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[HD Woes] My hardware a splode. |
X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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Long story short: I was installing a WLAN card in a free PCI slot. When I tried to boot after that, the (USB) keyboard was not responding, and the computer was entirely unable to boot, complaining about a boot disk read error (a BIOS error, I think). After removing the haunted WLAN card again, the USB keyboard worked again, but the drive still won't boot; albeit in a different fashion. The BIOS seems to correctly identify my three hard drives (all identical Samsung SP2504C), both at startup and in system setup, but can't off of the one that has my operating system on it. When it gets that far, it just stops doing anything. It doesn't freeze per se... the cursor is still blinking, showing activity, but nothing further happens. Running a recovery console reveals that Windows is unable to detect a pre-existing installation, and trying to cd to C: results in... well, I can go there, but there's nothing there. The console effectively behaves as if the C:, D: and E: drives were DVD drives or floppy drives with no disk inserted, throwing an error if I try any meaningful operation on either. My googling has brought up people who have had this problem and fixed it by disabling RAID in their BIOS, but that's not it here. RAID is disabled, and always has been as far as I know. -- |
Edgar Reynaldo
Major Reynaldo
May 2007
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Can you boot from your Installation CD? Maybe your IRQ's got crossed? Check your boot order in the BIOS? My Website! | EAGLE GUI Library Demos | My Deviant Art Gallery | Spiraloid Preview | A4 FontMaker | Skyline! (Missile Defense) Eagle and Allegro 5 binaries | Older Allegro 4 and 5 binaries | Allegro 5 compile guide |
X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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Yes, I can--how do you think I managed to get into the recovery console? IRQs, what? Boot order is irrelevant. -- |
Edgar Reynaldo
Major Reynaldo
May 2007
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[quote ]IRQs what? My Website! | EAGLE GUI Library Demos | My Deviant Art Gallery | Spiraloid Preview | A4 FontMaker | Skyline! (Missile Defense) Eagle and Allegro 5 binaries | Older Allegro 4 and 5 binaries | Allegro 5 compile guide |
X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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It displays them briefly on boot, but I'm not sure what to look for. A few devices are sharing IRQ 11, I think, but I don't know if that's intentional or not. The WLAN card has been long excised, it's no longer in there at all. -- |
Edgar Reynaldo
Major Reynaldo
May 2007
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Okay , got out "PC Hardware : In a Nutshell" , looking over IRQ's Quote: When a component or peripheral , such as a network adapter or sound card , needs to get the CPU's attention , it does so by generating a signal on an Interrupt Request Line (IRQ) , Table 1-2 lists IRQs and the devices that typically use them.
Table 1-2./16/32-bit ISA/PCI standard IRQ assignments IRQ Bus type Typically used by 00 none Non-maskable Interrupt (NMI);system timer 01 none Keyboard port 02 none Programmable Interrupt Controller (PIC)-cascade to IRQ 09 03 8/16-bit Communications Port 2 (COM2) 04 8/16-bit Communications Port 1 (COM1) 05 8/16-bit Sound card; printer port (LPT2) 06 8/16-bit Floppy disk controller 07 8/16-bit Printer Port (LPT1) 08 none System CMOS/real-time clock 09 8/16-bit Redirected from IRQ 02;network interface 10 16-bit Network Interface;USB host controller 11 16-bit Video adapter;SCSI host adapter 12 16-bit PS/2 mouse port 13 none Numeric data processor(math coprocessor) 14 16-bit Primary IDE interface 15 16-bit Secondary IDE interface Okay , remember these are just typical settings. Quote: If the processor receives two or more interrupts simultaneously , it processes them in order of priority. On 8-bit systems (PCs and XTs) , the lower-numbered IRQ always takes priority. That is , IRQ 00 is the highest priority , and IRQ 07 is the lowest priority. 286 and higher systems use a second Programmable Interrupt Controller (PIC) to add a second set of eight IRQs , cascaded from IRQ 02. That changes IRQ priority from the simple numerical order used by 8-bit systems. On 16-bit and higher systems , IRQ 00 is still the highest priority , followed by IRQ 01 and 02. But because IRQ 02 is the cascade IRQ , the IRQs that it supports--IRQ 08 through IRQ 15-- are next in priority. IRQ 03 follows IRQ 15 in priority , and then in numerical order through IRQ 07 , the lowest priority. Whenever possible , assign "important" devices to higher-priority IRQs. Maybe this will help you sort out what you are looking at.
Quote: PCI cards use level-sensitive interrupts, which means that different PCI devices can assert different voltages on the same physical interrupt line , allowing the processor to determine which device generated the interrupt. PCI cards and slots manage interrupts internally. A PCI bus normally supports a maximum of four PCI slots , numbered 1 through 4. Each PCI slot can access four interrupts , labeled INT#1 through INT#4 (or INT#A through INT#D). Ordinarily , INT#1/A is used by PCI slot 1 , INT#2/B by Slot 2 , and so on.
