-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 Mahesh T Pai writes:
> Hi all. /nick all Hi Mahesh, > I know this is not related to Linux or FOSS. But the box runs Debian, > and am hoping that people here would have some experience dealing with > things like this. > I got a new 500 GB SATA HDD, Seagate make. Output of smartctl says > something about compliance with version of 8 of ATA standards. (the > disk is not connected right now). > When the new disk is connected, the BIOS either shows a blank screen > or throws up an error message, and asks me to set CMOS time, which > falls back to 2002. Especially When I power on after a gap of 20 > minutes or more. Are you sure your RTC (real-time clock) battery is not discharged ? Maybe try replacing the battery. I used to experience these issues (has nothing to do with RTC) some years ago, mostly due to crappy SMPS, bad power/data cable which got fixed after I replaced its SMPS. And what's that error message you get from BIOS ? > There are no error messages in any of the logs; if I get past the BIOS > barrier, I can use the disk, I partitioned and created ext4 FS too. > The BIOS is of 2002 vintage, going by the copyright notice in the BIOS > menu. But the system is hardly 3 years old; it is an Asus M2N 68 AM > plus mother board. The other disk too is a SATA one, only 80 Gigs, > and is about 6 years or more old (reused the old disk in the new > system). The DVD r/w drive is IDE. So are there total of 3 drives (including the DVD writer) connected in your box ? > Questions:- > 1. Is this a problem with the MoBo / BIOS? Probably. > 2. Is there a problem with the new disk? Very less likely. > 3. How safe is it to tell the BIOS to ignore boot up errors (there is > an option somewhere in the BIOS to "halt on errord" - currently enabled) > 4. How to identify the error BIOS is getting? For extended troubleshooting, you can get a POST card[1] (or Debug card), a PCI card which displays progress made by BIOS by emitting various codes as it progresses to the I/O port which POST cards hooks itself to, and used to sell for INR 100-150 few years ago. You'll need your motherboard manual (or a copy of Upgrading and Repairing PCs[2]), which contains a table to interpret the codes. > Anything else I can do here? Maybe start with replacing RTC battery, if you've not already done that. References: [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POST_card [2] http://www.quepublishing.com/imprint/series_detail.aspx?st=87406 HTH - -- Ashish SHUKLA “You don't have to distrust the government to want to use cryptography.” (Phil Zimmermann) -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.17 (FreeBSD) iQIcBAEBCgAGBQJOzbcFAAoJEMdGz6nnT6Sw+OUP/2B6ah6v0PqWgRmPL7Oo6ZFa iLPvU0CtF+spFPJUhBTkNNFNZRIN6O8WWWTkvK7/mCL4px36iBSHHV/16l0YkRB7 nwSK5Xq3EbCV0v5QoSnkPSZgydBuiveocq4PnRFAsMNJC5ckmb1nUlTwmARBD1D0 3GauJq5mBHWvgE1E1rFZC8KFkUoArizY7X6pTjlI9OMfSqSOBqLAhs61jnFkdYJ8 wYnaoPp+zZ1R93QLweN5/S93NqdsgIY8H9t7ZNSNhmoCa2vuWhBe8XfGXYQwN+V8 hmbAmY4ixrphFyCWzxLZapp/UJ/qeoErtoFo8Az9qnv0H37lBklG2bx++5jikcH8 DTu7iVG98GEOMtOxJSd60e58d2bvX6BZwO9r51CjkqLpX2UUdG/klxGRPxKyzkCf 6o3zfSN6VCreGC9ePkM+ZjU9U9VktUuEivF+wdhnAIowSH4Pq4L/oCd1PbDZ8dZb 1i0zsaGzrMVrjShTVg11TM9LInocpivfimiEb928WYC5WXOh8y86K8tAFnhCnz3V hFwvBuBIiRAcSf8zl7vZ64iCkJ71SlkMkgOEMGiHzakV4F0v3qe3LGeZq7mJ4+/j LMEPmRF9qfCblzKYQHuc1hPFVGkJj40rHwuIM8Gt+sGKEVswJkoMdeM50/+X4r5H eIRu4bkgwCBG0ykYnFfV =iPsQ -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ Ilugd mailing list Ilugd@lists.linux-delhi.org http://frodo.hserus.net/mailman/listinfo/ilugd
