Seagate 7200.9 won't boot when rebooting from WinXP copy files installation

[yacoub]

As described here the drive will not boot "into Windows" the first time so that the WinXP CD can copy all the necessary files to it.

What I AM able to do is turn on the computer, have it boot from the CD, go through the menus to setup the drive partitions etc and start copying the initial files. Then it says it will reboot, so it reboots and THAT is when I can get no further. I can let the CDROM boot again which does no good of course because it just wants to do what it did before (format and start Windows installation). The harddrive has the files on it alright (I can check it when I boot with my current drive and Explore the files on the Seagate drive. It just refuses to boot. I have it in the same exact SATA slot the Samsung is in when it is my boot OS drive (SATA 1 on the SATA (not the extra RAID SATA) controller on the A8N-SLI Premium I have).

Seagate's website makes it clear that all of their drives simply use the default Windows disk drivers (as my Samsung drive seemed to do just fine when I built this system two months ago).

I have no clue wtf I'm doing wrong. The hardware all seems physically fine. The Seagate drive shows no problems in SMART and I've used it before to store data just fine.

Fresh format with the WinXP CD, no good. I even took the time to SLipStream SP2 into my WinXP and tried that. Still same error after the first reboot.

Help!

 

[yacoub]

ok i think the MBR is just crap. bad drive. no time to RMA. guess i'll buy another one. grrr

 

[mechBgon]

You might find my SATA-for-newbies guide handy, this situation is specifically covered

http://www.mechbgon.com/build/SATA.html

Don't RMA it just yet In fact, since I have the little brother to your motherboard myself, I can remark that yeah, it will want you to go and do what my page talks about, or else the motherboard won't look to boot from the SATA drive after the first phase of Windows Setup.

Another handy trick with your board: press the F8 key at POST. This calls up a selectable boot-device list. If you select your HDD off the list at this point, it should carry on with that next stage of Windows Setup.

 

[yacoub]

Okay I glanced through your help and it looks like I'll need to acquire a floppy drive. =[

I didn't need one when I built the system though, with my Samsung drive. weird. Maybe there's a BIOS setting related to RAID I need to switch or something. I need to investigate that further. Yarrr.

Thanks for the help, I won't give up hope yet!

 

[EatSpam]

I agree with mechBgon... sounds like your BIOS boot order is wrong. Try the F8 key and if that works, then change the boot order in the BIOS...

 

[yacoub]

What should I change it to though? The drive only shows up when I use the NVidia SATA controller on the southbridge, with RAID turned off it seems. That's how I got it to even see the drive to do Step 1 (WinXP CD's first part of file copying before reboot). Then it reboots and after I don't press a key to boot from CD (since it's supposed to go from the HD) it says "no operating system found" or a similar wording in the afterPOST.

I'm at a loss as to what I'm supposed to change. Would it help if I provided screenshots of my BIOS? It's an A8N-SLI Premium.


edit: here's one pic that might help: http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/onboarddeviceconfig.gif
Everything under NVRAID is Disabled
Silicon SATA Controller disabled because I tried with the drive on that set of SATA plugs and Enabled and it didn't show up when Windows CD tried to find a drive to install to.

What do I change in the F8 boot menu? Like, shouldn't it already be setup right?

 

[yacoub]

Here are pics of the BIOS settings I currently use. This is how I boot my Samsung drive every day. (I believe I might have changed something since when I actually first installed Windows on the Samsung drive, since I've also changed a lot of settings in the BIOS since then.) Here are all the related screens though, so perhaps you can point out where I've got a setting wrong. Thanks.

Substitute Seagate for Samsung and you'll have what it looks like when I try to use the Seagate drive.
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios1.gif
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios4.gif
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios2.gif - submenu to previous pic
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios3.gif - another submenu

http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios5.gif
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios6.gif - same as previous, just showing you what all possible options are (I use the settings seen in pic 5.)
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios7.gif
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios8.gif
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios9.gif
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios10.gif - The F8 Boot menu

And here's a nice pic of the board's SATA connectors and their controllers:
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/board1.jpg

Btw, you're welcome to use these pics to add to your FAQ if you would like.

 

[yacoub]

Went ahead and tried one last time to fiddle with some settings. Here are the pics with the Seagate drive being recognized fine in the BIOS, yet also the error I get everytime:

http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios11.gif
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios12.gif
http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios13.gif

http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/bios14.gif

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: yacoub
What should I change it to though? The drive only shows up when I use the NVidia SATA controller on the southbridge, with RAID turned off it seems. That's how I got it to even see the drive to do Step 1 (WinXP CD's first part of file copying before reboot). Then it reboots and after I don't press a key to boot from CD (since it's supposed to go from the HD) it says "no operating system found" or a similar wording in the afterPOST.

I'm at a loss as to what I'm supposed to change. Would it help if I provided screenshots of my BIOS? It's an A8N-SLI Premium.


edit: here's one pic that might help: http://users.adelphia.net/~jrockcls/onboarddeviceconfig.gif
Everything under NVRAID is Disabled
Silicon SATA Controller disabled because I tried with the drive on that set of SATA plugs and Enabled and it didn't show up when Windows CD tried to find a drive to install to.

What do I change in the F8 boot menu? Like, shouldn't it already be setup right?

