Boot up error

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

I have a second pc which I use as a file server. It is running windows
xp pro which I access using remote desktop.

The other day for some reason the machine did a reboot all by itself.
Now I cannot connect to it. On closer inspection it can't even load
the OS. It seems to get stuck at the POST and cannot load the SATA
drive with the OS on it. The point of failure goes like this:

"Via VT8237 Serial ATA BIOS Setting Utility V 2.10

Scan Devices Please Wait!
Press <Tab> key into user window!

(Tab doesn't work BTW)

Hardware Initiate Failed Please Check the Device!!!
The BIOS does not be installed. Press <g> to continue"

It then tries to boot from Network which fails because this was never
setup as an option.

My configeration is as follows:

MSI Motherboard - Via KT600 chipset KT6 Delta Series AMIBIOS 09/05/03
(about 6 months old, original BIOS, never been flashed)
AMD Barton 2600 cpu
512 mb Ram
Main H/D Samsung Spinpoint 160 gb SATA(30 gb OS partition, 130 gb data
partition)
LG DVD Rom
Second H/D Samsung Spinpoit IDE 120 GB

I have checked the boot options in the BIOS but I can't see the SATA
drive?
I have also tried to clear the CMOS but this made no difference.

Micrsoft patches are up to date.
Virus definition is up to date.

Options I think I have are:

1. Rebuild the machine (drastic!)
2. Flash my BIOS to latest in the hope that I can see my drives and
then just reboot into my working Win XP OS. Only problem is how? Can I
just build a DOS boot disk from any XP Pro machine and then copy BIOS
flash onto a floppy disk and run from floppy?

Help please! I would describe my experience as intermediate..... I
built the machine and it worked with no problems for about 6 months.

Not sure if this is more hardware or OS related so apologies if posted
in the wrong group.

 

[Philo]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Neville Henderson wrote:
> I have a second pc which I use as a file server. It is running windows
> xp pro which I access using remote desktop.
>
> The other day for some reason the machine did a reboot all by itself.
> Now I cannot connect to it. On closer inspection it can't even load
> the OS. It seems to get stuck at the POST and cannot load the SATA
> drive with the OS on it. The point of failure goes like this:
>
> "Via VT8237 Serial ATA BIOS Setting Utility V 2.10
>
> Scan Devices Please Wait!
> Press <Tab> key into user window!
>
> (Tab doesn't work BTW)
>
> Hardware Initiate Failed Please Check the Device!!!
> The BIOS does not be installed. Press <g> to continue"
>
> It then tries to boot from Network which fails because this was never
> setup as an option.
>
> My configeration is as follows:
>
> MSI Motherboard - Via KT600 chipset KT6 Delta Series AMIBIOS 09/05/03
> (about 6 months old, original BIOS, never been flashed)
> AMD Barton 2600 cpu
> 512 mb Ram
> Main H/D Samsung Spinpoint 160 gb SATA(30 gb OS partition, 130 gb data
> partition)
> LG DVD Rom
> Second H/D Samsung Spinpoit IDE 120 GB
>
> I have checked the boot options in the BIOS but I can't see the SATA
> drive?
> I have also tried to clear the CMOS but this made no difference.
>
> Micrsoft patches are up to date.
> Virus definition is up to date.
>
> Options I think I have are:
>
> 1. Rebuild the machine (drastic!)
> 2. Flash my BIOS to latest in the hope that I can see my drives and
> then just reboot into my working Win XP OS. Only problem is how? Can I
> just build a DOS boot disk from any XP Pro machine and then copy BIOS
> flash onto a floppy disk and run from floppy?
>
> Help please! I would describe my experience as intermediate..... I
> built the machine and it worked with no problems for about 6 months.
>
> Not sure if this is more hardware or OS related so apologies if posted
> in the wrong group.


the problem is not OS related

either your drive or your SATA controller failed

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On 28 Jul 2004 02:00:25 -0700, neville@urgentmail.com (Neville
Henderson) wrote:

>I have a second pc which I use as a file server. It is running windows
>xp pro which I access using remote desktop.
>
>The other day for some reason the machine did a reboot all by itself.

WInXP has a reboot-on-error setting... a Google search will show
you how to turn that off if it caused the reboot.

>Now I cannot connect to it. On closer inspection it can't even load
>the OS. It seems to get stuck at the POST and cannot load the SATA
>drive with the OS on it. The point of failure goes like this:
>
>"Via VT8237 Serial ATA BIOS Setting Utility V 2.10
>
>Scan Devices Please Wait!
>Press <Tab> key into user window!
>
>(Tab doesn't work BTW)
>
>Hardware Initiate Failed Please Check the Device!!!
>The BIOS does not be installed. Press <g> to continue"
>
>It then tries to boot from Network which fails because this was never
>setup as an option.


Sounds like a hard drive, motherboard, power supply failure, or a
cable has worked loose. Since the motherboard "seemed" to be
working up to that point I'd check the drives first, and power
supply 12V reading in bios health monitor screen or better to use
a multimeter, and might as well check 3V, 5V levels too.

