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8007
October 1st, 2002 15:00
HDD or On-board Boot Controller? (LONG)
Hopefully, someone out there has run into this and can recommend the next course of action....
SYSTEM:
Dimension XPS T550 -> PowerLeap PL-iP3/T 1.2GHz
512 MB RAM, 0=256(new, Crucial), 1=128(orig), 2=128(orig)
A11 BIOS
WindowsXP Home (pre- and post-SP1)
nVIDIA GeForce2 MX400
Standard P/S
Standard 20GB HDD
Standard CD-ROM
Standard FDD
Sound Blaster Live! Value
Standard 10MB 3Com Ethernet NIC
Standard 56K Modem removed due to lack of interest
IOMEGA Zip250 (internal)
ALL Drivers are latest reference/WHQL Certified versions
PROBLEM:
-Random (~95% of failed boots). PC gets "stuck" between POST and Windows load.
-Random (~5% of failed boots). "No operating system found" Error
SYMPTOM(S):
POST completes, single beep, blank screen w/single blinking cursor upper left of screen, HDD activity light on solid, no futher progress, no Windows load screen. Occasionally, HDD is not listed in POST info. Only happens when PC has been powered off, not during normal Windows reboot. System will eventually boot (else I would not be able to write this) after successive power-off/power-on's.
DIAGNOSTICS (to date):
NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, each step was done individually, followed by (unsuccessful) boot attempt. Each part was re-installed after removal and boot.
-Isolated each stick of RAM, also isolated RIMM slot positioning
-Isolated PowerLeap vs. original PIII
-Isolated nVIDIA GeForce2 vs. original TNT2 Ultra
-re-flashed BIOS, left at default settings.
-Isolated BIOS boot sequences
-Isolated 64 vs. 256 BIOS video
-Removed CD-ROM
-Removed FDD
-Removed Sound Blaster
-Removed IOMEGA Zip250
-Removed NIC
-Replaced IDE Cables
-Stripped system down to single 256 RAM, GeForce2, and HDD
-When system does boot, Scandisk shows no errors or bad sectors; no data has ever been lost.
Based on the above troubleshooting, I have (I believe) narrowed the possibilities to either a flaky HDD, or on-board boot controller. Now, before I go out and spend the money on a new HDD, is there anything else any of you can recommend I try to further isolate this problem?
Thanks for your time and assistance!
-Jeff
SYSTEM:
Dimension XPS T550 -> PowerLeap PL-iP3/T 1.2GHz
512 MB RAM, 0=256(new, Crucial), 1=128(orig), 2=128(orig)
A11 BIOS
WindowsXP Home (pre- and post-SP1)
nVIDIA GeForce2 MX400
Standard P/S
Standard 20GB HDD
Standard CD-ROM
Standard FDD
Sound Blaster Live! Value
Standard 10MB 3Com Ethernet NIC
Standard 56K Modem removed due to lack of interest
IOMEGA Zip250 (internal)
ALL Drivers are latest reference/WHQL Certified versions
PROBLEM:
-Random (~95% of failed boots). PC gets "stuck" between POST and Windows load.
-Random (~5% of failed boots). "No operating system found" Error
SYMPTOM(S):
POST completes, single beep, blank screen w/single blinking cursor upper left of screen, HDD activity light on solid, no futher progress, no Windows load screen. Occasionally, HDD is not listed in POST info. Only happens when PC has been powered off, not during normal Windows reboot. System will eventually boot (else I would not be able to write this) after successive power-off/power-on's.
DIAGNOSTICS (to date):
NOTE: Unless otherwise noted, each step was done individually, followed by (unsuccessful) boot attempt. Each part was re-installed after removal and boot.
-Isolated each stick of RAM, also isolated RIMM slot positioning
-Isolated PowerLeap vs. original PIII
-Isolated nVIDIA GeForce2 vs. original TNT2 Ultra
-re-flashed BIOS, left at default settings.
-Isolated BIOS boot sequences
-Isolated 64 vs. 256 BIOS video
-Removed CD-ROM
-Removed FDD
-Removed Sound Blaster
-Removed IOMEGA Zip250
-Removed NIC
-Replaced IDE Cables
-Stripped system down to single 256 RAM, GeForce2, and HDD
-When system does boot, Scandisk shows no errors or bad sectors; no data has ever been lost.
Based on the above troubleshooting, I have (I believe) narrowed the possibilities to either a flaky HDD, or on-board boot controller. Now, before I go out and spend the money on a new HDD, is there anything else any of you can recommend I try to further isolate this problem?
Thanks for your time and assistance!
-Jeff
No Events found!
The_Namek
2 Intern
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2.8K Posts
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October 1st, 2002 20:00
It sounds like you've covered all the bases except for the most obvious thing, which is plugging the hard drive into the secondary IDE controller and your CD-ROM drive into the primary IDE controller. If the exact same problems persist after doing this then it's a pretty safe bet that your hard drive is at death's door. If you start experiencing recognition or read problems with the CD-ROM then it's the controller.
dacoopah
32 Posts
0
October 1st, 2002 23:00
Obvious to those who know about such things maybe
Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a shot.
The_Namek
2 Intern
•
2.8K Posts
0
October 3rd, 2002 01:00