On Friday 26 September 2003 08:24 pm, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Hello all, here's my dilemma: > I recently purchased a barebones system. The specs are: > > Motherboard: MS-6533 Micro ATX Mainboard > Hard Drives (HDs): 20Gb EIDE Maxtor & 30Gb EIDE AT Maxtor DiamondMax VL 40 > 5400rpm (the 30gb Maxtor was the hard drive from my old system that I had > bene using) > > Processor: 2.4Ghz Pentium 4 > Memory: 128Mb DDR PC2100 RAM & (extra purchase I added) 256Mb DDR PC2100 > RAM CDROM: (out of my old computer) ATAPI 44x CDROM (don't know > manufacturer; hand-me-down) > > > Problems: First, I thought I might try to set up the new 20Gb HD as slave > and use my old 30Gb HD as master. Also, I did not order a new CDROM with > the new system (though I have a new DVD/CDRW combo drive on the way), so I > thought I'd just transfer my 44x CDROM into the new system as well. Well, > after I transferred the 30Gb HD and the CDROM over to the new system, the > computer recognized my hardware and then tried to boot; however, linux > wouldn't have that. So, linux tried to adjust to the new hardware and > format the new HD, but it froze up. So, I tried to reboot and load WinXP > (sorry, just seeing if it would work so I could dual boot) off of CDROM. > Well, the windows set up recognized the hard drive and formatted the master > (30Gb) HD, but then when it tried to start copying windows files to the HD, > it wouldn't do it. Well, then I tried to reboot again, and that's when > everything just went to hell. After the reboot, the BIOS would recognize > the HDs and the CDROM, but would not read from the CDROM. It gave me a > "failure" message when it got to the step to read from the CDROM drive. > Then, because I could not load from the cdrom and the system files had not > been written to the HD yet, I get the error message "NTLDR is missing. > Check to see if a bootable disk is in the drive or put a bootable disk in > the drive and press enter." Well, when I put either the Mandrake 9.1 disk > in or the WinXP disk, I get the same error. Basically, the BIOS has quit > reading from the CDROM. I don't know how to get it to read. Did I lose > the driver? Did I somehow kill my CDROM? I don't know. That's problem > one. > > Problem 2: Well, after the old HD and CDROM would not work in the new > machine, I tried putting them back into my old PC and loading Windows or > Linux back onto the HD that way. Now, when the old pc starts to boot up, > it gives the message "Hard drive failed". Did I kill my hard drive? > > Problem 3: The MS-6533 motherboard requires, inter alia, PC2100 DDR RAM, > and,from what I've seen in the manual, there is no requirement of symmetry > of chips (i.e., it doesn't seem to require 2 128Mb chips, but will work > with a 128Mb and a 256Mb). However, the computer won't read my 256Mb chip > at all and it IS PC2100 DDR RAM. I probably just got a bum stick, but, > just in case, I had to ask if maybe I should be doing something more than > just popping the memory into the motherboard. Any ideas? > > Thanks in advance > Jack > > __________________________________________________________________ > McAfee VirusScan Online from the Netscape Network. > Comprehensive protection for your entire computer. Get your free trial > today! > http://channels.netscape.com/ns/computing/mcafee/index.jsp?promo=393397 > > Get AOL Instant Messenger 5.1 free of charge. Download Now! > http://aim.aol.com/aimnew/Aim/register.adp?promo=380455 On the CDROM, do you have it set as master or slave? Make sure the jumper is in position for whichever you choose. Put the Primary master as hard drive and on the end connector of the cable, the slave on primary master should be on the mid connector. I think that the best way to connect is to have the HDs on Primary (master and slave) and the CDROM and CDRW on secondary master and slave. Others may prefer a different arrangement. I have run into the problem with the hard drive as you have and the only way I could get the harddrive recognized was to reformat. I first erased it with "DiskEraser" and then did a clean install. HTH -- Dennis M. linux user #180842
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