Dimension 3100/E310 Partition question

Question

I seem to be having a hardware problem and I can't boot into the diagnostics partition. I loaded Fedora Linux onto my machine a while back. Now when I select the diagnostics partition from the bootloader menu, it tries to boot into Linux. Why?   I can run the hard drive diagnostics program, just not the extended diagnostics.   When I loaded Linux, I chose the largest partition that was available on my disk(Dell leaves your hard drive a MESS! with 4 partitions, some FAT, some FAT32 and one main NTFS partition with 18GB of space remaining unallocated. Shame on Dell).   I left the FAT partitions alone because I figured they were the diagnostics and system recovery partitions, so why can't I get it to run?   I'd love it if someone could help. If it means uninstalling Fedora, I'm really not married to it. There are no audio drivers for my computer so I hardly use it. I just don't know how I'd fix this otherwise...

shesagordie · Answer

Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.
SamRoza wrote:

The partitions are as follows:

31MB FAT EISA

52.71GB NTFS(C:)

102MB Unknown

18.41GB Unknown(D:) Linux Partition

3.25GB FAT32 Unknown

The only thing I've done is format D:, which came as unallocated space from Dell-Why? I have no idea.

I obviously need to make changes to the GRUB bootloader, so I need to know which partition contains the extended diagnostics.

The 31MB FAT EISA partition, contains the Diagnostics.

The 3.25GB FAT32 Unknown partition, is the Dell PC Restore by Symantec Utility.

Bev.

Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.

MRF4700 · Answer

What are the number and sizes of the partitions you have on your hard drive, presently?

shesagordie · Answer

SamRoza

Try restoring the hard drive to factory condition, by using the Dell PC Restore by Symantec utility,

http://www.djdenham.com/New%20user%20questions.htm#PCRestore

Bev.

Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.

samroza · Answer

Doesn't this revert my hard drive to factory spec? I've put a lot of work into getting my settings and whatnot just the way I like them and I do not wish to start from scratch.

samroza · Answer

The partitions are as follows:   31MB FAT EISA 52.71GB NTFS(C:) 102MB Unknown 18.41GB Unknown(D:) Linux Partition 3.25GB FAT32 Unknown   The only thing I've done is format D:, which came as unallocated space from Dell-Why? I have no idea.   I obviously need to make changes to the GRUB bootloader, so I need to know which partition contains the extended diagnostics.

MRF4700 · Answer

What are the other menu choices besides HDD diagnostics after you hit F12?

samroza · Answer

So the question remains-why can I run HDD diagnostics, but not the extended dagnostics?

samroza · Answer

Boot from SATA Boot from USB/External Drive Hard Drive Diagnostics Boot to Utility Partition   Choosing the 4th option starts the grub loader for Linux. It will then blue screen when starting windows because it's accessing Window in a weird way(I think).

MRF4700 · Answer

You may have corrupted the boot loader file for the utility partition. Try updating the partition using this link:   http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&releaseid=R130268&SystemID=DIM_PNT_P4_3100&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=5423&devlib=0&typecnt=1&vercnt=2&formatcnt=1&libid=13&fileid=173571   If that doesn't work, then you may need to create a diagnostic CD using this link. Do you have CD burning capability on your system?   http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/format.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&SystemID=DIM_PNT_P4_3100&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=3841&typecnt=1&libid=13&releaseid=R130269&vercnt=3     Message Edited by MRF4700 on 11-25-200607:01 PM

samroza · Answer

Does using system restore install all of the bloatware that Dell sends our computers with?   Just wondering. It took me 2 weeks before I had all that off of my machine...

samroza · Answer

Thanks for the links.   First I updated the diagnostics and rebooted. Same deal-no go.   So I downloaded the disk version and burned an image of it. I rebooted and ran first the quick check. It came back clean. Then I ran the extended diags. They came back clean, too.   Not sure where to go from here.   Thanks for everybody's help.   Sam

shesagordie · Answer

SamRoza wrote:

Does using system restore install all of the bloatware that Dell sends our computers with?

Just wondering. It took me 2 weeks before I had all that off of my machine...

If you mean, using Dell PC Restore by Symantec, then, yes, it does. It restores the system to "As Shipped" condition.

Bev.

Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.

speedstep · Answer

Linux messed up the special boot sector. You will need to install a dell boot sector by booting dos and then running DSRFIX http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/fixes.htm

Locked Topics – Desktops General

Dimension 3100/E310 Partition question

Was this post helpful?