Temporary Stall at Bios Bootscreen - Then Loads

**Dennis L** · 9th January 2007

Last night while bringing in a new computer into the network, my XP had an approx. 60 second stall at initial BIOS boot load. HD displays constant read activity. After this temporary halt, computer boots up just fine. This problem continues to occur. Today I went into Disk management and both partitions are status as healthy (C/system and D/data). I thought possible boot ini file had been altered ....

Quote:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn

SO then I went into Event manager and discovered the following error ...
Event Type: Error
Event Source: Disk
Event Category: None
Event ID: 11
Date: 1/9/2007
Time: 10:11:36 AM
User: N/A
Computer: DENNIS-CFHEPJ28
Description:
The driver detected a controller error on \Device\Harddisk1\D.

Is this error reporting a global problem of possible cable / controller / HD error or is it unique to (D) partition. My confusion, if the above is true, why after temporary stall at BIOS, everything loads and both C and D partitions are available for full views and writes.

Bill Castner · 9th January 2007

Ignore the D. It is a truncated message where the D is the start of the word Device.

There is a controller issue. Look first however to the drive. If using standard IDE connections make sure the jumpers are right (most new drives come configured out of the box as slaves), and that the right cable end is being used (there are usually two -- one should be marked "0" or "Master". For cable select, check again the jumpers, and here it becomes critical to use the appropriate cable end.

**Dennis L** · 9th January 2007

Thank you Bill.
The problem computer is my main XP, not new computer. With no physical cable changes being made to this computer since new (4 years old), can I assume cable is going bad? If controller, which is on motherboard is bad would a pci replacement be possible / advisable??

Bill Castner · 9th January 2007

I just wanted you to check things.

Second phase:

Right click My Computer, Propety, Advanced tab, Startup and Recovery -- Settings.

In the top box, click edit.

Change this:
[boot loader]
timeout=30

to this:
[boot loader]
timeout=0

Reboot and test.

**Dennis L** · 9th January 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Castner

I just wanted you to check things.

Second phase:

Right click My Computer, Propety, Advanced tab, Startup and Recovery -- Settings.

In the top box, click edit.

Change this:
[boot loader]
timeout=30

to this:
[boot loader]
timeout=0

Reboot and test.

No change, continued stall at Bios boot, (50 seconds per event manager clock), then loads bios/windows. Event manager stating same error.

Bill Castner · 9th January 2007

Having removed the operating system from the equation, lets focus again on hardware.

. Open the box and clean all fans, heatsinks, case openings, etc.
. Carefully remove installed RAM in ram slots, clean the slots, and reinsert carefully the RAM. If using mixed RAM modules, note where each is installed and replace them the same way.
. Carefully remove the IDE cable between hard disk and the motherboard edge connector. Note before removal the orientation of the cable. Mark this with a pen if need be. Carefully reinsert the cables.
. Without closing the case, plug in the computer and start it.

Any better?

. if no joy, and you happen to have an IOMEGA internal disk, shutdown the computer and remove the power connector and logic cable from the back of the IOMEGA drive.

. Plug in the computer and start it.

Any better?

**Dennis L** · 9th January 2007

Installed a new PS about a month ago, cleaned up box during install. I do not have a spare HD cable sitting around. Neighbor does have an old computer (approx 5 / 8 years old) which he offered any parts I wanted. What should I be looking for? If ends are the same, means it is a identical cable.?
Before I get to involved, need to create a current Acronis image.
In addition, considering creating a "clone" image of drive, which I've never done. Best to store on external HD or networked accessible drive (would be G partition on new computer ... virgin/ nothing on it)??

Bill Castner · 9th January 2007

There is no reason for a new cable as of yet.
Please though check both ends of the existing cable.

**Bmoore1129** · 9th January 2007

Hey Dennis, I was having the same problem except mine would say disk 2/D. I pulled my hair until I remembered that my Disk is my flash drive. I thought it was talking about my 2nd HD, but they are numbered 0,1,2. When I unplugged my flash drive, the error stopped. It was not pausing at the boot screen as yours was.....

**usasma** · 10th January 2007

The Acronis image is a good idea in case the disk is dying (better safe than sorry!).

If using other cables, make sure that they're the same type (40 wire vs 80 wire).

FWIW - I've had BIOS stalls when leaving the detection on Auto without any IDE drives attached.

**Dennis L** · 10th January 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bill Castner

There is no reason for a new cable as of yet. Please though check both ends of the existing cable.

Thank you Bill
Reseated HD drive cable ends. Also noticed the top locking clip on one of my Kingston memory chips was not seated / fully closed. Enabled power to PS, booted up computer, NO BIOS load stall and NO errors reported in event manager... Fixed. Also thanks to Bmoore1129 for sharing a similar problem / fix.