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Forum question
Started by Richy1985 | | 27 answers
I am having a problem with my computer. I am running Windows 95 on a Dell Dimension Socket 5 motherboard and I receive a 'Diskette Drive A error' when booting up. I am unable to access my Floppy Drive, CD-ROM and Zip Drive as a result of this.
I have tried the following:
1. Making sure the IDE cable is connected correctly (the IDE cable for the Floppy Drive only fits one way).
2. Made sure the IDE cable that connects to the CD-ROM and Zip Drive is connected correctly i.e. that the red dotted line matches with pin one on the connector.
3. Making sure the cables are connected tightly to the drives.
4. Tried connecting another IDE cable for the Floppy Drive to rule out a bad IDE cable.
5. Tried re-installing Windows 95.
6. Tried setting the Floppy Drive to 'Not Installed' in the BIOS.
7. Tried setting the Floppy Drive type from '3.5 inch 1.44mb' to '3.5 inch 720k' in the BIOS.
8. Tried replacing the CMOS battery.
9. Tried replacing the 3.5 inch Floppy Disk Drive.
10. Tried installing a Floppy Disk Controller Card and setting different jumper combinations.
11. Tried running the computer with the Zip Drive disconnected in an attempt to free up power.
11. Tried attaching a fan to the CPU and heatsink to help prevent the CPU from becoming too hot.
12. Made sure the Hard Disk Drive is set to 'Auto' in the BIOS.
13. Disabled the Floppy Disk Controller by right clicking on 'My Computer', selecting 'Properties', clicking the 'Device Manager' Tab, clicking the plus (+) symbol next to Floppy Disk Controllers, double clicking on 'Standard Floppy Disk Controller' and left clicking the white box next to 'Disable this in hardware profile', then clicking OK to save the changes.
14. Disconnected the Floppy Drive and disconnected the IDE cable that connects to the Floppy connector on the motherboard.
In 'Device Manger' there is a yellow exclamation mark next to CMD PCI-0690 PCI to IDE Controller. I have checked the registry by clicking 'Start', 'Run' typing regedit and going to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Service\VxD\IOS and checking for an instance of 'NOIDE' but there is no such instance.
Can anyone help?
Thanks so much!
I have tried the following:
1. Making sure the IDE cable is connected correctly (the IDE cable for the Floppy Drive only fits one way).
2. Made sure the IDE cable that connects to the CD-ROM and Zip Drive is connected correctly i.e. that the red dotted line matches with pin one on the connector.
3. Making sure the cables are connected tightly to the drives.
4. Tried connecting another IDE cable for the Floppy Drive to rule out a bad IDE cable.
5. Tried re-installing Windows 95.
6. Tried setting the Floppy Drive to 'Not Installed' in the BIOS.
7. Tried setting the Floppy Drive type from '3.5 inch 1.44mb' to '3.5 inch 720k' in the BIOS.
8. Tried replacing the CMOS battery.
9. Tried replacing the 3.5 inch Floppy Disk Drive.
10. Tried installing a Floppy Disk Controller Card and setting different jumper combinations.
11. Tried running the computer with the Zip Drive disconnected in an attempt to free up power.
11. Tried attaching a fan to the CPU and heatsink to help prevent the CPU from becoming too hot.
12. Made sure the Hard Disk Drive is set to 'Auto' in the BIOS.
13. Disabled the Floppy Disk Controller by right clicking on 'My Computer', selecting 'Properties', clicking the 'Device Manager' Tab, clicking the plus (+) symbol next to Floppy Disk Controllers, double clicking on 'Standard Floppy Disk Controller' and left clicking the white box next to 'Disable this in hardware profile', then clicking OK to save the changes.
14. Disconnected the Floppy Drive and disconnected the IDE cable that connects to the Floppy connector on the motherboard.
In 'Device Manger' there is a yellow exclamation mark next to CMD PCI-0690 PCI to IDE Controller. I have checked the registry by clicking 'Start', 'Run' typing regedit and going to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Service\VxD\IOS and checking for an instance of 'NOIDE' but there is no such instance.
Can anyone help?
Thanks so much!
Richy1985
October 17, 2014 4:56:00 AM
drtweak
August 31, 2014 11:27:31 AM
Richy1985
August 31, 2014 1:36:44 AM
James Mason
August 31, 2014 12:32:45 AM
And if you need a new floppy drive just buy a USB external one...
I'm not 100% sure if your motherboard has USB slots though...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1PU...
Really I'd say your solution is to just get a new computer. There's no good reason to still be using a windows 95 machine. Unless you like collecting viruses or something.
I'm not 100% sure if your motherboard has USB slots though...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA1PU...
Really I'd say your solution is to just get a new computer. There's no good reason to still be using a windows 95 machine. Unless you like collecting viruses or something.
Richy1985
August 30, 2014 11:48:18 PM
Richy1985
August 30, 2014 9:55:23 PM
A series of codes are generated by the POST card, the final one to be generated is: EE EF. The manual says in the table under AMI for the code EE 'Looking for a floppy diskette in drive A: Reading the first sector of the diskette. Under Phoenix 4.0/Tandy 3000 it says 'Shadow Boot Block'.
For the EF code, under AMI it says 'A read error occurred while reading the floppy drive in drive A. Under Phoenix 4.0/Tandy 3000 it says 'system memory test'.
Does anyone know what this means?
For the EF code, under AMI it says 'A read error occurred while reading the floppy drive in drive A. Under Phoenix 4.0/Tandy 3000 it says 'system memory test'.
Does anyone know what this means?
Richy1985
August 30, 2014 9:12:25 AM
Well I received my POST card in the mail today and it just seems like a complete waste of time. The User Guide is written in bad English and it doesn't tell me HOW to fix the problem, just refers me to a table that vaguely describes what the issue is and where the source of the problem might be located.
Richy1985
August 25, 2014 3:16:46 AM
drtweak
August 24, 2014 10:04:03 PM
Richy1985
August 24, 2014 1:10:23 PM
If I put them into 2 & 4 the machine will power on but there's no display, just the beep codes. I recall clicking on the Start Menu when the machine suddenly locked up and then powered off for no obvious reason.
When I power on, the disk drives and the motherboard appear to receive power (the lights on the drives and board come on). Is it possible that the Power Supply may be faulty even though the components are receiving power? I am hoping the POST card can help with this, apparently if the 12v+/12v-, 5v+/5v- and 3.3v+/3.3v- bulbs do not light up on the card then there is a short circuit with the PSU.
When I power on, the disk drives and the motherboard appear to receive power (the lights on the drives and board come on). Is it possible that the Power Supply may be faulty even though the components are receiving power? I am hoping the POST card can help with this, apparently if the 12v+/12v-, 5v+/5v- and 3.3v+/3.3v- bulbs do not light up on the card then there is a short circuit with the PSU.
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