"reboot and select proper boot device" ?

[Reven]

Hi

My pc is giving the message "reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device and press a key".

I had a perfectly running instal of windows 7 64bit. I recently purchased a seagate barracuda xt 2tb. Because I didn't have enough room in my case, I planed on copying some data ( just music, my os wasn't onthere) off of my old hdd to the new hdd.

I opened my pc, plugged in the new hdd and now I get that message. I went through the bios and I am supposed to boot first with my hdds and the boot priority begins with ny sad that has windows 7 on it.

When this didn't work I reorganized my Satan edges and made sure the boot drive was sat 1 bur it made no difference.

Now even when I disconnect the new hdd I hav this problem.

What should I do?

My motherboard is an asus p5q deluxe (intel p45 chipsets)

 

[Reven]

Sorry, it seems I've doubled posted threads. ( I was working off my phone with my pc done). If an admin would close one that'd be great.

 

[Reven]

I forgot to add that now my Windows 7 DVD doesnt see the OS. I popped it in to do a repair and it didnt see the OS.

Does anyone have any idea of how to deal with this? Am I in the wrong section of the forums?

 

[Reven]

Ok, I tried unplugging every singe hdd except for my ssd with windows 7. Same problem.
To explain exactly what happens at boot up:

I get a screen with the asus logo and intel logo at the corner. Then it flashes and I go to a black screen where it says my marvel controller is initializing. It quickly writes " no hard disk present" and then goes back to the asus logo area. It tries again and then gives me the select boot device area.

If I also connect a sata based hdd then it still says there is no hard disk. However, then something strange happened. Windows started loading, applied a few updates and then restarted. I was then able to get to windows where it again asked me to restart.

I am now able to use windows.

After slowly reconnecting my hard drives I also noticed this: when I connected my IDE drive the marvel controller saw it. Before when the marvel controller was initializing it said no hdd present. With the IDE drive it sees a hdd. Why is that happening?

When I ( finally ) attached my new 2tb drive there were no problems.

Can anyone explain to me what exactly has happened? I dont understand why all of this happened. Why didn't it work in th first place? Why wasn't windows loading by itself? It wasnt loading when all drives were present or when just my OS drive was. It needed my extra sata HDD to load but that HDD ONLY had music files. Even iTunes was installed on the OS drive, only the music itself was on this HDD. Why would it have an effect on my OS?

Is my system close to some huge crash? A while back Windows 7 had crashed on me and I had to do a re-install. Is this a fluke or is something creeping up on my computer?

 

[bankster55]

Cant detect HDD usually means the SATA chipset drivers not installed while you were in RAID/native/AHCI SATA mode in bios
(You can add them when asked during install)
Thats why its best during change of O/S in a laptop or netbook to set bios to IDE, get O/S installed, then add SATA drivers while running, then reset bios during reboot to SATA, since the O/S install wont have the oddball SATA drivers for the branded mobo.
So, in your case you should have added the Marvel SATA drivers during install with SATA mode set as SATA in bios.
Or adding them right after loading Win 7, with Marvel in IDE mode in bios, and doing a reboot and mode change in bios before rentering Windows, or at least see if Win 7 added the latest driver (check date) during install
Or the fact you were in IDE mode on the Marvel and the SSD didnt like that

SATA in IDE emulate needs no drivers - MS 2001 generics on CD/DVD are used, and there is no speed penalty for using IDE mode.
However it WAS working ("started to initialize") then you added the SSD drive
So you now have a second factor involved - bios recognition of ID of flash HDD

In SATA mobo controllers you can set in bios three options (for each)
SATA AHCI/native
SATA RAID
SATA IDE emulate (IDE or legacy)

No your PC isnt going to crash, now that it is working
But you are going to have to check out what MODE all the SATA mobo controllers are in and what DRIVERS are loaded for each
You may be in IDE mode in Marvel and SATA mode in Intel
I might also note that changing HDD like musical chairs may make you non genuine when you go to MS for something as the O/S creates a HW hash number at install.
You might want to see if bios updates on ASUS shows any SSD fixes.

If your PC crashed before and it crashes again it could be RAM related (overclocked?), or PSU related
OCCT test utility can stress your system and you can see a graph of the voltages
You might also want to run a memtest 86+ check for a few cycles

 

[Reven]

Well, now my PC is down again. I had just finished putting the case backtogether when it said " BOOTMGR is missing. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart."

I was not able to check on what you said, unfortuneatly.

I doubt it is a power issue. I have a newish ( bought about 1 year ago) 750 watt ToughPower PSU. Even factoring in usage I cant see it failing that quickly.

The RAM was never overclocked.

I will start unplugging and replugging drives so I can (maybe) get back to windows and check on what you were saying.

