Disk Boot Failure. Please Help Me!

[ches111]

That was the reason for my recommendation!!

It appears he has:

1 HDD SATA

1 OPTICAL drive (probably IDE)

 

[michaelahess]

I know, I'm just a stickler for the word NEED not being used correctly

 

[ches111]

RMan,

Just so you know CS normally means that the drive configures itself based upon ists position on the cable in the middle or at the end.

 

[shadowduck]

thanks for the help but I have trouble believing that that is the issue. My motherboard manufacturer recomended the RAM that I'm using after I have trouble with my first RAM choice. Also On Corsair's website, the memory I have is what they recomend for my mobo. Is it a voltage issue?

Also, since this is my first boot, I don't think I can get a hold of that software you recomended since I have no opperating system on it yet.

Have seen it time and time agian, bad RAM causing weird problems. It does not matter if its the RAM your mobo manufactor told you to buy, it can still be faulty .

You don't need an OS to run Memtest86. It creates a floppy with its own OS. Ultimate Boot CD works too.

 

[rman3349]

is there any significance to the fact that my HDD is a slave. With this work if it is a master.

More broadly, Am I understanding correctly that the reason that my disk drive is not being read is because the boot up procedure checks the HDD first, and if there is somthing wrong with that then it never even gets to the disk drive? If so, why is it telling me to insert a disk?

Man this is slightly more confusing than I thought it would be

 

[LPS]

is there any significance to the fact that my HDD is a slave. With this work if it is a master.

More broadly, Am I understanding correctly that the reason that my disk drive is not being read is because the boot up procedure checks the HDD first, and if there is somthing wrong with that then it never even gets to the disk drive? If so, why is it telling me to insert a disk?

Man this is slightly more confusing than I thought it would be

Rman,

Check that in bios you can actually see your DVDrom drive listed.

 

[rman3349]

will it be listed as an IDE Deivce? The obvious answer to this would seem to be yes, but if this is so then I have some more question (bear with me here)

When I change the SATA port my HDD is plugged into, it shows up in a different spot in the BIOS's list of IDE channels? Why is this? Also, where do I look to see if my DVDROM is detected (manual is quite confusing). Because It is not listed as being in one of the IDE Channels.

THanks again all.

 

[LPS]

OK, now where getting somewhere.

unplug your HDD and run your bios.

See if the DVD is listed now.

 

[rman3349]

nope

 

[LPS]

Check that it is connected correctly.

Check power to drive.

Check the bios is set to allow IDE drives not just SATA.

 

[LPS]

Rman,

Have you got it connected to the green or red IDE connector.

 

[ArbY]

Take the advice of other poster's here and run memtest. You're wasting people's time otherwise.
I had the same error initially with my AM2 build. I flashed the BIOS to an updated version, and ran Memtest86 where many errors were reported.
The board was the ASUS M2N-E, and the memory was OCZ Gold series.

I'm not saying the memtest will definitely report errors back, but it's your best bet as of now. Let it run over night.

 

[ches111]

Arby,

He does not have his Optical drive being recognized.

That is the problem....

Need to walk him through the Bios to enable the PATA and SATA ports and verify the device is found first.

 

[rman3349]

Ok well now that I've been completely embarassed (it was a loose IDE connection) I have another issue, which I suspect realtes to previous comment about HDD configuration. Quoth the Blue Screen of Death:

A Problem has been detected ad windows has been shut down to prevent dmamage to your computer

If this is the first time you've seens this Stop error screen, restart your computer. IF this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check for viruses on your computer. Remove any newly installed hard drives or hard drive controllers. Check your hard drive to make sure it is properly configured and terminated. Run CHKDSK /F to check for hard drive corruption, and the restart your computer.


GOd Damn, I was so hapy for a minute there too

 

[rman3349]

by the way, this happens after a considerable amount of installation has happened. It is not instantaneous, if that matters.

 

[ches111]

No worries it happens...

Now you are getting somewhere.

K,

Now you need to set your HDD to Master please. The jumpers on the back of the drive allow you to do this. This step is not necessary usually but better to eliminate possible issues.

You should also do the same for your CD drive...


Then try again to re-install.

 

[ches111]

You will not even need to enter the Bios at all after these changes..

 

[ches111]

Rman, you have a PM

 

[LPS]

OK.

Now I think it is Windows not using the correct SATA drive.

Have you got a floppy drive?

Get the SATA Drive for use with F6

The ATA preinstallation one.

 

[rman3349]

don't know what that mean but your help is most appreciated. Thanks a bunch!

 

[ches111]

Don't know about the PM or the jumpers?

The PM tab near the top of the forums page ^^^ click it.

Private Message

 

[rman3349]

also how do the jumpers work? Just cap with a little platic thing or what? (yes I'm totally clueless)

and the PM was what I didn't know the meaning of, but I guess you could say both

 

[sweetpants]

Well that error is because the drive is not formated yet.

Man, I hope you aren't really comptia certified, if so give it back.

If he gets that error it means the boot to cd ISN'T working and it's going straight to the HD or he doesn't have a good cd/reader! It doesn't matter what port his HD's are in or even have anything to do with HD's. You can even boot the windows installer off CD without a hard drive in the system.


And if he didn't have a formatted hard drive what would happen then? Ah that's right, same thing.

I honestly don't know if it matters today, but it did in the past, regarding you had your hard drive on, CS, Master, Slave... I assume that's what you're talking about when you say "ports"

 

[rman3349]

just as i was typing that I figured out the PM thing.

 

[sweetpants]

also how do the jumpers work? Just cap with a little platic thing or what? (yes I'm totally clueless)

and the PM was what I didn't know the meaning of, but I guess you could say both

'

Usually on the back of the drive you can determine how you want the drive set on the cable.

You can leave it as CS (Cable Select) and put it at the end of an IDE cable (granted it's IDE) and it will take the role of master. I honestly don't know what happens if you put a hard drive set as master in the position of slave (most likely some errors, again granted you have an IDE drive).

With SATA it's a bit different as you can only have 1 device per channel. (I may not be saying this technically correct, but I will leave it to someone else to correct me). So leaving a SATA drive as CS or Master should work fine.

The jumpers are on the back of the drive and usually there is a diagram on the top of the drive that indicates what positions determine which priority.