Can't Boot XP: "Verifying DMI..."/"Disk Boot Failure..." Hang

[FrustratedInXP]

Hi all.

I saw a post similar to this, but not exact and it's solution didn't resolve my
problem -- also didn't want to break anything else -- so I'm starting anew. ;~)

I have a custom-built computer with an AMD processor. So I don't have a
boot CD or other disk. I have the latest version of WinXP.

After leaving the computer for about an hour, I came upstairs and I noticed
my HD light was constant-on tonight, and my mouse pointer was frozen. I'd
been having problems for a while with the HD doing stuff that I hadn't told it
to do (basically the light would be on, or flashing a lot, but I'd be across the
room, or at the PC but idle). Tonight, things officially conked out.

I restarted the computer from its hung state, and since then, have not been
able to get past the SECOND black screen where it shows the following:

Drive A: 1.44, etc.
Drive B: None
Pri Master Disk: None (???????????!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!)
Pri Save Disk: LBA, ATA 133, 41111MB
Sec Master Disk: CD-RW, ATA 33
Sec Slave Disk: None

At the bottom of the page, there is always:

Verifying DMI pool data ...............
Boot from CD :
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

And the problem with that, as I said, is that I've never had a boot disk.

One time it also said:

Verifying DMI pool data ............... Update success.
Boot from CD :
DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

Though I can't remember what I did to have it read "update success" that
time -- if applicable.

Elsewhere on the screen is the following, if it's of any consequence:

HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability: Disabled

There's no floppy disk in the hard drive, and I've unplugged everything from
all the USB ports on my computer.

I've gone into Advanced BIOS and the computer appears to be reading the
hard drive FIRST in its boot priority, which is a good thing ... but I guess
it's not really reading it at all.

I've tried switching "Boot Other Device" to Disabled, and I still can't boot up.
Tried switching HDD SMART to Enabled, same thing. Please also note that I'm
NOT able to F8 into safe mode.

:-/

The #@$%# thing just won't let me do anything but continually view this
black screen. No matter how many times I reboot.

I did get into safe mode ONCE by restarting abruptly from one of the blue
BIOS screens, and saw a wmi??????.exe process running in task manager.
But by the time I turned to my laptop, opened a browser window, and had
typed in the "w" of what I think was "wmi...."-something on this mysterious
file, the file had DISAPPEARED from the list.

And I've not been able to get back into safe mode since to see what
the name of it was.

Will someone please help me ultimately boot XP normally, and get rid of
whatever virus (I assume) I have?

Thanks.

* HARMONY

[Paul Komski]

Either your hard drive is failing or there is a problem with the mbr not linking to an active partition.

So I don't have aboot CD or other disk. I have the latest version of WinXP.The WinXP CD is a bootable CD. Have you tried booting to it and just see if it can even see the HDD.

You could also grab the HDD maker's diagnostics from their website and make a boot CD or floppy to use to check the HDD.

The verifying DMI ... is normal and not involved in the problem - its to do with keeping the BIOS updated.

Since you were getting blue screens its likely that you had a corrupted system my own first approach would be a repair or clean reinstall of winxp particularly if you have no data you want to get off the HDD.

PS
Pri Master Disk: None (???????????!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!)
Means there is either no detectable master on that channel or it is bad or badly connected or has a bad cable. So if you have two HDDs you need to check the master out. If you only have one HDD you may need to have the BIOS set to boot HDD1 and not HDD0 or change the slave to a master by changing its position on the cable and jumpering it correctly or have boot other device enabled. Best to have the master as master though but if it doesnt appear in the BIOS you are snookered until you can get it seen there.

You can leave SMART disabled its a pretty useless way of checking the status of HDDs.

Safe mode is of no significance until you can get the boot processes to reach the active partition on the active drive.

[FrustratedInXP]

Hey Paul.

The WinXP CD is a bootable CD. Have you tried booting to it and just see if it can even see the HDD..
I don't have a boot CD of any sort. I don't have a CD of any sort that came
with this computer. The only thing that came with this computer is, well, the
computer. :~(


You could also grab the HDD maker's diagnostics from their website and make a boot CD or floppy to use to check the HDD.
No can do. This isn't a corporation, this is a guy who builds computers out
of his apartment! He also can be a jerk about helping fix stuff, so I'd rather
not have to go to him at all, which is why I'm here. I do have stuff on the
HD I need to save, also.

Since you were getting blue screens its likely that you had a corrupted system...
No, I wasn't getting blue screens, but BLACK ones. Any blue screen(s) I
got were just the BIOS screens I went to on purpose.

