Boot Failure HELP!!

[oldal]

My system will not boot to the "C" or "A" drives.
It starts, runs all tests, finds the hard dive and CD Rom, everything looks normal then after verifying DMI Pool Data, Update Success, displays an error message "Invalid system disk". The CMOS is set to Check C then A but it will not boot with a boot disk in A either.
The system has an AT power supply, AMD K6-2 450 CPU, A WD Caviar 35100 Hard Drive. I thought the problem was the Motherboard BIOS and replaced it, same problem. Can this be a Power Supply problem? I'm stumped.

[jsk2315]

Check the floppy cable. If it has two connectors and the floppy is on the end, move it to the middle connector. This could be why it can't boot from the floppy.

On the hard drive, it cannot boot because the root partition (sorry - Linux term), I mean boot partition is not active or has no command interpreter installed (command.com). Get the floppy working, then boot with your Win98 boot disk. Run FDISK and select the option to make your boot partition active. Alternately, once you have the DOS prompt, type SYS c: and hit enter. This will re-transfer the system files to the MBR area of the drive and enable it to boot.

:-)

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[oldal]

Thanks jsk2315 for the quick come back. Changing the floppy cable didn't help and I cannot get to the DOS prompt. I have removed all plugin cards except the video, still no boot. I also pulled the cable to the Hard Drive to just access the A drive, same story. Any other thoughts?

[This message has been edited by oldal (edited 01-23-2002).]

[bassman]

Hi OldAl and welcome,
The floppy drive needs to be on the end of the ribbon cable (with the twist) and your boot sequence needs to be A, then C. As for it saying "NON-System disk" when trying to boot to the HDD, this would be an indication of a dead HDD.

Try changing the ribbon back and the boot order, and then boot to a good boot disk. At the A:>, type C: and see what it says. If you still get nothing, type Fdisk at the A:> and then option 4 to see what it reports about you partition information.

Post back and let us know http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/cool.gif

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[oldal]

Thanks bassman,
Twisted end of ribbon cable back on floppy drive pin, #1 to 1, boot sequence is A then C. Still will not boot to A with a good boot disk, or to C. When trying to boot to "A", get error message "Disk I/O error. Replace disk & press any key". What's Next?

[Whyzman]

Hi oldal,

Just wanted to chime in here regarding the placement of the floppy on the cable...Bassman is correct with the termination placement of the drive. The only time you would use the middle connector is if you have two devices connected...if only one device you always terminate! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

Also, in the BIOS make sure that the floppy disk controller is enabled.

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May all your dealings in life be win/win!

Whyzman

[This message has been edited by Whyzman (edited 01-23-2002).]

[Paleo Pete]

If the machine is giving you an I/O error when trying to boot to the floppy drive, try a known good floppy drive, it sounds like it might be non-functional.

Wait...just remembered, try a new floppy cable first, (the ribbon cable with the twist in it) then a different floppy drive.

For the hard drive problem, once you get the floppy to work boot to a windows start up disk and type C: and see if the machine will read it. If you get a C:\> prompt, good. Type A: to get back to the A:\> prompt, type sys_c: using a space in place of the underscore. That will transfer the system files, mainly command.com, to the hard drive. Then type fdisk_/mbr to rewrite the Master Boot Record. As long as the hard drive is still in working condition, that should get it back into bootable shape.

If, a that point you do not get good results, let us know and we'll see what else we can try. Don't put the floppy on the middle connector, then it will become B: drive and you won't be able to boot to it no matter what you do. It should always go on the end connector, as Bassman stated above.

jsk2315: Don't tell people to put a floppy drive on the middle connector for the reason stated above. It won't boot to a floppy then and in cases such as this you HAVE to be able to boot to a floppy. This is not the forum to be posting misinformation.

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[oldal]

Thanks Paleo Pete for your detailed reply. Sorry to say still have the problem. I installed new floppy cable and a known working floppy drive. Still will not boot. No change, same error messages.
Is there any chance that both the HDD and floppy drive would fail to boot due to a bad power supply? This has an AT 230W supply.
Any body have an idea??? Thanks, Al

[bassman]

Hello Al,
OK, power supply may be an issue here. If the 12V and/or 5V leads to the drives are dead, then that would be a problem. These can be tested with a typical multimeter (Red=5V, Yellow=12V, Black=ground) or if you have another good PSU around, you could try a swap to see if it works.
Do the drives spin up at all, or do anything?

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Waiting patiently for the future to arrive Frank's Place (http://www.members.aol.com/frankscompsrvice)

[oldal]

Thanks again bassman,
The voltages checked out OK, yes the drives spin.
Update: I installed another HDD that is formated but does not have an OS installed and it will boot, but still can't access the A drive, get the I/O error. Most be something wrong with the foppy drive. :-( Al

[oldal]

Update: It Works!! The floppy drive was bad, replaced it, Had to reconfigure the HDD and reload windows. Could not have made it without all of your help! A BIG THANK YOU to all of you that answered my call for help.
This Forum is great!!! Al