Ultra BIOS not found / Operating system not found

A unexplained error crept in whilst my PC was on but not running any programs except the Internet security items. Aftter being unattended for several hours (I have an always-on bb connection) I found it had crashed. When I rebooted (with the reset button on the case) I had a strange message "Ultra66 BIOS version 1.12 ..... Detecting" and a rotating / symbol. Eventually it said "Ultra BIOS not found" and then "Operating system not found ".
After several attempts I get it to start up, but during these (succesful) processes, one of the opening screens ( "starting up ") takes much longer than usual.
What's going on? I have performed a complete virus scan and have run Norton OBC
Any help to restore the system?
David

 

Hardware issue I think. Moving the thread.

 

Promise controller

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The hard disk came with the computer (Gateway) and there was no sepatate manual for it. I have since installed anpother disk (partitioned as two drives) for data only. Would you advise me to try to transfer everything from C: to D: and E: ? Quite a job
David

 

faulty driver

My O/S is Windows 2000 PE (with all the latests updates etc from Microsoft) and my Processor is Intel Pentium III at 700 Hz.
No errors under IDE controllers in 'Device Manager'
According to Software Sandra the first hard drive is IBM-DFDPTA-372050 SCSI disk Device. Belarc Advisor says IBM-DPTA-372050 [Hard drive] (20.53 GB) -- drive 0, s/n JMYJMG73535, rev P76OA30A, SMART Status: Healthy. My drives D: and E: which are on my second disk are no longer visible. Much of this data is irreplacable
Can things be restored?
David

 

Pete: You surprise me, I think? Thought you had it nailed on the promise controller, then you moved away from that thinking.

Not positive here and Pete, repeat - Pete, you may still be on the right track, however, question is ......... is there a separate Promise controller card installed in this system. If the answer is yes, therein lies the problem and is why the second disk is no longer visible. I've been there before and am not real impressed with promise cards or their earlier on board RAID controllers. Old Soyo's used them and the failure rate was pretty high. If the answer above is yes, you will have no problem getting to those partitions as long as your drives were never configured as a stripe (certainly not that way now).

David, Please advise.

 

Promise controller

According to Belarc Advisor under 'bus adapters' is listed "Promise Technology Inc. Ultra IDE Controller ". How can I tell if this is a separate card or not? I did not install it so it must have beeen with the original machine from Gateway
David :

 

Not SCSI

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Neither of the drives is SCSI
David

 

Pete:
RAID card or on-board RAID controller is going to make a regular IDE HDD look like a SCSI.

David:
Open the case and tell us where the IDE cables originate - from a header on the MoBo or from a seperate PCI controller card.

Pete - good money bet is seperate PCI Promise controller card. Also am guessing other HDD is cabled to IDE #1.

IWill, Adaptec and Highpoint make much better add-on RAID cards.

 

Opening up the case

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Pete C
I'll open up the case when I can this weekend and let you know.
Incidentally my MoBo is an Intel WS440BX AA744110-205 and apart from the Promise bus adapter there is an Intel 82371AB/EB PCI to USB Universal Host contoller. Food for more cerebration?
Thanks for your continuing help Pete and Rockster2U
David

 

Latest diagnostics from Karen's Computer Profiler

I have only just discovered 'Karen's Computer Profiler' and under 'SCSI' it says:-

SCSI Device Name: Disk drive
Friendly Name: IBM-DPTA -372050 SCSI Disk Device
Manufacturer: (Standard disk drives)
Location Information: Bus Number 0, Target ID 0, LUN 0
Hardware ID: SCSI\DiskIBM-DPTA-372050_________P76O
Hardware ID: SCSI\DiskIBM-DPTA-372050_________
Hardware ID: SCSI\DiskIBM-DPTA
Hardware ID: SCSI\IBM-DPTA-372050_________P
Hardware ID: IBM-DPTA-372050_________P
Hardware ID: GenDisk
Driver Name: Disk drive
Driver Version: 5.0.2183.1
Driver Date: 11-14-1999

So it looks to me as though the IBM drive mentioned earlier is a SCSI drive with a driver on board. So I was mistaken. But my second drive (which I fitted) is a Baracuda ATA drive and it worked OK until my recent problems

Am I in a mess?

David

 

David:

I'll try to be nice about this while you seemingly refuse to open up your case and take a "look-see ". Karen's Profiler is indeed a great little tool as are most of the programs she writes. However, you have a standard IDE type 47 IBM 20 gig #372050 drive with a 2MB cache. Now, you can run all the diagnostics you want - have at it. When you tire of this, let us know if its connected to a MoBo IDE header or to a Promise PCI controller card as I believe it is. Short of that, you are wasting a lot of time avoiding a solution. And, if you really installed a Seagate Barracuda, you should remember what is inside this case and how your drives are cabled. Sorry for being short, but there's no future in becoming your penpal.

I suspect your 4 IDE device limit predicated the installation of a Promise Controller to accomodate a 5th device (second hard drive) and the installer mounted your original system drive on this card. Its actually too early to call with a 100% confidence level, but in as much as I anticipate your continuing to "play" with this problem, you may be able to save yourself some time and aggravation by buying a new a controller card (non-Promise).

Yes, I could be dead wrong, but your quest for a solution through various diagnostic programs isn't really much help. IDE drives attached to Raid controllers appear as SCSI drives. What part of that didn't you understand?

 

I'll tell you tomorrow!

I would love to look inside the case myself! My son will look for me at tea-time tomorrow and I'll post the answer tomorrow evening.
David

 

Cable from second drive

Sorry about the delay but my hands are no longer up to the job my son did this evening. He opened up the box and acertained that the second drive cable DOES go to a separate Promise controller card. He then unplugged all connections and re-made them to make sure they are good.
Exactly the same symtoms as before so it wasn't (as I hoped) a loose plug or badly seated card.
New card?
David

 

David:
My apologies for being short with you. What your son found was what I expected. So, where do we go from here? You need a new controller card to replace the defective Promise card. (This assumes that you have no missing drivers or exclamation marks showing up in Device Manager)

Being as how you are located in the UK, perhaps PeteC can direct you to the best place to shop.

If you're not in a big hurry and you don't need to run a RAID configuration, send me a private message with your address and I'll mail you a new Adaptec controller card that will work quite nicely. I've got a couple of these and am not going to be using them for anything any time soon.

Regards,

 

Wow, interesting how it was nailed down to the Promise card.

Did he reseat the controller card itself? Maybe clean the connections with a soft pencil eraser. (I always poke them a few times to make sure they don't move).

Matt