows same problem. Is says it can be solved. Man that solved says:


"hoho, finally found out, it missed a screw between hard disk and the other paths. Check the hard disk first. May be a MBR error too"


I don't seem to get what this man means though




Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in anticipation.

 

[Him Her]

The Dell Mini 910 is SSD and it may just need cleaning/reseating. It's under the cover on the base of the system.

 

[Antiermitianos]

The Dell Mini 910 is SSD and it may just need cleaning/reseating. It's under the cover on the base of the system.

Thank you for your reply. So you mean to remove the Solid State Drive, clean it and clean all the dust in the machine with a soft brush for example and then place it back in ? Something like this (it is referred to SSD upgrade, but the procedure is similar): watch?v=6T0DOGcv6tM

I will try it and update the post !