New MoBo, not able to format

Hi all,

I am having trouble with a replacement MoBo. I currently have a MSI 865PE Neo2-P MS-6728 V.2. This MoBo is the exact one that I used to have but the old one needed replacing(video stopped working.) I have 2X1G and 2X512K sticks of Kingston Ram. 2 WD HDDs connected through the SATA ports. I also have 2 DVD writers connected through a ribbon cable to the IDE1 port. I also have a 6 month old 650W Corsair PS so I know there is no problem there.

When I received the replacement MoBo I installed it exactly the way the old one was set up. It isn't brand new since I bought the original in 2004. It is from a reputable seller on eBay and was tested to be working before it was shipped. I did have to reset the BIOS because it was PW protected and the PW didn't come with the MoBo.

It booted up fine when I got it set up but the OS it loaded to was one that I hadn't used in over a year. I guess it reverted to a previous restore point and erased all the ones in front of it. There is no sound and the ethernet drivers appear to not be installed. I tried to install the sound and network drivers from the cd that came with the original board but it wasn't an option(it was greyed out.)

I have been trying for 2 days to format the hard drive with the XP install disc. I set up the BIOS correctly so that the DVD drives boot first. I have tried the install cd in both drives during boot up and it always ends with the messages:

Searching for boot record from cd/dvd - Not Found

I have already contacted the store that sold me the MoBo for technical assistance. I am still waiting to hear back.

What should I try next?

Have you got an old IDE hard drive you can try to format with? I have an old DFI LanParty board that refuses DVD booting, but allows CD, and also refuses to format SATA HDDs during windows installs but allows IDE. I updated the bios and it started working perfectly, maybe that will work for you.

i865PE? That is way too old man.......
Try to flash the mainboard BIOS to the latest one, and try to see where it works, from my experience, connect 2 IDE devices normally will have this issue sometime....