Can someone please help me...

[tec699]

Hello all...

I upgraded to a motherboard combo last week. My motherboard combo is Gigabyte Nforce 2 7n400 LI (Ultra) w/ AMD XP 2600. Also, I put in my system a new Western Digital 120 gb HD, Geforce 5900, and a Audigy 2 sound card.

Well I installed my new components in my computer case and when I go to boot up my system it gives one short beep which means the system is healthy. Good so far, then the first screen shows my video card information, then the second screen shows my main processor, and it goes through the memory testing which shows up as OK. All good so far. Then I'll get this after the memory testing...

Primary master: WD 120 gb
Primary slave: WD 40 gb
Secondary master: Toshibia (dvd player)
Secondary slave: TDK (cdrw)

It seems fine so far, and then the system goes into the PCI Devices Listing, and then it starts to verify DMI pool data...

Then it gets weird

My system says>> Boot from Cd (2X)

If I don't have Windows XP (home) in my optical drive I'll get this message>> Disk Boot Failure. Insert system disk and press enter.

If I do have Windows XP (home) in my optical drive I'll get this message>> Setup is inspecting your hardware configuration. Then my computer will go into a black screen and THAT'S IT!! The screen will be black and nothing will come up.

WHAT I'VE NOTICED

1) My system's components are connected properly. My sound card, video card. hard drives, optical drives are all connected and powered.
2) I do have the 12v connector connected properly and firmly on my motherboard. And that goes the same for my power connector.
3) I'm using a 420 Watt Enermax power supply
4) All the lights (Hard drive, optical drives, ram indicator, etc..) all come on when I first boot the computer. That should show that my system is hooked up properly.
5) My mouse and Keyboard aren't lit up. There both plugged in via usb ports in the back of the mobo, but both aren't lit up. I bring this up because I'm pressing the delete key to get into the bios and I get NOTHING. I can't get into the bios screen.

QUESTIONS

1) Why would the system ask to boot from cd? I haven't even entered the bios yet, but it's asking to boot from cd? Isn't that odd? Should't I need to set it to boot from cd first before it asks to do this?

FYI, the mobo is a motherboard combination form Monarch computers. They set the combo up for me, so I'm thinking that they set the motherboard to first boot from cd.

2) Are my primary and slave drives hooked up correctly? I only have 2 IDE channels. The primary IDE channel has my 2 hard drives and the second IDE channel has my 2 optical drives. I'm using rounded cables by the way.

3) Should my keyboard and optical mouse be lit up when I first start the computer? Well they aren't and I'm wondering if they are powered or not, because I can't seem to get to the bios screen by pressing F1 or the delete key. Nothing works.

Well if anyone can please help me it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

 

[TheBDB]

Maybe stupid question.....why don't you check the BIOS to see what the boot order is?

 

[Ionizer86]

It may have defaulted at Boot from CD in bios.

I could recommend some things: try switching the secondary optical drives. Check your jumpers too. You could try changing between the appropriate Master/Slave and Cable Select. If that doesn't work, see if you can dig up some other ATA cables to try.

 

[tec699]

Originally posted by: TheBDB
Maybe stupid question.....why don't you check the BIOS to see what the boot order is?

Well I can't get into the bios. As stated when I have Windows XP in my optical drive it will state that>> Setup is inspecting your hardwares configuration.

The I get a black screen and that's it. Nothing.

 

[TheBDB]

Originally posted by: tec699

Originally posted by: TheBDB
Maybe stupid question.....why don't you check the BIOS to see what the boot order is?

Well I can't get into the bios. As stated when I have Windows XP in my optical drive it will state that>> Setup is inspecting your hardwares configuration.

The I get a black screen and that's it. Nothing.

You should have the option to get into the BIOS before that. When it shows your CPU, memory, etc. there should be a button you push (delete for me) to go to BIOS.

 

[tec699]

Originally posted by: TheBDB

Originally posted by: tec699

Originally posted by: TheBDB
Maybe stupid question.....why don't you check the BIOS to see what the boot order is?

Well I can't get into the bios. As stated when I have Windows XP in my optical drive it will state that>> Setup is inspecting your hardwares configuration.

The I get a black screen and that's it. Nothing.

You should have the option to get into the BIOS before that. When it shows your CPU, memory, etc. there should be a button you push (delete for me) to go to BIOS.

I've tried. I keep hitting the delete key and it goes right into asking if I want to boot from the cd.

I've noticed that my keyboard isn't lit up. It's hooked up via usb port on the back of the motherboard, and the light doesn't show. I'm wondering if the keyboard is properly lit up or not?

I doubt that this is the problem anyway.

 

[tec699]

Originally posted by: Ionizer86
It may have defaulted at Boot from CD in bios.

I could recommend some things: try switching the secondary optical drives. Check your jumpers too. You could try changing between the appropriate Master/Slave and Cable Select. If that doesn't work, see if you can dig up some other ATA cables to try.

I've tried your suggestions last night with no success. I tried using different cables, I tried switching optical drives and I tried switching from master to slave with both my hard drives and optical drives.

No success.

 

[NesuD]

What drive are you supposed to be booting from? The new 120 or the 40 gig? Also did you do a fresh install of xp when you changed the motherboard? Usually when changing that much hardware especially a motherboard you should reformat and do a clean install of xp. Also in the bios, usually accessed by pressing the delete key during the memory test, you should designate the drive to boot from. Hdd-0 would be the primary master and Hdd-1 would be the primary slave in your configuration.

