Doesn't boot to floppy

[Steve]

'Evenin' folks,

Before Christmas, someone gave me an old AOpen computer. I played around with it for a while but seein' Christmas comin' I put it away. Well, Christmas is gone, I'm laid off for a month and would like to get this dinosaur runnin'.

It boots up, sorta'. There's no HDD. The start-up screen comes up. It counts the ram correctly. But it won't boot to a floppy boot disk. I used to get an A:\ prompt but no more.

The floppy drive was makin' alot of noise last time I tried it, so I put in a new one. No joy in the northland.

I did mess around in the setup program (alot) but returned all settings to default.

It's got an AOpen Ap5t motherboard, 200Mhz Pentium processor, 64MB Simms Ram, the CD drive went to the last guy to have his hands on it, powers up good (after replacin' a fuse).

What's my next step? Can't F-disk or format a HDD if it won't boot to a floppy.

Suggestions much appreciated.

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Peace and Love, brothers and sisters. Peace and Love




[This message has been edited by Steve (edited 01-09-2002).]

[andyswork@beci.net]

If it will not go in to set up or bios, download set up disk from boot disk.com. That might work. If not post back. Make sure the disk is bootable.

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One day I will be a pro, Thanks Andy

[This message has been edited by andyswork@beci.net (edited 01-09-2002).]

[This message has been edited by andyswork@beci.net (edited 01-09-2002).]

[Steve]

Hi Andy,

It doesgo into BIOS SETUP. I havedownloaded and tried boot disks from Bootdisk.com. Now what?

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Peace and Love, brothers and sisters. Peace and Love

[mjc]

Go through the BIOS settings again and make sure that the floppy is set first in the boot order. Also check the cable and make sure that it is not in backwards.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Steve]

Hi mjc,

Boot order A,C,SCSI.

Red stripe on ribbon cable facing power cable.

?

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Peace and Love, brothers and sisters. Peace and Love

[mjc]

Uhhh,....yeah that looks right, so the next option would be to replace the floppy cable, followed by the drive itself.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Steve]

Hi mjc,

Yup. I'm kinda scratchin' my head, too.

I should have picked up a new cable when I got the new floppy drive. They're cheap enough. Oh well, back to the store...

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Peace and Love, brothers and sisters. Peace and Love

[Steve]

Well, I replaced the floppy drive and cable with known good ones. Nothing. Funny thing is, if I reverse the cable the light comes on and stays on like you would expect, but when hooked up right, nothing. http://www.theunholytrinity.org/cracks_smileys/ups/sicdeth/headscratch.gif

Am I missin' something here? Bad motherboard maybe?

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Peace and Love, brothers and sisters. Peace and Love

[bassman]

Hey Steve,
Have you tried clearing the BIOS with the jumper or removing the battery?
I know you said you reset all the defaults, but you might need to go this route.
Other then that, I would say the controler went. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

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Quotes from "Lifes Little Instruction Book" by H.Jackson Brown: 409)Wage war against littering! Frank's Place (http://www.members.aol.com/frankscompsrvice)

[Steve]

Thanks bassman,

You know what they say about great minds..

That was the last thing I tried yesterday. No luck.

Oh well, more spare parts for the pile. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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Peace and Love, brothers and sisters. Peace and Love

[BigBlue66]

Hey Steve,

Just for the heck of it, I would try a HD/FD controller card, if you have one lying around. Might get you somewhere, might not.

Have you tried Aopen's website for FAQ's and such?

I have a HD/FD controller card that I would let go pretty cheap, if you're interested. Can't remember if it's ISA or PCI, but I'm thinkin ISA. No matter, 'cause you've got both slots. Email me if interested.

One more question. Does the BIOS recognize the floppy drive correctly? You know you can change the configuration in BIOS, right?

Cheers,

Big Blue 66


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This space reserved for highly intelligent observations and witty remarks.

"So much in love with us are we, you could kiss you and I could kiss me"

---- Tommy Smothers

[Steve]

Hey BB66,

When I went back to the shop to return the FDD I'd borrowed, the resident tech gave me a floppy controller card to try. What a coincidence! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif

I brought it home and gave it a try, but when I was hookin' it up, the connector on the ribbon cable fell apart. Heh heh, I guess there's a limit to how many times you yank on it. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

Sooo... tomorrow, another 40 mile round trip ride to the shop. Maybe I'll get two, just to make sure!

Seems to me that the BIOS is seein' it right. 31/2in. 1.44MB FDD, right?

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Peace and Love, brothers and sisters. Peace and Love

[Mini-Me]

Hello!
http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

I have not written anything in here yet, cos this is a REAL funny prob!

I would go for the HDD/FD controller card that someone else in this thread suggested. I would also go into the BIOS and disable the on-board FDD controller.

While I think of it: Is the on-board FDD _ALREADY_ disabled???
If it it, you'll never boot from the drive no matter what you do!!!
(previous owner of computer might have done this)

Although, it would seem that this would be academic, as restoring the factory defaults like you did, should re-enable the on-board FDD, so...

I would still check this out, though.

Good luck!
http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif


G.


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Windows is the most dangerous computer virus on the Internet.

[Steve]

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif Hi Mini-Me. How's things on the other side of the world?

"previous owner of computer might have done this." Whudda ya mean previous owner? I've done it three or four times just to practice! Tomorrow, after I get a new cable, I'll make sure the onboard floppy is disabled.

I've put on more than 100 miles, over slush covered, half frozen roads, in a 14yr. old pick-up, with no heat, to get this FDD workin'. I'm startin' to pay attention! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif

Thanks again. I appreciate it.

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Peace and Love, brothers and sisters. Peace and Love

[Steve]

http://www.plauder-smilies.com/sad/bored.gif I've gotta be the only guy in the world who can't get a floppy drive to work.

Even with the floppy controller card and a new cable, no luck.

Oh well. Like I said in an earlier post, more spare parts for the pile.

Thanks for all the help. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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Peace and Love, brothers and sisters. Peace and Love

[John0904]

I'll add my 2 cents worth. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
I had the same problem some time ago. Floppy just wouldn't work.
After sitting back and looking at it, the floppy cable had a couple of different connections on it.
Thought what the heck...Swapped the connections and it worked fine.

Suppose if I went into the BIOS and added the the B: drive, I would have had that instead of the A: drive. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

[Steve]

Hi John0904,

Thanks for the "2 cent worth." http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif I tried it. Nada. Thanks for the try though.

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Peace and Love, brothers and sisters. Peace and Love

[Whyzman]

Steve,

Kinda got lost reading the thread with all the trial and error stuff...Wow!
I was looking to see if in your travels to the shop you had them bench test the FDD? Yes, the light came on with the cable reversed...but does it work? Shot in the dark! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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May all your dealings in life be win/win!

Whyzman

[Steve]

Hi Whyzman,

Yup. The tech at the shop tested it. Actually, I've used three different units so far.

First was the one that came with the computer. Worked for awhile, started making a lot of noise, then nothing. No function.

Sooo, I bought a new one. No function.

Then I bought a new cable and borrowed the friendly techs test FDD. Nothing.

Then he tested the new unit I had bought and it worked fine for him. So he gave me a FDD controller card to try.

Then the cable I bought fell apart. I won't tell you how far I went to get another new one. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

So then I tried the new cable, the tested FDD and the controller card. Nothing.

So then...I downloaded and printed out the entire 39 page BIOS manual from AOpen and went through the entire thing line by line. Nothing.

Then I tried every connector on the cable. Nothing.

I give up.

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Peace and Love, brothers and sisters. Peace and Love