Computer will only boot BIOS =[

Tim Pulley

Honorable
Jan 29, 2014
3
0
10,510
PLEASE NOTE: I dont care about the hard drive at this point, i only care about fixing the BIOS

So my friend told me he is having trouble with his computer, He told me that there was a problem with the hard drive and that is all he knows. In my mind i was thinking he was talking about a Tower Desktop, not a Notebook. So i told him, dont worry buddy, i have an extra hard drive that i could give you, ill fix your problem. (its a laptop, so i actually dont have an extra HDD that i can use for testing purposes)

//I actually thought the problem was only software because when some one says the hard drive is problematic, it usually ends up just being the Operating System.

So i took the Laptop to my house, And i tried to start the computer, The startup Splash screen (For ASUS, not windows) came up, and then the computer started to hang (Freeze) on a blank, black screen. After about... 10 minutes i got an error code (Picture one) ((Im choosing to leave pictures out for now, because im not at home))

It was basically telling me that the system BIOS could not connect to one of the drives in the computer. Because i dont have an extra laptop laying around, i couldnt test if the problem was actually the hard drive. So instead of leaving it alone, i decided to try and reinstall the Operating system.

I Downloaded Windows 8.1, Mounted it to a DVD-RW, and put it into the laptop.

The Windows 8 Setup screen came up, I formatted the hard drive (My friend told me to delete everything on the computer while fixing it), and then i went on to install windows

//Question one: If i was successfully able to format the Hard drive, doesnt that mean the hard drive ISNT THE PROBLEM?

When i was installing the new version of windows, i noticed something VERY strange. When all the files got copied to the hard drive, and setup started actually installing the system, it was REALLY slow. I mean... it took like 10-20 minutes to go from 1% to 2% (At this point im thinking the Hard drive could be the problem).

//Heres where things get really bad

So while i was installing Windows (At about 95%) The laptop died.... (it got unpluged). Annoyed and flustered, i start the computer up again, and boot from the disk again (Windows 8 DVD) And the windows setup got frozen.... It would not get to the screen that would allow me to select a hard drive to install to. I waited for an hour before i realized the setup would probably never load correctly.

//Heres where things get alot worse

So i decided to restart the computer, and enter the BIOS, and i decided to restore the BIOS to the default settings. (BIG MISTAKE) This opened up another HUGE can of problems. Once i restored the BIOS to default settings, i restarted(saved changes), and i opened up the boot menu. And OMG, There are NO BOOT OPTIONS

This is my problem that im looking into. Why the heck cant i boot from the DVD drive, Or attempt to boot from the Hard Drive. I tried plugging a USB in to see if i could boot from there.... NOPE

The wierdest thing about all of this.... BIOS KNOWS that the devices are connected, In one of the catagories, it shows that the Hard drive and optical drive are connected, But when i goto the boot catagory, there are NO boot priorites. Its just Empty.

How the heck can this happen?

UPDATE:
Iv decided to add pictures and some additional info, hoping i might get a reply that will help

When i start the computer, and press "Esc" to open up the boot menu, there is the only one option (Setup = BIOS)

When i goto the Sata Config screen, the BIOS can see that the drives are installed -

Picture3.jpg


When i goto the boot section, as you can see, there are no boot options. Also note that "Launch CMS" is disabled -

Picture4.jpg


When i try and Enable "Launch CMS", and save changes. The BIOS just re-starts, and when i go back to check, its been disabled again



* Im thinking that the BIOS is failing to launch CMS, and thats the problem.

*This is just a guess, im not sure what the purpose of CMS is, i just remember that it used to be enabled before i reset the default values



Hope some one can help!!
 
Solution
some googling some people say (apparently that bios brand is not a good one for user friendliness)
some items not steps
1. try disabling fast boot, save setting, reboot enter bios could show boot device list.
2. disable secure boot if its listed anywhere reboot look in bios again for boot device list
3. some people list a boot override listed on the exit page no idea on what to do with it but something about it.

AlbusDlx

Distinguished
Dec 25, 2011
75
0
18,640
To bad you dont have a harddrive to test. Dont happen to have an SSD lying around? Since one would fit just as well =)

And if you dare, you could unplug the hdd and try it in your desktop. ;)
 
you could try resetting the cmos. unplug laptop, remove main battery, remove cmos battery for at least 30secs
****usually the battery is in one of the small doors for where the ram or hard drive compartment are, if you don't see it in one of the compartments then I wouldn't try to reset it as to get to the battery would require a complete disassemble
***also usually laptops don't have a jumper or button to push like a desktop would so the only way to do it is to remove the coin battery
 

Tim Pulley

Honorable
Jan 29, 2014
3
0
10,510

At this point, i dont care if the hard drive is good or not,im only worried about making the computer boot from a drive (There is no point in fixing the HDD if my system cant boot from it)



I opened up the ram/HDD compartment on the laptop, and alas the CMOS battery was not out in the open =[
Any other suggestions in fixing my BIOS?
 
some googling some people say (apparently that bios brand is not a good one for user friendliness)
some items not steps
1. try disabling fast boot, save setting, reboot enter bios could show boot device list.
2. disable secure boot if its listed anywhere reboot look in bios again for boot device list
3. some people list a boot override listed on the exit page no idea on what to do with it but something about it.
 
Solution

Adit Vyas

Reputable
Jul 13, 2014
1
0
4,510
I searched all over the Web and generally don't reply to these posts but for some one who is not as tech savy and going through millions of different possibilities of failed hard drive and mother board etc this was the simplest and most effective solution. It worked like a charm and am glad I came across this for Tim pulley's solution. Thank you mate!!
 

Faze__05

Commendable
Apr 18, 2016
1
0
1,510



Tim Pulley YOU ARE THE MAN!!!!!!!!! thanks soo much, i have struggled day in night to find the solution..TOP BLOKE

 

Ravi_77

Commendable
Dec 16, 2016
1
0
1,510


your the best man.. works 100%
thanks alot

 

rubenvherrera

Commendable
Dec 20, 2016
1
0
1,510


Thank you so much for your time Tim!

You are awesome!

 

fahimshekaib

Commendable
Feb 14, 2017
1
0
1,510
My nephew's Asus motherboard was also booting only into BIOS for two weeks.
So, re installing windows was a solution for it.

- Plugged the hard drive into external reader, it could not read it.
- Removed CMOS and RAM and reinstalled them back a little later, but didn't help.

- Set Fast boot to disabled.
- Launch CMS enabled.

Since I was still seeing the hard drive in BIOS settings, I wasn't sure if hard drive was faulty or not. So, I booted from a Windows 10 Pro CD to check if I can see the hard drive during the installation process. Noticed that it was showing almost 1 TB ( the actual size) , but unallocated just like you see when you buy a new hard drive. Installed, windows 10 Pro again and everything is back to normal.
 

Rick_100

Prominent
Mar 23, 2017
2
0
510

that worked for me
 

Rick_100

Prominent
Mar 23, 2017
2
0
510
Tim Pulley said:
BIOS problem has been solved.
1. Disable secure boot/fast boot - Save
2. Reboot BIOS
3. Enable CMS Boot - Drives are now bootable that worked for me thank you
 

Pazeth

Prominent
Jul 12, 2017
1
0
510


Thanks, you save my life!