Disk Boot Failure

[bullwinkle]

I try not to bother you guys unless I'm really at my wits end.  That's where I am now.

Back in the hardware section, I detailed the problems I had with my son's computer.  I finally took it in to my friend who repairs them.  mb problems and video card problems as it turned out.  He got the system to post, and then he gave it back to me.

For the life of me, I can't get the system to boot up.  I've reset the connections to the HD and CD drive.  I've set the boot setup for each in turn in the SETUP, using an XP boot disk in the CD drive.  I've even connected the system to a HD I know boots up.

Nothing. 

The system does recognize the HD in the posting process, but I'm out of ideas.  Do any of you have some?

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
1/2 gig memory
XP sp3
brand new 850W Raidmax RX-850AE PSU

[Geek-9pm]

Trying to boot from aHDD of another PC is not a very good test.
Only as a diagnostic aid, you can try a 'Live Linux' CD ans see if it boots from that. If it does boot, it may indicate an issue with the Hard Drive.
Have your friend burn a copy of one of the many Live Linux distros onto a CD.
Here is a short list:
Five Best Live Linux CDs

[bullwinkle]

The HD I used to test the boot comes from my PC, which has the exact same motherboard.  So it should work.  Also I don't know why it won't boot from the CD drive either, with a bootable XP CD in it.

[Geek-9pm]

OK, you already did the CD boot test.
So there is a problem with the BIOS settings.
Can you get into the BIOS?
Can you restore it to default s default settings?
Older PCs use the same electronics for the CD and the HD. So there may be some kind of issue with the ribbon cable the ties the drives to the motherboard. Maybe the slave and master got swapped.
Does the BIOS find  the HD and the CD correctly?

[jason2074]

Try also disabling your Floppy disc drive and or removing the power/cable connectors after loading default settings. A CMOS reinserting ( or replacement) after a couple of minutes to reset hardware configuration is also worth looking.

[patio]

When you try the XP CD is CDRom set as 1st boot drive in the BIOS ? ?
When you make the change you need to Press F10 to "save changes and exit"...
The PC will re-boot auto so have the XP CD in when you do it...

If the above method does not work then your CMOS battery is dead...Part # CR2032...available anywhere...

[bullwinkle]

OK, so here is what I did and in this order...
1. replaced the battery (I had an idea it might be dead)
2. made sure the BIOS was reading the HD for bootup
nothing.
3. changed the BIOS to default settings
nothing.
4. cleared the CMOS
nothing.

The system recognizes the 2 HDs and the CD drive.  But still gives Disk Boot Failure message.

Other ideas?

[Geek-9pm]

For diagnostic purpose.
You need to boot with just one HD and no CD.

In some older desktop computes the BIOS will select the wrong drive. So you must have only one drive and it should boot. Or you will get a different  error message.

[bullwinkle]

Just did it with the C: drive.  The system recognized it, as usual.

But same result.

[patio]

Does it boot to the CD now with the new battery ? ?

The HDD's sound like the bootloader on them is wonked which can be fixed with a startup repair...

[bullwinkle]

Well the battery wasn't new...I got it from another mb.  I could try booting it up just from my HD, which has the same mb in case the original C: drive is damaged.

[bullwinkle]

I tried booting it from my HD which works - and that is the only drive that is connected in the system. 

Same result.

[Geek-9pm]

I tried booting it from my HD which works - and that is the only drive that is connected in the system. 

Same result.

Either the motherboard is bad or the float cable is damaged.  What kind of cable is it? Is the cable the dame on both computers? 

[bullwinkle]

I don't know the different types of cables.  The data cable is red with both ends the same, rather short.  The power cable has a narrow end with a jig on one end, quite unlike the 4 prong cables for the fans.  I know the older drives used to have the 4 prong.  These do not.  They fit the power cables that came with the brand new PSU - so I don't think the system is THAT old.

The mb is one of my old ones that I dumped because it could only function on one stick of memory.  For some reason more than that messed it up and caused blue screens.  But other than that, it worked fine.

[Geek-9pm]

I meant the data cables for the hard drives. Very old computers use a flat cable with either 40 or 80 wires. These often fail when treated roughly. And it is very easy to plug them in backwards.

[bullwinkle]

No, this computer isn't that old.  It uses the standard cable for data, about 1/2 inch in width.

[patio]

Try a brand new data cable...
Were there any issues with the HDD leading up to this ? ?

[bullwinkle]

No issues.  I don't have a new cable, but I can switch them around.  Thing is, it wouldn't boot off the CD drive either, so I doubt both cables were bad.

[patio]

Thats true...didnt think of that.
Still worth a try...
That used battery could still be the culprit you know...

[bullwinkle]

Just talked to my friend in the PC repair business.  He said he'd get it to boot for free.  Nice guy.  My fear is that it's another mb problem - and it's difficult replacing a mb that old.

I'll keep you posted since you put so much time into my problem, and thanks for your help.

[patio]

Anytime...

[bullwinkle]

Mystery Solved!

Turns out there are two sets of connections for the data cable.  I had them connected to the red connectors, they should have been connected to the black.  I thought the red connectors were the proper ones.

My fault.

[patio]

Even though it's a brain fart ...that's good news.
Congrats !