epox 8k7a IDE problem or hard drive IDE problem?

[DVDdude]

I recently received a replacement motherboard from newegg (epox 8k7a) to replace one that quit working after a year. I put in the new motherboard and almost every other day, i get boot errors sometimes when turning on the machine.

It gets to "Detecting IDE Drives" and pauses for a while and gives off 2 quick beeps every 10 seconds or so. Eventually it gets to "BOOT FROM CD ERROR, PLEASE INSERT SYSTEM DISK" and just stops. The diagnostic LEDs on the motherboard also give off the error code that relates to IDE detection problems. But keep in mind, it only does this maybe once out of every 10 startups.

I have checked all the cables, the motherboard mounting, etc. just to eliminate the obvious. I even used new IDE cables and I still get the same error. (I am using a 1.33 athlon and a geforce 3 card with a new antec 300 watt power supply).

Could it be that the hard drive (a 1 year old 60gb maxtor) is getting "stuck" when first powered on, and not spinning up sometimes or could it be that newegg just sent a lousy refurb motherboard that has IDE problems?

Anyone have any thoughts or suggestions?

 

[KeithP]

Check your BIOS and see if the boot sequence lists your CD drive before your HD. It sounds like your system is checking your CD drive for a bootable CD. If it finds no CD it would move on, but if you had a non-bootable CD like a game or an audio CD it would try to boot from it, generate an error, and then ask for a system disk. If this is the case, changing your boot sequence so that the CD is checked after your HD should fix it.

Good luck,
Keith

 

[DVDdude]

unfortunately, it still gives the same error even if the HD is the only boot device. and it still does it sometimes, even if the cdrom drive is completely disconnected.

 

[NateSLC]

I'm no technical GURU on IDE devices, but it's been my experience that once a HD has been involved in a flaky system it is best to do a repartion and reformat. This has solved several problems I have had that are similar to yours. If it were me, I would try this out on a spare Hard Disk first. This is time consuming, but probably preferable to returning another MB and getting the same issues with the new one.

Good luck,
Nate