In addition, one poster suggested it had something to do with my CMOS configuration. Do you think that could be the source of the problem? If so, how do I access it?

EDIT: I just realized it may have to do with 'active partions'. When I was in Windows 7 the OS didnt recognize my disk. I had delt with the problem before so I just went to Computer Management and gave it a drive letter. I made it a simple volume. However, I noticed it wasnt a 'active partion'. All my other disks were an active partion so I made it one too. Could that be something?

EDIT 2: I unplugged every drive except for my OS drive, and then slowly re-attached drives with my new Seagate drive last. Now the BOOT MGR bug is gone. In its place is the original ' Select Propper Boot Device' line...

 

[bankster55]

CMOS setting means bios

And yeah you cant just arbitrarily add drive letters
The bootmanager path is set when you install Windows
Usually in root of "C" or in 100MB no letter reserved partition if you have it.
If you add or subtract HDD or partitions you may alter the drive letters to the point that Windows cant find the bootmanager (missing)
Its not missing, its just on a dif drive letter
Complicating things is if you created the 100MB no drive letter active system partition by not prepartitioning your HDD before Win 7 install
And you can only have one active partition per HDD
You fixed your secondary problem by allowing Win to reorganize your partition table by only having the one drive live and booting to it.
And each time you added a HDD it redid things once again
Thats why it prompts you to reboot
I also noticed you have 2 identical SSD drives which doesnt help either

If you wish, just to get a handle on things, you could post a screenshot of your admin tools/disk manager partition graphic
You can use your Win 7 DVD to get into Windows by booting with CD set first boot in bios and hitting any key at prompt

 

[Reven]

I actually have 2 different SSDs. They're both Intel but one is the 2nd generation model. The BIOS can tell as one has a 'G2' moniker.

When I boot off the Windows 7 DVD straight it takes me to the install set up. When I try to repair it cant find my OS.

When I wait and insert the DVD when it says 'select boot device' I have 2 options: Memory Diagnostic and Windows set up. When I click F8 for more options I get a whole list of things, ranging from safe mode to booting windows normally.

I was able to boot up in safe mode I get to Windows but all I have is a black screen with ' safe mode' written at the corners. After a while the 'install windows' thing pops up. I click 'repair' and once again, it cant find my OS.

I am happy to take any screenshots you'll need but it seems that since I cant get to Windows, I cant take the shot you were talking about.

Also, not to sound pushy or anything, but I leave the country for a month on Tuesday morning (Istanbul time). So if we cant fix this by then I guess we'll have to table it until then. I'll PM you or something?

 

[bankster55]

No install detected?

The very first thing to try is a new SATA cable for the "bad" HDD, since all this happened after a new HDD was added.
And with just it hooked up, is the drive itself recognized during boot?
I have to know this.

Next...........
Do you want to try the Win 7 DVD install tab?
Do you have stuff on there you need badly?
Or can you attempt a fresh install?

Note that there is one very easy fix, depending if you had data there you needed. If not you can download killdisk 6.8MB bootable ISO freeware, burn it to a cd with something like UltraIso
http://software.lsoft.net/boot-cd-iso.zip
Unhook the power from all your drives EXCEPT the one that will not boot
Then boot to the CD you made, arrow down to killdisk, highlight the SINGLE no boot WHOLE drive (80h) and zero fill it (F10)
This will totally wipe your drive , however also make it so that you cant recover anything, but you can reinstall Win 7 just like it was a fresh HDD.

Or, the next step down is to take the one HDD with your Win 7 install and put it in a working PC, preferably with only one HDD
I dont mean install it to the case, just take off the side panel and hook it up with power and data cables.
Then boot into bios AND MAKE SURE the bad HDD is set to second in boot order after the working one.
When you reboot into that Windows your HDD will be DISK1 in disk manager and you can screenshoot it. (not DISK 0)

The next step down from that is to download Linux freeware GParted,
boot to it and see what it shows as partitions and handles on BAD drive
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gpa...les/0.5.2-1/gparted-live-0.5.2-1.iso/download

I can use diskpart from cmd line in the good HDD and repair anything needed in the bad one, but I am still trying to get a fix on WHAT the problem is - lol

 

[Reven]

I am assuming that the 'bad' drive is my OS drive, the Intel G2 SSD.

I tried swapping the SATA cable with another one of my HDDs. No change. It should be noted that in both cases the drive is detected by the BIOS. As always, I get the ' select boot device '.

Even when there is only the OS drive, the Windows 7 disc doesnt see any OS.

I have to go for a bit now, I will try and do the other things in a few hours.

EDIT:

I connected the OS SSD to another computer. It was recognized and I booted up fine. I am even able to access it via 'my computer'. The SSD is the drive with about 2 gigs of free space.