Quote: AGP cards support only INT#1/A and INT#2/B , and share with PCI Slot 1. If a PCI Slot 5 exists , it shares with Slot 4. In either case , with slots that share resources , avoid installing cards in both slots if both cards require the same shared resource. If you must use both slots , install only cards that can share an IRQ. If you encounter a conflict on a PCI system , simply moving cards to different slots often solves the problem.
My Website! | EAGLE GUI Library Demos | My Deviant Art Gallery | Spiraloid Preview | A4 FontMaker | Skyline! (Missile Defense) Eagle and Allegro 5 binaries | Older Allegro 4 and 5 binaries | Allegro 5 compile guide |
Ron Novy
Member #6,982
March 2006
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I'm not sure what type of mother board it is, but in any case you definatly should update the BIOS once its up and running again. Then again you may have damaged a cable or something... Try swaping HD cables and make sure the drive is grounded to the case... The BIOS does make changes to irq's and stuff and the fact that the card is no longer there does not matter... If nothing else is working, then you could reset the CMOS and try again... You also may need to reset some other information in the bios. ---- |
Edgar Reynaldo
Major Reynaldo
May 2007
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Ron Novy said: ...you could reset the CMOS and try again... Try to find a CMOS save/restore utility before changing hardware. PC Hardware in a Nutshell said: Even if you don't plan to do anything that might affect CMOS , use your CMOS save/restore utility to save these settings to a diskette before you open the case. If you don't have such a utility , download one or record the settings with pencil and paper. Sorry , that's a little after the fact.:-/ My Website! | EAGLE GUI Library Demos | My Deviant Art Gallery | Spiraloid Preview | A4 FontMaker | Skyline! (Missile Defense) Eagle and Allegro 5 binaries | Older Allegro 4 and 5 binaries | Allegro 5 compile guide |
X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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I have already done the "Reset CMOS" thing, and it did not help. And how am I supposed to update the CMOS anyway? And why do you think it would help? Wouldn't it just potentially compound the issues I already have? And none of this explains why the drives are behaving the way they are in the first place. Remember, the WLAN card is no longer in there. -- |
Ron Novy
Member #6,982
March 2006
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Actually its BIOS update... Usually Computer/Motherboard manufacturers give out updates to the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) when a bug is found. A hardware incompatibility issue like this most certainly would need an update... Unless of course its just a hardware incompatibility or complete hardware failure... Keeping up to date with BIOS revisions can keep your system running smoothly and in some cases it can actually improve performance. You could also check that the bus speed is set low enough... The PCI/AGP buses should not operate higher then about 33MHz/66MHz unless you know your hardware can support the higher speeds. List your hardware here... Mother board, drives, powersupply rating etc... ---- |
Edgar Reynaldo
Major Reynaldo
May 2007
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You said that you had two devices sharing IRQ 11 right? Here's something else from the book : Quote: For ISA slots and devices , the rule is simple: two devices cannot share an IRQ if there is any possibility that those two devices may be used simultaneously. In practice that means that you cannot assign the same IRQ to more than one ISA device. Don't know if that applies , don't know what devices were sharing the IRQ. More from book : BIOS updates generally expand a motherboard's support for newer equipment , being able to use more memory , so on. Quote: Remember , the WLAN card is no longer in there. True , but your computer didn't bonk until you put it in though , did it. So it changed something funny around. Have you checked to make sure all the cables are seated properly? You might have knocked something loose working in there. Have any of the BIOS settings changed since you reset the CMOS? My Website! | EAGLE GUI Library Demos | My Deviant Art Gallery | Spiraloid Preview | A4 FontMaker | Skyline! (Missile Defense) Eagle and Allegro 5 binaries | Older Allegro 4 and 5 binaries | Allegro 5 compile guide |
X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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ISA slots aren't even from this millennium. There are no AGP or ISA slots in this computer, just four PCI slots and two PCI-E slots. I am not going to risk upgrading my BIOS and have THAT fail on me too. No, no settings have changed. Yes, all the cables are plugged in as far as I can tell. Bus ratings are set properly. -- |
Vanneto
Member #8,643
May 2007
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Quote: I am not going to risk upgrading my BIOS and have THAT fail on me too. At least try it, and if it doesn't work, well, then your fucked. BUT, you don't know if it wont work... Try it! In capitalist America bank robs you. |
X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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No. Trying random shit just because you can, with no indication that it would actually solve your problem, is just inviting more trouble, especially with something that's as error-sensitive as reflashing your BIOS. -- |
Edgar Reynaldo
Major Reynaldo
May 2007