>
>My configeration is as follows:
>
>MSI Motherboard - Via KT600 chipset KT6 Delta Series AMIBIOS 09/05/03
>(about 6 months old, original BIOS, never been flashed)
>AMD Barton 2600 cpu
>512 mb Ram
>Main H/D Samsung Spinpoint 160 gb SATA(30 gb OS partition, 130 gb data
>partition)
>LG DVD Rom
>Second H/D Samsung Spinpoit IDE 120 GB

Try unplugging and replugging the drive cables, while system is
off of course.


>I have checked the boot options in the BIOS but I can't see the SATA
>drive?
>I have also tried to clear the CMOS but this made no difference.

Might be helpful if you had someone to test your drives for you
or loan you a drive to try.

>
>Micrsoft patches are up to date.
>Virus definition is up to date.

It's not a windows related problem (Windows just happens to be
the OS that won't boot) and it would be incredibly unlikley to be
a virus that attacked your bios only to the extent of wiping out
the SATA feature.


>Options I think I have are:
>
>1. Rebuild the machine (drastic!)
>2. Flash my BIOS to latest in the hope that I can see my drives and
>then just reboot into my working Win XP OS. Only problem is how? Can I
>just build a DOS boot disk from any XP Pro machine and then copy BIOS
>flash onto a floppy disk and run from floppy?

If it'll boot to floppy, yes, but it'd be good to figure out if
system is even stable before trying to update bios, since a crash
during that is a big headache or maybe even dead board if the
bios chip (EEPROM) isn't socketed so it could be
removed/replaced. MSI does usually (if not always) socket them
though.

>
>Help please! I would describe my experience as intermediate..... I
>built the machine and it worked with no problems for about 6 months.
>
>Not sure if this is more hardware or OS related so apologies if posted
>in the wrong group.

What power supply make/model?
It seems unlikely that both drives would fail simultaneously, but
both aren't showing up? Try unplugging one then the other in
turn, see if either is detected. Are the drives spinning? Those
Samsungs are pretty quiet but if you listen carefully you should
still be able to tell.

Use Samsung's HDD diagnostic program (available from their
website if you don't have it) to make a boot floppy and check the
drives. You might also leave the system sitting in the bios
hardware monitor screen or running something like
http://www.memtest86.com for a long time to see if the system
crashes, what the temps and voltages are doing.

AFTER you're sure the system is stable, it would be a good idea
to upgrade the bios if the version it's using is one of the
earlier ones (see MSI's bios list for your board and the related
notes), as typically some of the more important issues are
resolved with the first few bios revisions, and sometimes changes
are made that don't make their way into the bios revision notes.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 05:41:21 -0500, David Maynard <dNOTmayn@ev1.net> wrote:

>Could be it over heated from poor case ventilation, or fluctuating power.
>Or you could have had a power surge, I suppose.

I know that one! i once burnt a brand new maxtor 60 Gb HD after a few days
installing it! There was a power surge and the sreen went blank! Switching it on
again - nothing! There are some areas which are prone to power surges. So, if
you are in that kind of areas your other HD drive may die the same way!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

~misfit~ wrote:

> David Maynard wrote:
>
>>Murphy's Law would suggest the drive is bad. The next big question
>>would be why did it fail so quickly?
>
>
> Murphy's Law would in fact suggest that the controller is bad. The most
> expensive, difficult to replace component. (That is, if it's on-board).
> --
> ~misfit~
>
>

Hehe. Well, in it's 'simple' form, perhaps

Actually, one of the more salient features of Murphy's Law is that,
whatever you think it is it isn't. (Murphy's Law equivalent to the
Heisenburg Uncertainty Principle.)

E.g. (simplified 'traditional' version) If you determine the controller is
bad then you'll discover, after replacing it, that it was the hard drive
after all. And after replacing that you'll discover it was only a bad cable.

But there are ripple effects that Murphy does not ignore even though the
user might. For example, while replacing the entire motherboard might seem
to be the 'worst' scenario of the moment, Murphy realizes you might end up
with a newer, better one and takes that into consideration

So, Murphy's Law, as usually stated (anything that can go wrong WILL go
wrong), is understated. A version which incorporates part of the 'it isn't
what you think' feature might read more like "Anything that can go wrong
WILL go wrong; unless you have gone to costly lengths to cover that
scenario, in which case it will not." (Your actions affected the worst case
condition, 'Murphy-Heisenburg')

But even that is incomplete as it still presumes one is capable of knowing
what the 'worst' scenario is by merely clarifying one more mechanism of how
things can go wrong (wasted planning) and is still limited in the temporal
domain to near term effects. So, frankly, I tend to prefer the 'entropy'
version:

"All of reality conspires to the worst possible scenario" (regardless of
how well you may think things are going at the moment).

Which, of course, is the underlying principle behind the colloquialism
"behind every silver lining there's a black cloud."

And then there's O'Shawnessy who claims Murphy was an optimist because, by
limiting worst case entropy to only reality, he implies, by omission, that
positive mystical events are possible. But that's another topic <g>