 

[NesuD]

It is also possible that the board doesn'r have usb keyboard support enabled in the bios so that may be why the keyboard doesn'r seem to be working. pug a ps2 keyboard into it and press the delete key during the memory test to access the bios. Can you do anything with the keyboard at any point?

 

[tec699]

Originally posted by: NesuD
What drive are you supposed to be booting from? The new 120 or the 40 gig? Also did you do a fresh install of xp when you changed the motherboard? Usually when changing that much hardware especially a motherboard you should reformat and do a clean install of xp. Also in the bios, usually accessed by pressing the delete key during the memory test, you should designate the drive to boot from. Hdd-0 would be the primary master and Hdd-1 would be the primary slave in your configuration.

My Primary Master on IDE channel 1 is the WD 120 gig hd, so that's what I'm booting form. But thats what the directions say. They tell you that the first IDE channel should be filled with your hd and your second IDE channel should have your optical drives. Which I do. I'm only following directions.

How can I do a fresh install of Win XP when I'm using a new hard drive? My 40 gig hd was on my old ysytem but it was never used. It sat in my system blank as I used my other (100 gig) hd.

As stated I can't get into the bios to cange my configurations. It statrs to ask if I want to boot from cd and then the next thing you know I'm staring at a black screen.

thanks for the help.

 

[tec699]

Originally posted by: NesuD
It is also possible that the board doesn'r have usb keyboard support enabled in the bios so that may be why the keyboard doesn'r seem to be working. pug a ps2 keyboard into it and press the delete key during the memory test to access the bios. Can you do anything with the keyboard at any point?

I believe it's enabled because when my system shows Verifying DMI pool data the usb ports are shown and all of them are assigned numbers. This means that there working. I'm going to try and bring my parents keyboard home because they have one that's non-usb.

Maybe that will work. I doubt it though.

thanks.

 

[NesuD]

So are you saying windows was never installed on either hard drive? if so that is the problem. The board can't find a bootable partition on either drive because one was never created. Have you ever installed windows XP before. I don't mean to sound rude but this looks as if you never installed windows unless i am misunderstanding you.

 

[MrBond]

I'll second the keyboard thing, you might need a PS/2 keyboard to get into the bios. If the lights aren't lighting up when the PC is initially powered on, that's a sign it's not working. Also check to see if the numlock/capslock/etc keys make their lights light up.

You should be able to get into the xp install at least, i can't imagine the keyboard would cause that problem.

 

[tec699]

Originally posted by: NesuD
So are you saying windows was never installed on either hard drive? if so that is the problem. The board can't find a bootable partition on either drive because one was never created. Have you ever installed windows XP before. I don't mean to sound rude but this looks as if you never installed windows unless i am misunderstanding you.

Of course I installed Windows before. I built my first computer last year and I installed windows XP on that system. But I took out the hard drive and replaced it with a brand new hard drive plus motherboard combo, AMD XP 2600, Nvidia 5900, etc...

The main hard drive that I have does not have Win XP. It's blank. Bare. I'm trying to first get to the bios but can't because it will not allow for me to do this.

 

[NesuD]

ok reread your first post and i see it is black screening on you when windows setup is inspecting your system. try this remove or disconnect everything except the vid card, the hdd you are putting windows on and the toshiba dvd-rom and see if setup runs in that config without black screening.

As far as not getting to the bios I would say it probably doesn't have usb keyboard support enabled in the bios. if that is the case you won'r be able to get into the bios with that keyboard until it is enabled. The bios can only be accessed during POST (cpu detection, memory test, and drive detection) It's also possible that this is what is hanging windows setup. Might be getting stuck trying to find a keyboard.

My apologies on missing the setup black screening thing I didn't mean to insult you.

 

[tec699]

Originally posted by: NesuD
ok reread your first post and i see it is black screening on you when windows setup is inspecting your system. try this remove or disconnect everything except the vid card, the hdd you are putting windows on and the toshiba dvd-rom and see if setup runs in that config without black screening.

As far as not getting to the bios I would say it probably doesn't have usb keyboard support enabled in the bios. if that is the case you won'r be able to get into the bios with that keyboard until it is enabled. The bios can only be accessed during POST (cpu detection, memory test, and drive detection) It's also possible that this is what is hanging windows setup. Might be getting stuck trying to find a keyboard.

My apologies on missing the setup black screening thing I didn't mean to insult you.

Well I tried a PS/2 keyboard with no luck. No lights, nothing on the keyboard which tells me that the keyboard isn't turnign on for some reason.

Nesus when I initially first boot up I saw this...


PCI devices Listing...

USB 1.1 Host Cntrlr IRQ= 11
USB 1.1 Host Cntrlr IRQ= 9
USB 2.0 Host Cntrlr IRQ= 5

and so on....

This should tell me that the usb on my motherboard are working, right?

And I saw this...

Primary HDD S.M.A.R.T. capability is disabled
Secondary HDD S.M.A.R.T capability is disabled

What does that mean? Does anyone know?

NesuD don't worry about it. I really do appreciate your help. Thank you.

thanks all..

 

[NesuD]

That is very puzzling to me. hard to believe that a new board won't detect the keyboard like that. I am assuming that you did plug the ps2 keyboard into the correct connector (green mouse) (pink or whatever you want to call the color is for the keyboard). Only thing i can suggest is maybe clear the cmos and try booting it with minimal hardware like just cpu ram and video to see if maybe something else is causing the problem. another thing is don't use the delete key located with the number pad keys may not work without numlock on use the other delete key usually located with the Insert, home, page up/down, and end keys. Just grasping here really can't think of anything else to suggest.