I'm building a new computer system and I've got the case and an FIC motherboard, a 1.8 Ghz P4, and an IBM hard drive. I put it together today using the floppy, and CD ROM drive from my old 100 Mhz 686 system, and it boots into the BIOS setup and I set the BIOS up the way it suggests in the motherboards manual but then when I try to boot the system using a boot disk it gets to where says it's detecting IDE drives and it just sits there. I have checked all the connections in the computer and I can't see anything wrong, and when I'm in the BIOS setup it shows the floppy, CD ROM, and Hard Drive information there. I checked the jumper settings on the drives and they are correct as well. I have checked around on forums and have seen some people saying that they were getting stuck on "Detecting IDE Drives" when they were using old motherboards with newer large hard drives, does anyone know if this maybe happening because i'm using a new motherboard with an old CD-ROM Drive or my old floppy drive? I have tried disconnecting everything but the floppy drive and then booting from the boot disk. When I do that it says non system boot disk, but you can hear that it never even tried to read the disk. I'm going nuts, anyone have any suggestions? Thanks

First go into the BIOs and make sure your IDE devices are set to auto-detect.

Also is your floppy light running all the time?

Is the floppy set as the first boot device?

Yes, I set the Bios to auto detect and yes the floppy drive light stays on constantly and never makes any sound like it ever tries to do anything, and agian yes i set the floppy drive as the first boot device.

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif

It sounds like the floppy may be the problem. Make sure the power and cable are connected properly. The light on all the time can happen when the power plug is backwards.

Budfred

I don't think the cable is backwards because the way the connector is it can only connect one way. I'll try disconnecting the floppy and burning the boot disk onto a CD and setting the CD ROM to the first boot device. Will that work just like the floppy boot disk?

Generally with floppy light on constantly it is either the cable is backwards or bad.

CHECK
in "BIOS Features Setup", that
"Boot Up Floppy Seek : Enabled" is set.
Also:
in "Integrated Peripherals Setup Menu", that
"Onboard FDD Controller : Enabled" is set.

Read these [detailed ones at top general at the bottom]
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/bios/set/index.htm
http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/ggen01.htm
http://www.pcguide.com/ts/x/comp/mbsys/gen_Failure.htm
For ideas.

Borrow and fit a known good FDD and if it still doesn't work you know there's something wrong with the system board or an adapter.

e.g.My diagnostic charts give the following:

FLOPPY DISK TEST
1. Are power supply voltages ok? If not do a SYSTEM TEST.
If they are then:
2. Is the signal cable ok? If not replace and re-test.
If it is ok then:
3. Replace the FDD with a known good drive and re-test with diagnostic software.
4. Does the new drive test ok? If it does the original drive was faulty.
If it doesn't the "system board or [an] adaptor [is] faulty".

Whether or not that will work depends on your setup, but it might, so go ahead.

As for the floppy drive, you might just need to get a new floppy cable, but I would try what Sylvander said too, try another good floppy drive.

Budfred

I took everything out of the computer and put in only my old hard drive that already had windows on it and it booted up, but then it detected new hardware and wanted drivers for them, which i can't put on without a floppy. But anyway, so I think it is a problem with the floppy drive or the cable. I'll go buy a new one and try it, they are not very expensive.

It is, by design, almost impossable to put the floppy power plug on incorrectly(ie backwards or upside down) without doing some serious work and damage to the drive's connector. The symptom that you mention - the Floppy drive's run light being on constantly is a sure fire sign that the DATA cable is reversed. Without exception I have found that if you can't get any other indicator as to the proper plugging direction for the DATA cable it is OLD TECH knowledge to put the striped side(power) of the data cable towards the power plug. I have yet to have that general rule fail me yet! Although, I am positive that there is some evil minded manufacturer mass producing Floppy Drive's, that will prove me wrong, at this very moment! 8>) But, there are still, to this date, only two ways to plug that data cable in and only one is right and the other makes the drive's run light stay on constantly.

Technotic,

I have seen the power plug in backwards before. I think the slot for it was oversized or something, but it is possible in some cases for it to go in backwards (or upside down, depending on how you look at it).

Budfred

Let's call it flipped over then cause I guess backwards would be REALLY a hard thing to accomplish, eh? I would've loved to have seen the effort that that person had to go through though to get the power connector flipped over! 8>D I have to think that the pins on that sucker where quite bent outta shape, hehehe. But to get back to the subject, did getting the FDD straightened out resolve anything with that there box of yours Kasper20?

How about:
"Axially rotated by 180 degrees"?

How about - Diametricly Opposed Hook-Up...... or DOH! :D Heer, hear, here, l e t t h e Techno-Babble L o o s e!!!:cool: