Boot Failure

[gb2100]

i have come accross a problem thats driving me insane trying to fix lol

I have just built a machine but having problems getting a operating system onto it. I have got 1x sata hdd and 1x ata hdd

I am wanting to install either win7 or xp these are the only 2 i have lol

I have first tried to install onto the ata hdd, the bios picks up both hdd and dvd drive correctly then when i try to boot anything (have tried booting various other disks partitioning tools ect. aswell as os disks both cd and dvd) i get the error "Disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter"

i then tried to install to the sata hdd, again all ok in bios, with the ata drive connected i get the same error BUT when i remove the ata it will boot any disk no problems BUT the sata drive is set to Dynamic so i cant do anything with it at all.

I have tried 2 different ata drives (so 3 in total) and all worked in other systems but all give me the boot failure error.

ive tried resetting cmos using the jumper and battery method, the dvd drive is ata and both dvd drive and hdd both running on the 1 cable as theres only one on the board. ive checked jumper settings and tried cable select too.

Anyone any clues????? could it have something to do with running both dvd and hdd on the same one?? because it boots fine with the sata. OR anyone know how i could change the sata from dynamic to basic without having to boot into windows?? would reeeely prefer not to format the sata but if thats the only option then i will

[jaclaz]

Anyone any clues????? could it have something to do with running both dvd and hdd on the same one?? because it boots fine with the sata. OR anyone know how i could change the sata from dynamic to basic without having to boot into windows?? would reeeely prefer not to format the sata but if thats the only option then i will

Lots of them.

Let's simplify.

Forget about Windows 7 and about the SATA HD.

Let's remain in the XP and PATA realm, OK?

Questions:

1. Is the DVD PATA or SATA?
   
2. HOW exactly are the PATA HD and DVD connected to the board?
   
3. Which Board is it?
   
4. HOW EXACTLY did you set boot options in BIOS?
   
5. Can the PATA HD be wiped/re-initialized (losing all and every data curently on it?
   
6. WHICH kind of PATA cable are you using?
   
7. WHICH EXACT hard disk drive is it (make/model/size)?
   
8. HOW are jumpers (if any) set on both the HD and on the DVD?
   

jaclaz

[gb2100]

yes xp and ata is what i know lol i used to be very good at all this but have been away from the scene for 5-6 yrs now so v rusty

Questions:

1. Is the DVD PATA or SATA? Its a PATA its a pioneer DVR 115DBK
   
2. HOW exactly are the PATA HD and DVD connected to the board? via a single round ide cable (2 connectors) hard drive on the end connector and dvd on the 2nd (have tried switching)
   
3. Which Board is it?biostar MCP6P M2+
   
4. HOW EXACTLY did you set boot options in BIOS? hit Del at post to enter setup then went to advanced settings and changed boot device priority to 1st cdrom, 2nd hard disk 3rd removable
   
5. Can the PATA HD be wiped/re-initialized (losing all and every data curently on it? yes the pata hard drive can be wiped if necasary
   
6. WHICH kind of PATA cable are you using? currently using a round ide cable but also tried 2 different ribbon style cables
   
7. WHICH EXACT hard disk drive is it (make/model/size)? seagate 7200.7 120gb but also have a 7200.11 80gb that could use but dont want to wipe that one
   
8. HOW are jumpers (if any) set on both the HD and on the DVD? currently set to dvd master and hard drive slave. have tried swapping and also tried using cable select
   

Thanx for your help

[Tripredacus]

I'd recommend either using Cable Select or make the HDD the master.

If you are going to use the SATA drive, make sure the DVD-ROM is set to master if the ATA HDD is not present.

[jaclaz]

In my experience Cable Select is the most troublesome setting one can use (the idea is good , but the implementation has been so "full of fantasy" that rarely you can find three pieces - HD/CD/MB - that have the "same opinion" on how to understand the "standard").

There are TWO types of PATA cables, 40 wires and 80 wires. (you can have both as "round" or "ribbon")

The "old" 40 wires are NOT coded.

The "new" 80 wires ones ARE coded.

DO NOT use 40 Wires cables unless it is a very old hard disk (which the 7200.7 should be NOT).

See here:

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCable80-c.html

The advice is to use these settings are:

1. HD Master
   
2. CD/DVD slave
   
3. HD connected to the BLACK end connector
   
4. DVD connected to the GRAY connector (middle one)
   
5. Motheboard connected to the BLUE end connector
   

jaclaz

[gb2100]

thanx, i am using the 80wire cables, have just tried that setup and all showed up in bios correctly but same error "Disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter" but i know the dvd's are ok because they boot perfectly without the hard drive connected. will my board boot from usb since it has the removable option in the device prority?

[jaclaz]

thanx, i am using the 80wire cables, have just tried that setup and all showed up in bios correctly but same error "Disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter" but i know the dvd's are ok because they boot perfectly without the hard drive connected. will my board boot from usb since it has the removable option in the device prority?

Let's stay in trouble shooting the issue at hand.

Are you sure you set the jumpers appropriately on BOTH devices?

Did you check the mentioned colour code?

Leave the HD connected, but disable the HD in BIOS.

What happens?

The error you are having seems like the CD/DVD is "jumped over" in boot sequence and the attempt to boot is done anyway from the HD.

Some BIOSes allow to press a "Hot key" during boot allowing to change on the fly boot order.

Does your motherboard have this feature?

Can you confirm this is the manual for your MB?

http://www.biostar.com.tw/upload/Manual/N61PB-M2S_090918_B.zip

jaclaz

[gb2100]

The error you are having seems like the CD/DVD is "jumped over" in boot sequence and the attempt to boot is done anyway from the HD.

yes checked the colour code, when i disable the hard drive in bios it boots fine but tells me no hard drive connected. Yes it has the option of hitting F8 to select boot device yeah thats the correct manual.

when im getting this error i can hear the dvd spin up and the led flashes before the error apears so sounds like its still searching the dvd but cant boot because of whatevers wrong with it

[jaclaz]

yeah thats the correct manual.

It seems like being particularly complex to setup the boot priorities on that motherboard.

Can you report EXACTLY what you have set in SEVERAL pages of the BIOS:

1. STANDARD CMOS page (reference Fig. 2/page 7 of manual)
   
2. what happens when you select in it IDE CHANNEL 0 Master
   
3. what happens when you select in it IDE CHANNEL 0 Slave
   
4. Boot Seq & Floppy Setup (reference page 10 of manual)
   
5. what happens when you select in it Removable Device Priority
   
6. what happens when you select in it Hard disk Boot Priority
   
7. what happens when you select in it CDROM Boot Priority
   

The sub-pages of Hard disk Boot Priority and CDROM Boot Priority are "strange", since you have only one IDE channel you don't have in theory a Primary master /Primary slave AND a Secondary Master/Secondary slave, unless the IDE is intended to be the "Master" (or the Slave) channel and the SATA is intended to be the Slave (or the Master) channel

Also how are set the options in IDE function Setup? (page 18 of manual)

jaclaz

[Ponch]

Does Bios report correctly when both are connected ("HDD" and "DVD") ?

[gb2100]

sorry lost my net so couldnt report back, got this problem sorted, still no idea of the cause though? lol i installed xp via usb all went good so rebooted and tried to install from cd again and it all just worked lol