Drive Manager saw it and everything looks healthy.

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/2857/captureak.png

I am in the process of downloading gparted. What exactly do you want me to do/search for?

 

[bankster55]

Good, I think we can figure it out now

Download snagit trial edition, and install
http://www.techsmith.com/download/snagittrial.asp
Use capture as a dragged WINDOW (printscreen hotkey), not whole webpage
save as a .jpg not .png, so its low kb
upload to something like tinypic.com
copy img url location and post it here (you dont have to post the actual image)

Also need you to run a memtest 86+ from booted to cd ISO in your PC
just to be safe (they also have a floppy download)
Make sure its not your RAM
http://www.memtest.org/download/4.10/memtest86+-4.10.iso.zip

Now here important questions:
I hope you didnt plug into the Silicon Image Xpert orange SATA ports - they are not for booting O/S, only the red ones (the 2 farthest to right best)
Those two SI ports should be Disabled until you get booting
The Marvel controller shoulld also be turned off in BIOS - its only IDE and the one eSATA

Do you have any USB drives plugged in your PC?
Take them out
Wireless KB/mouse?
Out

Edit after your edit:

First item - 1.95GB aint enough free for a Win 7 install partition
That is not good
The prob is your "no space left" drive doesnt have the partition as active
You can have 1 active partition per HDD
If you had installed Win 7 on second SSD from first (dual Win 7 boot) then all files would be on active "C" But these are separate installs
Booting O/S partitions have to be flagged as boot active primary with system
With 2 SATA bootable, the only thing that determines which one boots is boot order in BIOS
When I clone a drive thats what happens, when I change order in bios the other boots

So, in Gparted we can right click your CORRECTLY selected drives one big highlighted parttion (no highlight, no action) and click manage flags and then click boot, then apply

That alone may do it, (Windows BCD may make it active during boot) or we can use diskpart in cmd prompt to make that partition active from other drive

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/gparted.html#mozTocId143113
Whatever you do, dont do anything in Gparted with both drives hooked up without checking three times what drive you are working on You can do this from booted Gparted CD with just the no boot drive - not necessary to have both.
They are both the same size and you will do the right thing on the wrong one. Its soooo easy to get confused. TRUST ME.

And based on this, I think you should set the INTEL SATA controller to IDE
(Not ACHI or Native or RAID)
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...d=1&model=P7P55D-E+PRO&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

 

[Reven]

None of my drives were connected to the orange SATA ports. If the free space is a problem, I can delete more data off the 'bad' SSD.

So I am supposed to burn gparted to a DVD, then boot from it. My 'bad' OS drive should be in my backup, working PC. Right?

 

[bankster55]

Nope just put "bad" O/S SDD by itself in YOUR PC WITH the two controllers turned off in BIOS I told you about.
You dont want to give too many non booting options to the O/S
And tell me is Intel SATA set to IDE, or ACHI in bios?
(Do not ignore stuff, I'm trying to help)
That way you dont have to worry about picking wrong drive
Gparted dont need no O/S loaded, its Linux live
And its only 120MB - you only need CD
And when you boot Gparted, just keep hitting enter every time it stops (5 times) until it starts
When the boot flag shows on your partition, you can reboot and see what happens
If it doesnt boot we will make it active from cmd prompt diskpart from 2nd SDD HD, and will aslso make sure you have bootmgr in "C" root (F now)

 

[Reven]

I'm sorry if you feel I'm not paying attention or dont respect that you're trying to help. I was trying to give a 0.5 post so you know I was working on it. I live abroad and my english isnt the best, and some of the directions can be confusing at times...

Anyways.

I have burned the gparted ISO to a DVD. Do I need anything else besides gparted for it to be bootable?

I have my OS 'bad' SSD in my MAIN PC. All other HDDs are disconnected. Only my keyboard and wired mouse is connected.

I am now in the main PC BIOS. From the ' Onboard Devices Configuration' I have disabled:

Marvell IDE
Marvell LAN1
Marvell LAN2
LSI Firewire 1394

From the 'Storage Configuration' tab I have:
Switched SATA Configuration to [Compatible]
'Configure SATA as' is [IDE].

I'll wait for a reply before I go to the next step to be careful.

 

[bankster55]

I'm thinking that we should change it back to way it WAS first!
Are you saying it WAS SATA AHCI or Native?
Keep it the way it was for now at this minute
What about the Silicon Image controller?
Can you find it to disable?
ASUS no longer has the manual on the site
I'm gonna look a little more, but after you change back to previous SATA mode you can boot to Gparted. The disc is all you need

 

[Reven]

No, it was already SATA IDE. I just wrote it that way so you could be sure it was in [IDE] mode. I did change the SATA config from [Enhanced] to [Compatible]. Default is Enhanced.