And the two BLACK screens I got were the normal ones it goes through
upon booting -- it just hangs on the 2nd one and won't advance.

For the record, I would rather not have to go to him and have him wipe the
HD (again). I would much rather fix / restore the system myself if possible,
without having to reinstall Windows. And I'd like to get my data I've been
working on as well.

Thanks.

~HARMONY

[Paul Komski]

I edited while you were posting so there may be stuff you want to think about.

I thought you and not someone else had built the pc. You should have been given a copy of windows or at least a way of restoring your system so you must either get that from the maker or go out and buy a retail or oem copy of winxp. First and foremost we need to know if there is one or two HDDs in the system but even so you are almost certainly going to need to have some bootable media on floppy or CD to correct the problem yourself.

Assuming you only have one HDD then getting it correctly set in the BIOS may be all that is needed and as long as the HDD is not damaged you should be able to install a parallel installation of WinXP (need that CD again) to access your data. The alternative to getting your data back is to install it as a slave in another working PC - preferably also running WinXP.

[Sylvander]

Computer stops at verifying dmi pool data... (http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000474.htm)

[Paul Komski]

Computer stops at verifying dmi pool data...
It doesnt appear to stop at that line in any of the examples posted and always has shown the next line
"Boot from CD"
which is why I suggested to ignore the prompt.

[Sylvander]

What if...
The BIOS was registering that there was NO LONGER a master HDD connected [is there a slave HDD, and are the drives ALL set to auto-detect?]
[If you don't change the hardware surely there should be no DMI change registered?]
Perhaps the IDE cable has come adrift or the m/b battery is on the blink and the BIOS configuration settings are being lost/changed.
For whatever reason....the DMI Pool Data registers that there is no master HDD and that cannot be allowed to remain unchallenged/unfixed.

So the BIOS updates the DMI Pool Data and instead of attempting to boot by loading from the master HDD [which it thinks is no longer present], it tries to boot from the CD-drive [which comes after the HDD in the boot sequence?] not the slave HDD, but of course it cannot because there is no bootable CD in the drive.
Perhaps things WOULD have stopped at "Verifying DMI Pool Data" had there been no other drive available to boot [that came after the HDD in the boot sequence].

Possible Resolution Methods : Method One (http://www.dewassoc.com/support/win98/verify_dmi_data.htm)
Except no need for item 9 because the HDD is already partitioned and formatted.

[FrustratedInXP]

GAWD I HATE IE!!!!!! I just lost my entire reply. :-\

#$%#*^!!!!!

Yes all -- I have only one hard drive.

Sylvander, thanks -- I actually saw both of the links you listed in my several-hour
attempts to search the Web for solutions, and the ones that were relevant enough
I couldn't follow through with for lack of the now infamous "disk". I also think the
floppy might be the next drive in the boot sequence.

>Means there is either no detectable master on that channel or it is bad or badly
>connected or has a bad cable. ... If you only have one HDD you may need to
>have the BIOS set to boot HDD1 and not HDD0 or change the slave to a master
>by changing its position on the cable and jumpering it correctly or have boot other
>device enabled.

Uh-oh! I try not to mess with inner workings, but I can do the HDD1/HDD0 option.
Is that also in advanced BIOS? If so, do you know the menu, please?

>Safe mode is of no significance until you can get the boot processes to reach the
>active partition on the active drive.

Well ... don't you think that because of the following "case" (~lol~), this might be
most likely to be a virus/malware as opposed to a cable issue?

* I was only able to get there once, and that was even not on purpose. Then
the odd file disappeared from the process list, and now I can't get back to safe
mode at all. It's like the virus/malware purposely prevents me from going there
to first see what's causing the prob, or have any chance of fixing it easily. I
could just be being paranoid, but it does seem a little malicious, don't ya think!

Not challenging your expertise/diagnoses, I just get the feeling something is
trying to sabotage me here.

>Assuming you only have one HDD then getting it correctly set in the BIOS
>may be all that is needed and as long as the HDD is not damaged you should
>be able to install a parallel installation of WinXP (need that CD again) to
>access your data.

I actually would not be losing as much work as I thought, so I'm fine with not
recovering the data if that nixes the need for the CD. Will I still need the CD if
I'm not trying to recover my files?

I'll try the above suggestions (where a disk isn't needed) once I get home to
the computer. Wish I'd seen your edits last night -- I was up til 3AM. ~lol~

Thanks again -- I appreciate everyone's help here.

