Secondary slave hard disk fail

[unicorn]

I have a computer that I have just reformatted and plan to install Win98SE on it.  Before the reformat, I had issues with a floppy drive fail (40) and Secondary slave hard disk fail.  Google returns on this error tell me that POST detects an error in the secondary slave IDE hard disk.  All well and good, but what does this mean to me in terms of correcting the error?
I changed the floppy drive cable and fixed that error, but I cannot think how to deal with the hard disk fail error.  Would different cable fix that too, or is this a BIOS problem (which is what I think, but I don't really know how to address it, if so.  Or is it something else entirely.  The computer originally came from the factory with a partitioned hard drive, obviously named C and D.  When I reformatted this machine some time ago due to unsolvable errors, I eliminated the partition, since I don't feel the need for them, as this machine is going to serve as simple data storage on my home network.  I don't plan on even installing anything other than an operating system and the few things needed to make the network run.  Does this secondary slave error refer to the drive D that no longer exists?  If this is the case, how to I stop the thing from looking for drive D?
Any help you guys can offer will be appreciated.

[merlin_2]

http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000426.htm

sorry to press you on you woes....but! more ifo is needed.on the setup up and ram etc......lowdown is needed....

[unicorn]

Since I cannot yet reinstall Win98SE, unless this HD failure prevented the reformat, I do not have an operating system on it yet.  Has 192 mb memory on 3 separate 64 mb cards.  Processor is an AMD-K6 and CPU clock speed is 475 mhz.

[merlin_2]

very strange  for a hard drive that came from a factory partitioned.?change the bios setup.....and boot from cdrom.
or run diagnostics on the hard drives......maxtor/wd/segate........pick the website your drive belongs too!

[unicorn]

Thanks, I'll try that out.

I don't know if this matters or bears on the subject, but I didn't think to post this until I had seen your last one... when I turn the system on and it goes thru the startup stuff,  it tells me that there is the secondary hd error and to hit f1 to resume startup and then I get C:\> and I guess since there is no operating system, it won't accept the instructions to look at A:\ or D:\ (with D being the cdrom now).  So how can I try to boot from the cdrom, since I guess there aren't any drivers after this reformat?  Or boot from the floppy drive like you normally would, since that error has been addressed?

[merlin_2]

WIN3.1 floppy drives
WIN 95 needs a cdrom driver  to boot from the drive
WIN98 boots from the cdrom drive<bios boot up change>
Now we go to the makers of most pcs......recovery disks.unless altered with auto boot from any drive....

[Raptor]

Have you recently built this system? Make certain that the IDE cables are not connected the other way around, not all older systems had keyed IDE cables like they do today.