boot from CD drive does not work - BIOS?

Question

Hi: I would love to try out Linux w/o installing it first. However I can not get Dell Dimension 4550 to boot from the CD drive, regardless the options chosen in the BIOS setup. I have read on a web page that this is a common Dell problem. Is this true? Over 3 hours ago technical support promised me a call back within 15 min (hmmmm???). Does anybody around here have any sugestions? I have already tried a boot manager program to no avail. Thanks for any comments. I have wasted a lot of time already.

Majestic · Answer

Click here for an FAQ that will explain how to boot from a CD drive.  Just follow the directions for your model.  I know it's basic information, but I thought I would mention it just in case you're overlooking a step.  Also if you have more than one CD drive installed in your system then try booting from the other drive as well.  Only one CD drive will be the bootable drive and it may not necessarily be the upper CD drive.  On some Dells the bootable drive maybe your DVD drive. Message Edited by Majestic on 12-05-2005 03:03 PM

dte · Answer

Thanks. I believe I did all that (removing all external devices, accessing the BIOS (temporary and changing the boot sequence)). However, without any success. According to the note, it should work. 4550 is listed. Well, I can't make it work (and it doesn't work from the DVD drive either).

How do I contact dell support?

Majestic · Answer

Prior to contacting Dell Tech Support I would also try booting the system with another bootable CD. If the only CD you are trying is the Linux CD it's always possible that the CD is bad. I suspect you have, but again I thought I would mention it.

Otherwise you can contact Dell Support via their live on-line chat that can be found by clicking here.

dte · Answer

Yes, I did. Same problem. I also tested the CD somewhere else, and it works just fine. I still do not know how to solve this problem. Any more ideas?

Majestic · Answer

The only other thing I can think of is unplug the ribbon cable coming from your hard drive to the Primary IDE port on the motherboard.  Then switch the ribbon cable for the CD drive from the Secondary IDE port over to the Primary IDE port on the motherboard.  With this arrangement there should only be the floppy and CD drive left in the machine.  The system should then search out for a bootable media on boot up and hopefully find the Linux CD.  If this works then I suspect your 4550 model has a problem with the IDE 2 port for booting.

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boot from CD drive does not work - BIOS?

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