restart lockup

Just to be certain my description of the problem is understood, boot up finds the CDROM and then goes into the Text described.
The problem happens after finding the CDROM.
Remind me on locating DOSSTART.BAT so I'm certain i'm producing relevant info.
It's been a loooong time but as far as I can recall I've never restarted in the MSDOS MODE. Recall?? I'm a really senior senior!!
John

 

From what John says, I don't think it has anything to do with dos. If it's happening right when you first start the computer, it has to be a bios or hardware problem of some sort. When it does boot properly, what's the first thing you see after it ininitializes the modem and soundcard. Could be they get initialized OK and the next thing in line is causing the probem.

 

The next normal (?) sccreen is headed:
Award Software Inc.
System Configurations
Then is a box displaying the varios Drives;
Disk Dr. A 3.5" Floppy
Disk Dr. B None
Pri Mstr Disk HDD
Pri Slv Disk None
Sec Mstr Disk None
Sec Slv Disk CDROM
The above items are somewhat abbreviated
Below the box is
Verifying DMI Pool Data
It then goes to the next screen and displays the Windows Logo
Let's see what this produces before I remove the Sound Card
John

 

I would agree with broni. I'd try removing the soundcard and see if the problem occurs. If it does, put it back in and remove the modem and see what happens. If one or the other solves it, it could be that there's a problem with the card. Do you have another soundcard and modem you could try if removing one of them takes care of it? Also, it's possible a bios update could cure it but I don't think you're to that point yet. I might be inclined to give it a try if removing one of the cards cures it and you don't have any other cards to try but...... How old is this computer? If it's a few years old, what kind of cards are they (ISA or PCI) ? From what I can find it would appear that that particular soundcard's been around for a few years. That's why I ask. How long has this been going on?

 

This computer is around six (6) yrs old, both boards are ISA type.
Removal of either Board does not resolve problem. The BIIOS is Award BIOS with CMOS Setup. Seems the last time (2 yrs ago) I managed to change something in the BIOS which stopped the lockup but that was all. Only notes I made in the CMOSSetup Utility was changing the PNP/PCI Config as follows:
PNP OS installed from NO to YES
Resources Conrolled by AUTO to MAN
Reset Configuration Data was left DISABLED
Seems I'm putting together a good argument for a new Computer which I'm all for, just have to convince my lovely wife.
Now I must go back and find what I missed in reinstalling the sound board, I now have no sound but to now all looks installed correctly!!

 

OK gentlemen unless you have some new ideas like how do you fix a DOS problem like you've alluded to, let's take break and I'll check in tomorrow. At this point you've been q great help and I don't exactly feel as though I've done something stupid
John

 

This can't be a Dos problem. It's happening right at the start of the boot process before Dos or any other OS has come into play. You say you removed the cards and it still does it so unless it continues to try to initilize them when they're out you can rule them out. Besides, the fact that it recognizes them would seem to indicate that it was successful up to that point (anybody else know about this?). From your list, the next thing after the cards is the floppy. There should be a setting in your bios where you can disable the floppy check. In an Award bios it's something like bootup floppy seek. Can't remember exactly right off the top of my head. I'd try disabling that and then try it. Another one you could try is the "halt on" setting. By default it'll be set to "all errors" and this would certainly cause it to stop the boot process, though I would think you'd get an error message if this was what was happening. Can't hurt to give it a try though. Anybody else got any ideas here?

 

The above is from the original post.

Zander

I do not understand why you say this may not be a DOS problem.

The CDROM is loaded from both the Config.sys ( driver ) and the autoexec.bat ( MSCDEX.EXE /D:mscd001 /L:X ( letter asignment ). And they are both in DOS.

Now according to a reply from johnd584 that line ( or the other two ) are not shown to be in the Autoexec.bat according to msconfig. That can be missleading because it does tend to make us think it is not a DOS problem.

So where are they coming from ? The only other place that I can think of right now is the DosStart.bat which at this point should NOT BE being used. It should only be used when restarting Windows into the MSDOS Mode. And then released when restarting back to Windows.

And if the MSDOS Mode is not exited properly it can create just the situation at hand.

The MSDOS MODE can set up a Dual Boot process which we all know if is a case of renaming files. If it may go into the MSDOS mode properly but not come out properly leaving DOS boot up with the wrong set of files to boot from.

If by some slim chance johnd584 has a DOS program that he is not aware of and it ran but did not exit properly the problem at hand will come up.

johnd584

Have you ever had a game or anything lockup where you had to use Cntrl-Alt-Del to restart the machine ?

I ask because sontimes a program will go into the MSDOS mode and we do not know it. This usually depends on the property setting of the program shortcut.

broni

No, you are not missing anything. Removing the cards may not remove the command lines from the DOS bootup files.

BillyBob

 

You probably didn't read my post close enough. This is happening right when the computer first starts. Long before Dos has started to load. A question I had asked in an effort to pin down exactly when during the boot process this was happening. The following quote was my question.

This was John's answer.

Award Software Inc.
System Configurations
Then is a box displaying the varios Drives;
Disk Dr. A 3.5" Floppy
Disk Dr. B None
Pri Mstr Disk HDD
Pri Slv Disk None
Sec Mstr Disk None
Sec Slv Disk CDROM
The above items are somewhat abbreviated
Below the box is
Verifying DMI Pool Data

This indicates that it's happening right at the start, before detects the drives etc. Note the Verifying DMI Pool Data. Dos has not yet begun to load and the problem occurred before this. Leads me to believe it's either a bios thing or a hardware problem of some sort.

 

OK. I guess I did not read ( or interpit ) things the same.

I asked. You answered.

Can't ask for any more than that.

BB