boot problem message

[lessingham]

My son and I have recently tried to put together a computer from cannibalized parts. We put in a new CMOS battery.

At startup we get the message "no rom basic" after which the system halts.

I would like to know what the message means so I'll know where to look for solutions.

[BigBlue66]

Hello,

This error message is caused most often by not having an active partition set on the harddrive. (I am assuming that you're trying to boot to the harddrive.)

Try booting to a startup floppy. If you get that far, then good, use FDISK to setup and activate partition(s) on the harddrive.

Another reason for the error is that the system files have been corrupted. If the above solution doesn't work, and you have a harddrive in the system that is ready to go, boot to a startup floppy and type at the A:\ prompt:

Sys C:

This will transfer the system files from the floppy to the harddrive, assuming that the harddrive has been set up with an active partition. It should boot after that.

Or, you can just type the error message into any search engine, like this: No ROM Basic, Error Message. You will get several hits and then you can read up on the solutions. I have no idea where you're at in the build process, so it's hard to offer a definitive answer.

Good luck.

Big Blue 66


------------------
Life = Karma, or is it, Karma = Life?