Error message on boot sequence?

[Techrookie]

For about a month now I have been getting the following message when booting up: "checking media (fail)". This appears twice then a normal boot follows. I haven't noticed any problems with any hardware or software so this is more of an "annoyance" then an issue for now. I'm not sure how or why the problem started since I don't always stay next to the machine when it boots but it didn't exist when I first got it late last year.
 
I have contacted Dell and their solution is to re-install Win 8 which I'm not quite ready to do yet since I don't think it would solve this. I have seen the same issue posted on various forums but so far no solution has been offered.

If anyone has experienced this I would appreciate getting some feedback on whether there is a fix or not and on what is causing this.
 
Thanks.

Dell Inspiron 5520
Win 8 (64 bit)

[patio]

Check to see if there is a "floppy seek at boot up" option in the BIOS...if there is disable it.
Believe it or not even many new PC's still have this in the BIOS and floppy drives have almost disappeared.
I have no idea why Dell would suggest what they did  as it has nothing to do with the OS itself...silly.

[Techrookie]

Win8 uses UEFI and the only thing I noticed was that there is a line that has the following:
     
              mSATA Device            Not detected

I'm not sure what this means but I'm doing some research.....
Thanks 

[TechnoGeek]

For about a month now I have been getting the following message when booting up: "checking media (fail)". This appears twice then a normal boot follows. I haven't noticed any problems with any hardware or software so this is more of an "annoyance" then an issue for now. I'm not sure how or why the problem started since I don't always stay next to the machine when it boots but it didn't exist when I first got it late last year.

Check the BIOS/UEFI settings and see if network or PXE is listed under boot order. If so, move it to start after the hard drive or disable it. The "media check failure" or "media test failure, check cable" message is often caused by network boot trying to start when there is no network (ethernet) cable plugged in.

I have contacted Dell and their solution is to re-install Win 8 which I'm not quite ready to do yet since I don't think it would solve this. I have seen the same issue posted on various forums but so far no solution has been offered.

I agree, if the message appears before the 'starting windows' message, reinstalling windows will almost certainly not fix it.

[Techrookie]

Thanks for the answer.
Network or PXE is not listed in the UEFI settings.
On the other hand I got a call from a Dell tech who told me that they are working on trying to figure out what causes the message but I don't really know if they will get back to me anytime soon.
I'll keep looking around for a solution.

[patio]

If their suggestion to re-install Win8 to fix a boot error message is any indication i wouldn't wait for that phone call myself...
Contact the MBoard Manuf. and you may get better results...

[Techrookie]

A Dell tech did call me and after some time on the phone we determined that the issue is indeed with the boot sequence. In the UEFI boot the first items displayed are:
     UEFI Onboard LAN IPv4
     UEFI Onboard LAN IPv6
     Windows Boot Manager
and it seems that the first 2 items need a network connection which isn't yet available thus the "error" messages.

In the settings I had to change the boot mode to "legacy secure boot off" instead of UEFI boot mode. After restarting I went into the setup where I found the following order:
     Network
     Hard Drive
     CD/DVD/CD-RW Drive

I changed the order to put Network last (couldn't disable it as Dell suggested); after rebooting once more I went back into the settings and change the boot option back to "UEFI secure boot on" and that solved the problem.

Below are the instructions that Dell sent me if that helps. Good luck!!! 

I would like to confirm if you can connect via network(NIC/LAN) using the machine.
Also, as a workaround here is what I can suggest for now
(Choose boot order while in Legacy boot setting):

1. Go to One Time Boot menu (F12)
2. Select Change Boot Mode Setting then choose Legacy Boot Secure boot off or on
3. Go to One Time Boot menu (F12) again and select  Enter Setup
4. Choose Boot tag and Legacy Boot should be selected.
5. Make sure that hard drive comes first on the list. If Network is appearing, select it and choose disable.
Save setup and restart the computer.
 

[patio]

Glad you are fixed up and Thanx for posting back with the solutions...