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Help with second computer please...

G

Geekling

Senior member
I've tried posting in some other forums with no luck. I'm trying to build my second computer and its just not working for me.

Here is the problem..

When I hit the power it boots up telling me speed and memory. Then it go to Detecting IDE drives and thats where it stops.

I have
40gig Wester Digital HD
256Mb DDR Ram
Older 64mg DDR Video card
AMD 1.5GHz CPU
SystemBoard M811 series

I know this isn't the top of the line hardware but this is the reason I didn't spend all that money on my first build 😛

I've tried using different IDE cables and PSUs.
I've tried reseting the CMOS.
I've tried setting everything outside of the case on some cardboard.
and it still can't see the HD 🙁

So I went out and bought a Seagate 40gig HD and it kinda works. This is what I get with the SG.
Primary Master : None
Primary Slave : ST340014A 3.54
Secondary Master : None
Secondary Slave : None

Hard disk(s) Diagnosis Fail
Floppy Disk(s) Fail (40)
Keyboard Error or no keyboard present
CMOS checksum error -defaults loaded

Press F1 to continue, DEL to enter SETUP

I've tried setting the HD to Cable select and to master only but it still comes up as Primary Slave. What should I do guys? Does this mean my Motherboard is fried? I don't know what to do now.
 
If either hard drive has a Single Drive jumper setting, try that next and let's hear what happens. If not, let us know that too. Welcome to the Forums Geekling 🙂
 
I've tried those 🙁 and still nothing...

Primary Master : None
Primary Slave : ST340014A 3.54
Secondary Master : None
Secondary Slave : None

Hard disk(s) Diagnosis Fail
Floppy Disk(s) Fail (40)
Keyboard Error or no keyboard present
CMOS checksum error -defaults loaded

Press F1 to continue, DEL to enter SETUP

Maybe if I tried hitting setup with that it will work? I'm not sure 🙁

*edit*

oh and thanks 🙂 Good to be here hehe...
 
Yeah, dive into Setup and see if you can get it to re-detect the hard drive 🙂 Some boards need a little prodding.
 
hmmm....try running it barebones first...just CPU, MOBO, RAM, sound card and floppy. boot on the floppy disk...if still the error go to the bios and put everything in default. It should find the floppy drive...if it does power off then add 1 HDD and start over again...good luck
 
sorry...just the cd-rom....

the floppy has a different cable all together...

its late and I'm kinda pissed cause its not working 🙁
 
With Floppy only I got

Primary Master : None
Primary Slave : None
Secondary Master : None
Secondary Slave : None

CMOS checksum error - Defaults loaded

Press F1 to continue, DEL to enter setup
 
Alright...should I hit DEL or F1? I've tried both and I'm lost.

If I hit F1 it says I have DDR SDRAM at Bank : 0
SDR SDRAM at Bank : None

Shouldn't it see the RAM?

Also in DEL i have these options...

Standard CMOS Features

Advanced BIOS Features

Advanced Chipset Features

Integrated Peripherals

Power Managment Setup

PnP/ PCI configuraitons

PC Health Status

Frequency/Voltage Control

Load Fail-Safe Defaults

Load Optimized Defaults

Password options...

and the save and exit option.

Can anyone give me some advice?
 
You're making headway 🙂 The DDR in Bank 0 is your RAM, so that's being detected (it calls the first slot Bank 0). See if you can get it to start Windows Setup from your optical drive. Given the option, you might get somewhat better performance from having your hard drive on a separate cable from your optical drives, so that's how most people will do it.

Keep working on it, you're coming along 😀
 
Alright so I got it to see my Seagate as the master drive, Cd rom as slave and the floppy is there as well....It asked me to boot from CD..should I install the MOBO drivers? Seagate disk, or windows Xp? I tried the mobo disk first and it went to

Boot from CD :
Disk boot failure, insert system disk and press enter...
 
Have you tried running the CD-ROM and HDD on different cables? Set the CD-ROM to secondary channel master. Windows is probably confused as usual.
 
If you're not seeing a prompt that says Press any key to boot from CD then your motherboard may not realize that you want it to boot from CD-ROM to begin Windows Setup.

To fix that, on a board with the menu system that you described above, go into the section called Advanced BIOS Features and set it to boot from the CD-ROM drive first. I have some photos near the bottom of this page that may help you here.

Also read and heed the warnings about keeping the worms from taking over your fresh unprotected Windows installation! :Q That's under the title ~ ~ ~ VERY VERY IMPORTANT, EVEN MORE IMPORTANT THAN SNACKS! ~ ~ ~. An ounce of prevention is worth... yeah. 😉
 
Originally posted by: Geekling
just tried that...its working now guys...jjust gotta get windows loaded..
Click to expand...

Keep us posted on if it works or not. You should be good to go. 😀 Just do as mechBgon says( set to boot from CD-ROM )
 
Originally posted by: Geekling
It is booting from CD...I just need to find the proper windows CD...Its not taking my win Xp cd.
Click to expand...
If your WinXP CD is a real one, then it should be able to boot from it. Is it saying Press any key to boot from CD ?
 
Is it possible that your Windows XP CD is for an upgrade only? If so, then during the installation, you'll have to somehow prove that you have an older qualifying OS.
 
Well I got it working. I have windows 98 in it 😛 I stopped playing with it at 6 am 🙂

I have another question guys..

How do I make it reboot by itself? Last night after it installed a certain part it said rebooting in 5 secs but it never did... It would shut off and never come back on.

Anyone?
 
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