~ HARMONY

[FrustratedInXP]

WOW - this has to be very bad.

Went to adv. BIOS = > Hard Disk Boot Priority

As I mentioned above (I think), there used to be something here. This afternoon,
that "something" is no longer. Instead of two options now, there's just one:
"1. bootable add-in cards".

And the boot priority was changed to floppy, then CD rom. I just changed it back
to HD, floppy, CD rom, but ... the PC isn't finding the HD still anyway. Now even
worse than before.

:-\

~HARMONY

[Quantax]

If you have access to another PC + six floppies, then go to www.bootdisk.com you could then create a Win XP boot disk which has the Recovery Console with it. That would enable you to run the command "fixboot" which *might* correct this.

[FrustratedInXP]

Oh! Awesome. I'll try this at work tomorrow.

Thank you...

~HARMONY

[Paul Komski]

Well ... don't you think that because of the following "case" (~lol~), this might be most likely to be a virus/malware as opposed to a cable issue?
Boot sector viruses dont typically prevent a computer from booting. They need to have a somewhat functional system so that they can replicate via floppies or other media or via a network; they "kill themselves" if they kill the boot-up prematurely. It looks to me most likely that you have a failing/failed hard drive and the best way to check that out is to either try the drive in a second system or to check it with its own maker's bootable floppy or cd. If the drive is recognised in the BIOS setup AND passes its diagnostics we can look further at correcting any software faults on the drive.

[FrustratedInXP]

Quantax ... I'm confused.

Do I just start the computer with the first floppy disk in there? It still says:

Boot from CD :
DISK BOOT FAILURE...etc.

I went to advanced BIOS and changed the boot priority to floppy/HD/CD instead
of HD/floppy/CD, but still nothing.

I also was going to try the solution Sylvander gave from ...
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000474.htm
...but I don't know how to get to the A: command prompt - the first step. :-\

Also, can I do http://www.dewassoc.com/support/win98/verify_dmi_data.htm
as you instructed without breaking anything else, Sylvander, seeing as I'm on
WinXP and not 95/98?

I have the six XP SP2 boot floppy disks now.


It looks to me most likely that you have a failing/failed hard drive and the best way to check that out is to either try the drive in a second system or to check it with its own maker's bootable floppy or cd.Oh, I understand now. Thanks for the explanation.

Okay, I'd like to try what you suggest there above, but I'm unsure how to
get started. Will you please help?

~H

[Quantax]

Follow Paul's suggestion. I had some doubts about the floppies but thought that it might be an easier solution but apparently it just doesn't work out.

[FrustratedInXP]

You mean this?

>The WinXP CD is a bootable CD. Have you tried booting to it and just see if it can
>even see the HDD. You could also grab the HDD maker's diagnostics from their
>website and make a boot CD or floppy to use to check the HDD.

If so, I'm unsure how to go about it. I'm a complete newbie at this, and just need
a little more direction. How do I "check the HDD" if not in the way(s) I already tried
(with the disks & BIOS) above?

Thank you...

~H

[Paul Komski]

What is the make model or serial number of your hard drive? Someone can then direct you to the correct utility if you cant find it from the links on the page at: http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=29081

To boot from a bootable cd you must have
1) a cddrive that can read that cdrom
2) a cdrom that has been made bootable (eg a WinXP installation CD)
3) have CD prior to the HDD in the boot order of the BIOS setup
4) not miss any prompts to boot selectively to the CROM during bootup by hitting a specific key
5) not have a floppy in its drive if floppy comes before CD in the boot order

The same general points would apply to a bootable floppy.

HDD diagnostics are made on either or both; floppy and/or cdrom. A file is downloaded which is then used to create the bootable floppy or CD. This is left in its drive while the system is rebooted.

[FrustratedInXP]

Hi!

I changed the boot priority to find the floppy drive first, then NO other drive.
With the floppy in there, I *restarted using the BUTTON* (CTRL+Alt+Del didn't
cut it), and got the following message:

IDE Channel 0 Master : None
IDE Channel 0 Slave : Maxtor 6E040L0 NAR61590
IDE Channel 1 Master : LITE-ON LTR-40125W WS03
IDE Channel 1 Slave : None

Warning:The boot devices have been changed.
BBS boot priority will be affected.Please enter setup to check

F1 to continue; setup to checkInteresting! (To me at least... ~lol~)

Pressing F1 led me to the WinXP startup screen ... where I promptly got
excited! My excitement waned and turned to dread when I then got the
following screen immediately after the few seconds of WinXP appearing to
boot:

