Unable to Boot to CD

[patlaw]

Even though the CD drive in an IBM A31 computer works fine in Windows, the computer will not boot to the drive. During the boot sequence, the computer spins up the drive like it is trying to read it, but it does not. The BIOS is, of course, set to boot to the CD first. A replacement drive did not work, either. The big clue is probably that the "CD Drive" entry in the Startup section of the BIOS has an exclamation point beside it. Note that this exclamation point is in the BIOS, not in Windows. It seems to me that there must be a motherboard problem. The BIOS is the last version (1.13).

 

[brandoncatz]

Have you confirmed that your disc is bootable by booting it up in another machine? If so, try flashing your BIOS with the latest and greatest official update from your motherboard manufacturer.

 

[patlaw]

Yes, of course. When I reloaded the default settings in the BIOS, the problem was resolved. Even though none of the BIOS settings visibly changed, the problem went away. Apparently there was corruption in the BIOS.

 

[brandoncatz]

There you go.