I could not find the silicon image controller. I saw the Asus Drive Expert, but it was greyed out in [Auto] mode.

 

[bankster55]

here it is

drive control is greyed out?

 

[Reven]

Drive Xpert Control and Drive Xpert Mode Update arent there. Mine goes down to LSI and then jumps to Serial Port 1 Address.

I am running the same version BIOS v02.61

The greyed out option I see is in the 'Tools' tab.

Screenshot: http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/9008/img0352cs.jpg

 

[bankster55]

Oh, O.K. no problem
On to Gparted - lol

Sorry didnt know about the language thing

Edit:
And ASUS is still using that stupid compatible/enhanced option?
Compatible means 98 ME 95
You want enhanced

 

[Reven]

OK changed the enhanced thing.

I'm having some trouble burning. I move the file so its waiting to be written. But then I burn, not write, right?

Even when I have it go through the burn process the size doesnt change. I can get the file on the DVD as if its a normal file. But I have to mount it or something right?

EDIT: Seems like I did it. Am putting it into my main PC now.

EDIT2: I first just let it do its' thing. After a while at the main menu it started running some code, and then rebooted. I am now running the memtest that is available.

EDIT3: I had no idea this was such a long test. Its late here, I'm going to bed soon. If it finishes soon I'll post the results then, otherwise I'll post tomorrow morning. It seems we're close to finishing so I'm hopping Monday night we can finish this. (I live in Istanbul which is +2 GMT)

 

[bankster55]

http://www.ezbsystems.com/ultraiso/download.htm

You did use a CD right? Gparted is too small for a DVD - need 900+ MB minimum to make a DVD
Dont burn at maximum speed - 24 is plenty in this case
At the first menu you should hit enter

After making a CD try the disc in your working PC with just good HDD
See if it will boot thru
(You dont have to do anything when you get there)

Edit: O.K. I'll let you go

 

[Reven]

Well, I was able to boot with the DVD, so it looks like things are good. I'll burn to a CD when I get home.

As a mini-update, I checked my PC in the morning. It passed the memtest with no errors.

 

[bankster55]

O.K. Great
This makes things a whole lot easier
We have only one more thing to do and one more to check
>Make your one big C partition active (boot)
>Make sure all the system files are on C root
We can repair your MBR if needed (Master Boot Record) with the bootsect.exe tool on the DVD in the boot folder
http://www.ehow.com/how_4836283_repair-mbr-windows.html
(May be a bit much for you on your own)

There is also a great utility EasyBCD that has a nice rescue function (when you can boot into Win 7 with the DVD)
NOTE the exe must be run in (right click) administrator mode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdjNfXZjRxs
They are now up to version 2.02
http://neosmart.net/software.php

Just for info:
When you want to make partition active using Windows after getting in with DVD
You go to all programs/accessories, right click black cmd icon and "run as admin"
then you type the following (zero is a number not a letter)

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
list partition
select partition 1
detail partition
active
--------------------
Detail command is optional just to see whats going on
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766465(WS.10).aspx

If it wont let you make it active, you will have to do it from cmd prompt option in DVD's repair my computer (dismounted)
So heres a diskpart from a cloned dual boot pair of WDC Black 640GB's
Note the active on ea HDD's first parttition

Disk 0

Disk 1

Edit: Gparted does stop to a black screen for a count of ten at one point while loading

Its also kinda tricky in that some versions dont work with certain bios
I never could get "stable" 0.5.2-9 to work
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gpa...ble/0.5.2-9/gparted-live-0.5.2-9.iso/download
So heres "testing" 0.6.0-4 also
http://sourceforge.net/projects/gpa...ing/0.6.0-4/gparted-live-0.6.0-4.iso/download

 

[Reven]

OK I am back. I'll be here as long as needed.

I am running gparted live, but I cant get it to do anything.

I get to here (sorry image is upside down)
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/8443/img0362uw.jpg

If I then hit gparted live it runs some code. I tried hitting enter when the code paused for a sec. The screen went black and refreshed a few times. Then it just reboots.

EDIT: I'm a bit confused on what to do. Should I be trying the gparted thing or should I do that ehow link you sent?

 

[bankster55]

yep

Was just thinking maybe Gparted cant handle SSD flash HDD
Try the version you have burned - if it doesnt load all the way, try the 0604 version i linked
And dont wait, everytime it stops hit enter (defaults)
If that doesnt work, we will just go straight to diskpart in windows

Edit:
When you come to that window, you dont pick anything it defaults to live
When you first see that screen, just hit enter

And no, we are not doing the MBR fix, we go straight to diskpart in booted to Win7 from DVD. MBR fix is only if needed