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I have a p2 Maxtor Umax sys
450 MHZ
ATA controller card with a bios of > 3.0.95
This enables me to use my 40g hd. The sys originally was only capable of 6.0g
The problem is my cd rom drive.
I have zero filled my HD many times before and used a 98s startup disc with no problems.
But this time it was unable to install the driver from the startup disc.
The message whilst in the procedure of booting up using the startup disc; and this is after formatting etc creating the primary partition routine.
It tried to install the necessary driver to the cd rom >> "no driver found"
and then went on messaging the abort attempt. It of crse installed all the diagnostics for the operation.
I then used another cd rom that works fine, but again the same message
was given from the attempt.
I tried 3 startup disc's all to no avail.
??

Just to make sure we're both on the same wavelength, you have repartitioned and reformatted the HD, and are attempting to reinstall Windows from a Windows installation CD, but the Windows boot floppies are not able to load the DOS driver for your CD-ROM drive.

If that's the case, then make sure the boot floppies have a DOS CD-ROM driver, like oakcdrom.sys
If they do not, then make a new boot floppy at this site:
http://www.bootdisk.com/

Is the CD-ROM drive connected to an IDE connection on the MB, and is the controller for that IDE channel enabled in BIOS?

Did you try connecting the CD-ROM drive to the other IDE channel?

Is the CD-ROM drive correctly jumpered, did you try a different known working IDE cable, and connect a different power lead to it?

Ok Ski this is what I have and what I done/ Yes I Zero filled the HD/ Then made a primary DOS the partition is the whole of the disc./ Then re-formatted the HD/ All successful.
I used one of my startup disc install the necessary drive from the flobby to the HD/ Oak technologies etc . I have just used this same startup disc previous 14 hrs ago to complete the same scenario in another PC with no problems so the floppy startup is good/ I tried another good cd rom drive from another pc and the received the same message/ My IDE controller is hook up correct for I used this same cd rom many times.
I will try a new ribbon and see if this is faulty. The jumper is correct on the cd rom.

Make another Win 98 start up disk and try it. Make sure it IS write protected. I keep at least 5 start up disks handy at all times, you never know when one will just quit for no apparent reason. I just threw another one away a few days ago, and it was working the last time I needed a boot floppy.

Point is, floppies are not reliable for long term usage. Anything magnetic like a speaker can make the data unusable, heat and direct sunlight are bad news, dust is not a good thing and sometimes they just quit working for no reason. Always make and write protect another boot floppy before going crazy trying to figure out what's wrong with other hardware.

Checking the ribbon cable is a very good idea too though, and you could have a dirty floppy drive. I'm not sure if floppy cleaners are available any more, I use mine a lot.

Thank you for the info Pete, I will try and obtain another startup disc. Although I have tried 3 startup disc's that I kept from previous bootups. I have also tried two different cables, and all too no avail. Nevertheless I believe you have a point, about a dirty Fobby drive. So I will try a different flobby. There are only two drives in this PC that I am having the problem with one is the HD and the other is the cd rom drive.
So my setup is Primary Master which is the HD and Secondary Master which is the cd drive. I am using a ATA controller card with the cable attached to the HD. My cd rom is attach to the No 2 IDE on the MB.

Hi,
I am sorry but I still don't understand what you mean by "installing the neccesary drives from floppy to harddrive". The way I install win98SE is to insert the install disk into the floppy drive and turn on the computer. I then choose the option of "...with CD-ROM..." and when I get the a: prompt, I type d:\setup and it will take care of everything. Am I missing something here??

Hi thank you for inquiry. Maybe I was alittle hasty writing the problem.
No you are quite right when you mention your procedure. What i am having a problem with is after I wipe all the info on my HD and basically started fresh.
What i am presently experiencing is trying too get back to my cd rom through DOS
As I have reiterated is my HD has been partitioned and formatted. All is well except trying to get to my cd rom drive so I can of crse install win98s. And as I stipulated is during using a startup disc. it does not find my cd rom drive in order to install the drivers, for the cd rom support.

I have tried several other options to the above problem I am having.
But since I have a ata controller card installed into one of my PCI slots, and using the BIO's from this card to enter my 40g HD: could I not use my cd rom drive from this card, change the setup to primary slave rather then Master slave,and run it from the controller cards bio's??