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- X-G - You said you are booting from CD. What OS are you using? If you're using Windows , you can go to the Device Manager click on the View tab and select Resources By Type. From your OP X-G said: The BIOS seems to correctly identify my three hard drives (all identical Samsung SP2504C), both at startup and in system setup, but can't off of the one that has my operating system on it. When it gets that far, it just stops doing anything. It doesn't freeze per se... the cursor is still blinking, showing activity, but nothing further happens. It is possible that your boot order got screwed up. If the BIOS doesn't find the Boot Partition on your OS drive , it's possible its no longer being checked for as a boot device. Go into your CMOS setup / BIOS setup screen and look for boot order. My Website! | EAGLE GUI Library Demos | My Deviant Art Gallery | Spiraloid Preview | A4 FontMaker | Skyline! (Missile Defense) Eagle and Allegro 5 binaries | Older Allegro 4 and 5 binaries | Allegro 5 compile guide |
X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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sigh Read a little more carefully. I can't boot into any actual operating system, just the Windows Recovery Console. And that refuses to acknowledge any of my drives as having anything on them at all. There is nothing wrong with the boot order, as I've tried manually booting off of each of the three drives (even though only one is actually bootable). It's not a problem with boot order, it's a problem with the disk controller thinking all the drives are blank or invalid or something to that effect. -- |
Dennis
Member #1,090
July 2003
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"Reset CMOS" is not the same as "Reset ESCD". That "Reset ESCD" option is somewhere inside one of the other BIOS configuration pages. readme If that fails and you still can't boot, take the drives to another Windows machine and mount them there to see if at least all your data is still there. If it isn't, you won't get around reinstalling anyway. --- 0xDB | @dennisbusch_de --- |
X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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I don't have any other machines I could take the drives to. And I can't reinstall anyway, because I can't do anything with the drives! I mean that, nothing. No attempts to actually access anything on the drives do anything. -- |
Epsi
Member #5,731
April 2005
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You have to do things in order or you will get crazy. First, check if your hard drive isn't dead. Use a Linux Live CD like Knoppix (600MB download) and see if you can browse through the filesystem. Anyway, if that works and you can browse in WINDOWS correctly, try to reformat the MBR correctly. If that does't do the job, then you know the HDD is fine and you can start to look in the BIOS issues. ___________________________________ piccolo: "soon all new 2d alegro games will be better. after i finsh my MMRPG. my game will serve as a code reference. so you can understand and grab code from." |
Dennis
Member #1,090
July 2003
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What about friends machines? --- 0xDB | @dennisbusch_de --- |
X-G
Member #856
December 2000
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S-ATA drives. The IDE optical drives work, the S-ATA hard drives don't. I don't know if that's relevant. The drives aren't dead, unless three drives somehow mysteriously failed in exactly the same way at exactly the same moment. I can't get at them at all. Dennis, the only option is "Reset to Optimized Defaults". -- |
Dennis
Member #1,090
July 2003
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I'll reboot my machine now to look for the place where that option is in my BIOS. --- 0xDB | @dennisbusch_de --- |
Epsi
Member #5,731
April 2005
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Quote: S-ATA drives. The IDE optical drives work, the S-ATA hard drives don't. I don't know if that's relevant. The drives aren't dead, unless three drives somehow mysteriously failed in exactly the same way at exactly the same moment. I can't get at them at all. You said that the BIOS detect and list them, but cannot access data on them, right ? Well good luck with wild guesses then... Your power supply could have failed and overpowered all HDDs thanks to a bad card. You will never know if you don't try. Edit: To get my SATA to boot once I installed my current box, I had to change the SATA Mode (or something like that) from ENHANCED to REGULAR. Look for such a setting and try it ___________________________________ piccolo: "soon all new 2d alegro games will be better. after i finsh my MMRPG. my game will serve as a code reference. so you can understand and grab code from." |
Edgar Reynaldo
Major Reynaldo
May 2007
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The recovery console has helpful options to fix things if you can determine what is wrong. Type 'help' at the console to get a listing of all the commands available. The 'map' command should give you a better idea of what is being recognized (HDD , CD-ROM , so forth. http://www.allegro.cc/files/attachment/593451 My Website! | EAGLE GUI Library Demos | My Deviant Art Gallery | Spiraloid Preview | A4 FontMaker | Skyline! (Missile Defense) Eagle and Allegro 5 binaries | Older Allegro 4 and 5 binaries | Allegro 5 compile guide |
Dennis
Member #1,090
July 2003
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In my Award Bios, the option is hidden under "PnP/PCI Configurations" and on that page it is called "Reset Configuration Data" which can be set to enabled or disabled. This should be set to enabled to do the reset of the ESCD(Extended System Configuration Data), it will automatically set itself back to disabled after it has done the reset. --- 0xDB | @dennisbusch_de --- |
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