A7V Bios

[Guest]

I got given an older A7V MB (with the switches and on-board promise controller) but the hard drive I'd like to use has Win 2K preinstalled. The machine will see both the 17 and 20 gig Fujitsu hard drives but gives me an inaccesable_boot_drive failure when it tries to load windows. My attempts to flash the BIOS with what's available on the Asus website have been unsuccessful. What am I doing wrong. I would rather aviod messing around with the drive and risk losing data.

 

[khha4113]

I think you need to repair NT bootloader that might be damaged (so W2k can boot from your HD) not flashing BIOS.

Good or Bad have no meaning at all, depends on what your point of view is.

 

[juno]

I would like to ask you a question about A7V mb. I try to install win2k but I could not install it. After win2k-setup has copied all files in "/i386" ( I think) to my hard disk and has RESTART process. It will have an error massage about : "INACCESSIBLE-BOOT-DEVICE". all the time. Could you tell me how to install win2k?
BTW, my bios is 1004D and promise build 33
juno

 

[khha4113]

Has your HD been FDisk and set active (it's needed to set active so it can boot)? Do you use it on Promise controller or Onboard (VIA) IDE controller?

Good or Bad have no meaning at all, depends on what your point of view is.

 

[Guest]

I have not FDISK'd the drive. There is a ton of data I'd rather not reinstall. I have an older drive with Win 98 and that will boot the machine so I know the board is good. However, with the '98 drive, The machine will not see most of the PCI peripherals. For example, I can't install either of the network cards I have driver disks for. The BIOS lists as versioin 1002 and the current from the site is 1007 but when I try to get that file from Asus it doesn't extract correctly. It's got me stumped.

 

[khha4113]

There is a ton of data I'd rather not reinstall.

You don't need to. If you have W2k bootable CD, or if not you can make 4 of W2k setup disks by executing the file <b>Makeboot.exe</b> that resides in W2k CD's directory <b>Bootdisk</b>, you can recover its Bootloader.
After booting by CD (or floppy disks), you should reach W2k Setup screen. Press <b>R</b> to repair W2k Bootloader.
It will show you 2 choices to fix. One is using Recover console that I prefer to use (press C) and the other is Emergency Repair process (press R).
With Console, you must have Administrator's password. Type <b>fixboot</b> at Prompt to replace the boot sector, and then type <b>exit</b> to restart your computer.
With Emergency Repair, press <b>M</b> (manual repair), then choose <b>Inspect Boot sector</b>. It will copy your current boot sector to <b>Bootsec.dos</b> and replace it with the W2k Boot sector. This process requires you overwrite your old W2k boot sector with the MS-DOS/W9x boot sector that you need to boot from an MS-DOS bootdisk first, then at the Prompt, type <b>sys c:</b>

Good or Bad have no meaning at all, depends on what your point of view is.

 

[juno]

yes, my HD has been fdisk and it is set to active. I don't know that I use Promise controller or Onboard (via) IDE controller. How can I know which one I use? But I connect my HD to the Primary Ultra ATA 100 IDE and every time I boot on the mointor screen I see "promise bios build28". It gives me the information how big my HD is. Also in BIOS setup I set Primary Master >>> "Auto". Is this mean that I use "Promise Controler or not?
What should I do about either of them(the controllers) so i can install win2k?
BTW, the error message tells me to check:
1."Virus">>> (I have formatted my HD before win2k and check the virus with mcafee [virus not found]
2. "Removed any newly installed HD or HD-controller">>>I didn't install any new HD. But I am not sure about HD-controller. What does it mean by that? Is it do with Promise Controller or On board (via) IDE controller?
3."Check you HD to make sure it is properly configured and terminated">>> What should i do with this error message.
I hope you can help me.
thanks
juno