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10501
February 17th, 2008 01:00
boot device not detected at startup
Dimension E521 sometimes starts normally, but sometimes shows error at startup ( boot device not detected ). At this message I can press F1 to continue or F2 to enter setup. I've been in setup several times and reset boot order as needed. Whenever this happens, SATA hard drive and dvd drive are not detected by the BIOS. If I use control alt delete instead of the options listed on screen, it starts up Windows XP Home and everything works excellent. Several times I have shut down and entered setup after using the computer and installing software, and the drives show up. Wierd! I have been searching support forums for hours and have not found anyone that has had this exact problem. I have put in a new system battery and flashed the BIOS with and updated version from Dell. I have checked the drive cables and re-seated the memory modules. If the proper SATA drivers were not installed, could it act like this? Any help would be great.
PETER345
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February 17th, 2008 02:00
Peter
Majestic
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February 17th, 2008 13:00
Sackofhammers,
In your trouble-shooting you didn't mention anything about clearing the CMOS. If you haven't done this then I would give it a try. Although you changed the battery, it may have not been out long enough for the CMOS to be cleared. It's possible that the hardware information stored in the CMOS is corrupted. If so, this may account for the hardware detection problem you are experiencing at boot up. By clearing the CMOS the system will redetect all the installed hardware. You can click here for information on how to clear the CMOS from your model's on-line Service Manual.
Keep in mind that clearing the CMOS will default all your BIOS options back to their factory recommended settings. Not really a big deal since you're probably using most of the factory settings anyways. The defaulting will require you to re-enter the time/date, re-adjust your boot order if you have made any changes, re-adjust your power management options if you have changed them, etc. In other words settings that were changed to your personal liking will have to be re-set. If your system doesn't have a floppy drive the defaulting will turn on the floppy drive controller. If this happens and you get a Diskette Drive error on boot up then simply go into the BIOS and turn off the option for the Diskette Drive. The error message will be gone on the next reboot.
sackofhammers
5 Posts
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February 17th, 2008 16:00
Apparently the alt control delete skips some of the bios post checks which my computer is halting at. I just don't understand it well enough to know what to do about it.
Thanks for the reply
sackofhammers
5 Posts
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February 17th, 2008 16:00
I had the battery out for several minutes while I compared the voltage between old and new batteries.
After the new battery was in I entered setup and disabled floppy drive and set time and date. This should have cleared the CMOS. I checked boot sequence and all other settings are at default. I just don't know what to try next. I just received another hard drive which I intended to use to store files, but I could install windows and try it. The fact that windows functions flawlessly after a control alt delete makes me think that would be a waste of time. I have read a little about SATA drivers from motherboard supplier and about corrupted boot sectors but I don't have any experience with these or know if they would cause the problem I'm having. I bought this computer used and have since looked up original dell configuration, and found that it was put together with some non original components. I don't think that any of these changes are causing the problem but I'm wondering if whoever did it installed windows correctly ie. SATA drivers, proper format of drive, etc. Thank you for the reply.