Stuck in the BIOS

[Guest]

Hi!

I was hoping that someone from this forum could help me with an old 486 that I was recently given sans hard drive. Apparently, the thing worked fine when it had a HD a few months ago, but when I installed a new Western Digital and powered the PC up it hung in the BIOS, just short of where it typically runs the memory check. I reseated the memory to no avail. Any suggestion about where I should look next? The kids are gertting antsy to get playing on this dinosaur.

Thanks!

S.H.

 

[Guest]

Thanks, Wusy! I think you hit the nail on the head with the HD comment. BTW, I did build my last PC about two years ago just before my son was born and have been overclocking that Celeron 300A ever since <G>. It runs like a dream. I've beem out of PC stuff since that time and have been wondering what the hot new thing to overclock is.

Thanks again!

S.H.

 

[Crashman]

You probably have the cable on backwards, otherwise it would hang when it checked the disk. If the light stays on, it's backward. But the light might not work, so check both ends of the cable. Pin 1 is marked red, but it also works if both ends are backwards (not just one), so it might have been switched around at the other end before you got it. Check WD's website for ways to make it work, they have a partitioning software for it to make it appear smaller than it is, and instructions for setting it up in bios.

Suicide is painless...........

 

[Guest]

a 486 won't automaticaly detect a hd you have to go into the bios go to hd and tell it to auto detect.
also listen to see if the hd spins up when it boots. while your in the bios also make sure it is set to boot from "a" first and enable floppy seek. i always keep mine dissabled so i don't have to listen to the floppy complian every time it boots.

who is more foolish...
the fool, or the fool that takes his advice?

 

[Crashman]

If his hard drive is too big, the computer can't detect it. He'll have to set it up as something small enough for the controller to understand, then use disk partitioning software. But his computer does not boot far enough to get into bios!

Suicide is painless...........

 

[Crashman]

Now how is he going to do that if it didn't have one in the first place?


Suicide is painless...........

 

[Guest]

What do you have the Celeron running at now?

 

[Guest]

The problem I have with the 486 is that it won't allow access to the BIOS. The screen says to hit the delete key for setup, but the action fails to produce anything. Also, the HD is receiving power, as when I remove its cable I hear it power down and subsequently get an error report during boot up about the BIOS being unable to detect the HD.

One odd thing is that the A:drive light does not come on, but were there a problem, I would assume that I would also get a report aboutit not being detected.

 

[Guest]

"I've beem out of PC stuff since that time and have been wondering what the hot new thing to overclock is".

The answer to that question is without doubt DURON. My Duron 600 runs flawlessly at 950MHz using 1.7 volts.

Aussie

 

[Guest]

i don't know if the "a" drive should light yet.
you aren't going far enough though the boot sequence.
try pulling your ram and install them one at a time to see if one might be bad. (72 pin simm....30 pin simms only work in pairs and have to be in adjacent slots. ie 0&1 or 2&3)

who is more foolish...
the fool, or the fool that takes his advice?