New build weird error

[snide7]

Hi all, first post, not a good start

Basically, I put together a new machine yesterday (specs at the bottom), set DVD drive to first boot device, started it up, and then and now continuously get this message: "Please insert a boot device or boot media" press any key. A friend suggested it might be the chipset drivers, but im not sure [how to install those without an operating system].

I've tried 3 xp CD's, a Vista DVD and 2 dvd drives. Both drives start whirring and seem to be reading the cd/dvd, but then the error message comes and they stop.

Any ideas or help much appreciated, cheers.

Specs:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3GHz
ASUS P5E3 AiLifestyle iX38 ATX mobo
ASUS DVD±RW 20X S-ATA DRW-2014L1T
CRUCIAL 2GB kit (1GBx2), 240-pin DIMM, DDR3 PC3-10600 (1333mhz)
WESTERN DIGITAL CAVIAR SE 500GB
Zotac geforce GTX 260 896MB DDR3
Arctic Power 700W PSU

 

[groo]

try different sata cables and sata ports.

there are probably more settings as to how sata is treated in the bios.

is the drive recognised?

 

[snide7]

Yeah both dvd drives were recognised as was the hdd, though I was getting an error before anything else that said no hard drive recognised. I will try different cables/ports as suggested. Someone else suggested putting jumpers on to slow down the hdd? This didnt sound right to me as i thought sata didnt recognise or use jumpers. Someone else also suggested using a boot disk with chipset drivers on, but i have no floppy drive to make a boot disk with.

 

[IH8U]

Check the BIOS, Make sure it sees the HDD, look for the HDD boot priority, second make sure AHCI is not enabled (causes issues with the first boot/install OS), lastly try different SATA cables/power connections. If none of these work, you could have a bad HDD (it happens occasionally).

Edit, forgot to mention make sure the onboard RAID is disabled in the BIOS. (the board could be trying to RAID the HDD, and DVD)

 

[groo]

or bad mother board (happens to me fairly often)

 

[michiganteddybear]

how about this..

both xp and vista require you to press a key within 5 secs of the optical media being booted, otherwise it drops to the next device in line (usually hdd).

are you seeing that message?? and incase your display is slow in refreshing the screen after a possible resolution change, how about tapping a key 1 time per sec to see if that gets the optical media to boot..

 

[snide7]

tried all of the above, nothing is working. think it must be a faulty mobo and/or hdd.. any way to prove if it is/isnt?

 

[groo]

I don't think a bad HDD would cause your problem. you shouldn't be to the HDD yet.

 

[snide7]

well, im stumped, I've tried everything I can think of and thus far nothing has worked, no idea what to do now.

 

[chris312]

try playing with your ATA controller settings in BIOS.