Date: Fri, 1 Jun 2001 02:31:25 +0100 (GMT/BST)
From: Digby Tarvin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: Libretto 30 *now* "blind" to fitted Hard Disk(s)
> >
> >If Unix can see the disk, but the BIOS can't, even with a different
> >disk installed, then you could either try re-installing the BIOS,
> >or toss windows altogether and stick with Linux - though you
> >would have to floppy boot. You could still run Windows under
> >VmWare if you need it.
>
> Well, I'm open to suggestions, but I've never used UNIX, or any of it's
> flavors, but I rather suspect that even that O/S could not force the
> Libretto to take its blindfolds off and "see" that there really is a HD
> fitted. I reckon that there is some circuitry that has failed - a
> flip/flop device of some sort that isn't flipping or flopping when it ought
> when a HD is/is not installed.
>
> It is a stupid situation, in many years of computing I've never before seen
> a BIOS that I couldn't set the HD params to some crazy figures, or add
> non-existing HD's if I was silly enough to want to try! Damn these Jap
> designers!
>
Sounds like you have ruled out the hard disk as the source of the
problem - either due to failure of the hardware, or the BSOD
writing something unsociable to it.
That leaves either somethine goofy written to NVRAM somewhere, or
hardware failure on the motherboard.
I doubt that there is any fancy ciruitry for 'searching' for a
hard disk. Most likely the three minute delay before booting
from the floppy is the BIOS trying unsucessfully to talk to the
disk via its HD interface, and on failing, assuming that no
disk is present. The BIOS is probably just trying to be smart
in refusing to let you say a disk is present when it can see
nothing is responding on the disk interface. It makes no
sense to flag a disk as present when it isn't, although it
might make sense to say no disk is present when there is...
So my guess would be that if you did use a Unix boot and
look at the diagnostics, it would show that no disk is present
regardless of what the BIOS is doing..
Also, as you were tinkering with hardware when things stopped
working, that increases the chances that hardware damage occured.
I would look closely at the areas involved. It is
always possible that inserting and removing the PCMCIA cards
left a bent bin, maybe shorting an interrupt line etc, which
could have the effect of killing the HD transfers.
Regards,
DigbyT
--
Digby R. S. Tarvin [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.cthulhu.dircon.co.uk
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