When you press the F8 key during POST, that tells the motherboard "hey, this one time, I want to pick the boot device myself, 'k?" and then it gets done with its POST duties and presents you with a one-time menu. Pick the 7200.9 from the list and the system will boot up Windows (Windows Setup phase 2, this first time).

To overcome the problem on an ongoing basis, simply

1) go into your motherboard's BIOS.

2) scoot over to the BOOT section.

3) go into the Hard Disk Drives subsection.

4) beat it upside the head with the fact that your 7200.9 is a hard drive, and use the minus key (-) to scoot any competing devices lower on the stack so the 7200.9 is at the top.

5) exit from the Hard Disk Drives section so you're back up at the main BOOT section, and now go into Boot Device Priority. Use the minus key (-) to scoot competing devices down the list so your boot order is either CD-ROM, then HDD; or else HDD first, if you want.

6) Save & Exit with the F10 key and see how she goes



You didn't have any other hard drives or USB drives/card-readers hooked up during Windows Setup, did you? Because if you did, your 7200.9 might've gotten a funky drive letter like F: or something, in which case start over with Windows Setup.

EDIT: also no, you don't need a floppy drive unless you want to set Windows up using the other SATA controller, or want to use the native nVidia controller in the optional RAID mode. The fact you made it this far without a floppy shows that you aren't going to need one, not as things stand right now. Just get the mobo to boot from the right device.

 

[mechBgon]

Oh, and one other thing: did you have the Samsung in the system when you ran Phase 1 of Windows Setup on the 7200.9? If so, start Windows Setup again with the 7200.9 as the ONLY drive in the system. Delete all partitions on the drive, then press the F3 key twice to exit Windows Setup. Now start Windows Setup a second time and follow through, making sure there are no other hard drives or USB drives in the system.

 

[yacoub]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
When you press the F8 key during POST, that tells the motherboard "hey, this one time, I want to pick the boot device myself, 'k?" and then it gets done with its POST duties and presents you with a one-time menu. Pick the 7200.9 from the list and the system will boot up Windows (Windows Setup phase 2, this first time).

The problem was it didn't do this, it gave me the same error it always does, as seen in pic #14.

You didn't have any other hard drives or USB drives/card-readers hooked up during Windows Setup, did you? Because if you did, your 7200.9 might've gotten a funky drive letter like F: or something, in which case start over with Windows Setup.

I will do it all over one more time to just make sure I'm doing it right. I'll even repartition the drive via the Windows Setup to ensure there aren't any drive letter or other issues. And no I made sure my Samsung drive was unplugged both from power cable and its SATA cable was unplugged from the motherboard.

I'm glad to hear I won't need a floppy drive.

edit - USB drives... well I do have a couple USB devices attached I could take off while I do this just to be certain. (XBox 360 controller being one of them).

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: yacoub

Originally posted by: mechBgon
When you press the F8 key during POST, that tells the motherboard "hey, this one time, I want to pick the boot device myself, 'k?" and then it gets done with its POST duties and presents you with a one-time menu. Pick the 7200.9 from the list and the system will boot up Windows (Windows Setup phase 2, this first time).

The problem was it didn't do this, it gave me the same error it always does, as seen in pic #14.

You didn't have any other hard drives or USB drives/card-readers hooked up during Windows Setup, did you? Because if you did, your 7200.9 might've gotten a funky drive letter like F: or something, in which case start over with Windows Setup.

I will do it all over one more time to just make sure I'm doing it right. I'll even repartition the drive via the Windows Setup to ensure there aren't any drive letter or other issues. And no I made sure my Samsung drive was unplugged both from power cable and its SATA cable was unplugged from the motherboard.

I'm glad to hear I won't need a floppy drive.

See my post above. If the Samsung was in the system, your actual boot files may be on it. Make the 7200.9 the only drive in the system and start from the top. Heed the note about deleting the partitions and then exiting Windows Setup on the first fly-by, or you'll have an annoying menu with two WinXPs to choose from at boot-up (although this can be fixed later too).

I've got to jam for work, and I'm on dial-up here, so I will check out the rest of your pics at lunch hour if I get a chance. Good luck!

 

[yacoub]

Gotcha, thanks, I'll try that.

 

[silverpig]

What version of XP is it? If it's an unpatched disk (like pre-SP2... I can't remember if SP1a has the sata drivers on it), then you'll NEED a driver floppy to load the SATA drivers for XP. If it's an SP2 pre-patched copy, then it's something else. You can also make a new install CD that has SP2 installed on it via any one of the various guides on the net.

 

[yacoub]

Dude, you totally rock mechBgon. That last post of instructions solved it for me.

silverpig - i actually took the time to slipstream SP2 into my XP Pro CD to ensure that wasn't a problem. turns out it was doing what mech said regarding deleting the partitions, F3'ing out, and them coming in again, that helped. whew.

 

[mechBgon]

excellent Now install some games and frag 'til your eyeballs fall out!

 

[yacoub]

lol. well it's a backup drive. i am still on the Samsung. see, i'm starting a new job tomorrow that will keep me pretty busy and if this drive goes i wanted to have another drive all set up with XP and Office and a couple other standard apps already installed on it so i can simply swap drives and be up and running again with minimal downtime. with your help, Mission Accomplished.