XPS Gen 2 fails to boot up

Question

I have an XPS Gen 2 w/ RAID mirroring. Last year one drive failed. The technician sent out to replace the drive was unable to complete the task. Then I got very busy at work and home. Shortly after that my support plan expired. Me, acting foolishly, did not replace the drive myself, waiting until I had more free time. Yesterday the machine failed to shut down properly. It 'got stuck' saving settings for more than 15 minutes. No new software or hardware was recently installed. Today the machine won't boot up. I tried Safe Mode - no go. Before it fails I see the first drive is still 'NORMAL' but a blue screen with an UNMOUNTABLE BOOT VOLUME error message displays.

I attempted to create an XP boot disc by formatting a disk and copying the ntldr and ntdetect.dll from another XP machine and creating a boot.ini from the sample that follows:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
Default= multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows

[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\windows="Windows XP"

I don't know if a change to any of the input parameters is required. I don't know if the drive is a SCSI device which would require changes. I have no reason to believe it is a SCSI device but the result of booting as specified above results in a "missing or corrupt hal.dll" error message.

I searched for hall.dll and as recommended I then tried booting from the XP CD in the recovery console. The computer went through the Windows setup but when I entered "R" for repair I got an error message indicating setup 'did not find any hard disk drives in the computer'. I suspect this may have to do do with the fact that I have a RAID set-up, not necessarily that the second drive is no good. Any help at all would be appreciated.

ejn63 · Answer

You cannot make a bootable disc using XP itself. Use the original CD and a floppy containing the drivers for your RAID controller. Boot the XP CD, press F6 when the 'pause to insert driver diskette' appears on screen, insert the floppy, and then you'll be able to boot to a recovery console to attempt a repair.

FXBaker · Answer

Would you know where I might find those drivers? I have the resource CD that indicates it includes device drivers. If not, the only thing I see in  the Dell support web site in 'Downloads', drivers for my machine based on the service tag I entered is 'Intel Application Accelerator RAID Edition v 3.5.6.6222, A02'. My machine displays RAID BIOS 3.5.0.2568. I don't know if these versions have to match. Should I presume the 'Intel Application Accelerator RAID Edition v 3.5.6.6222, A02' driver is correct for my machine, download it and copy it to a floppy? I don't see anything on the resource CD folders or files that indicates anything about RAID or hard drive devices.

ejn63 · Answer

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&releaseid=R76270&SystemID=DIM_PNT_P4_XPS_G2&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=7548&devlib=0&typecnt=2&vercnt=1&formatcnt=1&fileid=99757

FXBaker · Answer

I downloaded R76270.exe. and copied it to a floppy. I pressed F6 at the 'driver' prompt. After the drivers were loaded there was prompt refering 'mass storage' instructing me to insert the floppy. I did and an error message displayed indicating 'txtsetup.oem could not be found'.   Is R76270 a self-extracting executable that will simply expand onto the floppy and nothing else? If not, I don't want to run it on the XP machine without the RAID set-up, correct?

FXBaker · Answer

I got to the Recovery process, entered R but a blue screen resulted with the following messages:

'problem detected...Windows shut down for protection'

'disable anti-virus, defrag, back-up and check for updated drivers. Run CHKDISK /F, then restart.'

'*** STOP 0x00000024 (0x0019028A, 0xF7CE08FC, 0xF7CE05FC, 0Xf747c84F)'

'*** NTFS.sys Address F747C84F base at F7435000, DateStamp 3dbde5c1'

I'm not certain how to disable McAfee, defrag, backup and check for updated drivers, run CHKDISK /F, then restart when the machine won't even boot up.

ejn63 · Answer

The file needs to be extracted to the floppy, yes. Unless you set the RAID controller to ATA/compatible mode, you will need this driver.

FXBaker · Answer

Please read previous entry then this one. I tried the identical instructions 3 or 4 times - boot from installation CD, F12 for set-up, install RAID driver from floppy and each time except the last when I attempted to start the recovery console it failed with the same error described in the last entry. This time recovery resulted in my getting a C: prompt. I don't know what to do next.

I can't explain why the error did not occur. I've worked in IT for over 20 years, in a support function no less, I troubleshoot problems and I know things users report may not be accurate but in this case I did the same steps each time.

ejn63 · Answer

If you have not done so, I would run the Dell diagnostics on the drive. The erratic behavior is pointing toward a drive that's headed for use as a paperweight.

FXBaker · Answer

Run the diagnostics from the C: prompt in repair mode of the recovery console? That is the current state of the machine. It's the only time I've gotten to a point where I didn't get a 'blue screen' or an error indicating I needed to stop trying what I was attmpting. How do I run Dell Diagnostics? Is it a command? From the C: prompt or do I have to be positioned in a specific directory?

ejn63 · Answer

Use the Dell Drivers and Utilities CD that came with the system. It is bootable.

FXBaker · Answer

I called one of those 'data recovery' firms in case the hard drive was 'hosed'. They told me not to keep trying to boot the machine because so doing could further damage the drive. Especially the repair. Any nugget of truth in that notion or do you think that is their way of drumming up some business?

Storage, Drives & Media

XPS Gen 2 fails to boot up

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