IDE Channel 0 Master : None
IDE Channel 0 Slave : None
IDE Channel 1 Master : LITE-ON LTR-40125W WS03
IDE Channel 1 Slave : None

Warning:The boot devices have been changed.
BBS boot priority will be affected.Please enter setup to check

F1 to continue; setup to check
I believe the first post above offers the make/model you asked for...?
(Maxtor 6E040L0 NAR61590)

~H

[FrustratedInXP]

Okay, I think what I now need to do to test this thing is here (https://maxtor.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/maxtor.cfg/php/enduser/olh_adp.php?p_faqid=464&p_sid=1N4Ovo4i&p_lva=#) .

Since that involves screwing with stuff internally, I'll ask someone else to do it
as soon as I can. I'll give updates.

~H

[Paul Komski]

Your link lists the physical things to check.

This link (http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/maxtor/menuitem.3c67e325e0a6b1f6294198b091346068/?channelpath=/en_us/Support/Software%20Downloads/View%20By%20Category/Desktop%20Storage/DiamondMax%20Family/Diagnostics&downloadID=22) is the software than runs from a floppy. It will only work of course if the drive is temporarily at least recognised in the BIOS, which is why trying the drive (physical thing again) in another system could help to exclude the CMOS battery or cabling problems.

And this link (http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/menuitem.5d2b41d3cef51dfe29dd10a191346068/?channelpath=/en_us/Support/Product%20Support/Desktop%20Storage/DiamondMax%20Family/DiamondMax%20Plus%208) appears to be your model.

[FrustratedInXP]

Hi - I have issues.

I got an XP boot CD that allows me to install XP, repair, etc. Well, I clicked
F3 for "repair", and got this message:

Setup did not find any hard disk drives installed in your computer.

Etc.

:-(

Guess I'll have to have someone do the slave drive thing you guys were telling
me about. Just offering an update...

~H

[mjc]

It is looking more and more like a bad drive or cable.

[mza_pakistani]

Hi all.

I saw a post similar to this, but not exact and it's solution didn't resolve my
problem -- also didn't want to break anything else -- so I'm starting anew. ;~)

I have a custom-built computer with an AMD processor. So I don't have a
boot CD or other disk. I have the latest version of WinXP.

After leaving the computer for about an hour, I came upstairs and I noticed
my HD light was constant-on tonight, and my mouse pointer was frozen. I'd
been having problems for a while with the HD doing stuff that I hadn't told it
to do (basically the light would be on, or flashing a lot, but I'd be across the
room, or at the PC but idle). Tonight, things officially conked out.

I restarted the computer from its hung state, and since then, have not been
able to get past the SECOND black screen where it shows the following:



At the bottom of the page, there is always:



And the problem with that, as I said, is that I've never had a boot disk.

One time it also said:



Though I can't remember what I did to have it read "update success" that
time -- if applicable.

Elsewhere on the screen is the following, if it's of any consequence:



There's no floppy disk in the hard drive, and I've unplugged everything from
all the USB ports on my computer.

I've gone into Advanced BIOS and the computer appears to be reading the
hard drive FIRST in its boot priority, which is a good thing ... but I guess
it's not really reading it at all.

I've tried switching "Boot Other Device" to Disabled, and I still can't boot up.
Tried switching HDD SMART to Enabled, same thing. Please also note that I'm
NOT able to F8 into safe mode.

:-/

The #@$%# thing just won't let me do anything but continually view this
black screen. No matter how many times I reboot.

I did get into safe mode ONCE by restarting abruptly from one of the blue
BIOS screens, and saw a wmi??????.exe process running in task manager.
But by the time I turned to my laptop, opened a browser window, and had
typed in the "w" of what I think was "wmi...."-something on this mysterious
file, the file had DISAPPEARED from the list.

And I've not been able to get back into safe mode since to see what
the name of it was.

Will someone please help me ultimately boot XP normally, and get rid of
whatever virus (I assume) I have?

Thanks.

* HARMONY

most of all noticing point was, which every man ignored
HDD was detected as ????????6789y4bj74
or something like this

you just have to change your IDE or SATA data bus cable

and i am sure it will work
if it doesnt then 100% it is power supply that has become faulty you have to change that


SAlam

[classicsoftware]

mza_pakistani:

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

I just want to point out that this thread is over 4+1/2 years old. I'm certain the problem has been solved by now. Please pay attention to the age of the thread when posting....