Strange Boot Problem

Hi guys,
I have a problem that I can't seem to fathom.

To start - 4 Drives, (Primary Master) IDE 1 = 40gb HDD, (Primary Slave) IDE 2 = DVD-Rom, (Secondary Master) SATA 1 = 250gb HDD, (Secondary Slave) SATA 2 = DVD-RW.
BIOS set 'Boot Priority' = Floppy, 40gb HDD, DVD-Rom.

If I disconnect the DVD-Rom and boot, the screen stays on the BIOS splash screen for ages, then comes with error msg "Reboot and select proper Boot device or Insert Boot media in selected Boot device and press a key " - just pressing a key repeats the same error.

If I warm reboot, BIOS splash screen still stays for ages, but then moves on and eventually boots to XP Pro.

I repeated the process and, when at BIOS splash screen, pressed 'Del'. Very slowly got into BIOS where there was displayed - "Primary Master - Undetected. Primary Slave - Undetected ".

Upon rebooting the BIOS then seems to locate the PM and goes on to the OS (albeit slowly) where the PC runs normally.

Why am I losing Primary Master simply because I disconnected Primary Slave?
Could it be an IDE data cable problem? That seems the most logical reason to me.

Any ideas?
Thanks guys,
Den

 

First thoughts would be jumper settings. If you have a setting of "master with slave connected" then removing the slave means the master will need to be re-jumpered accordingly.

 

Simple to tqke the optical drive out of the boot order when disconnecting it.

 

Hi Steve,

I built the machine about 3 months ago and have had no probs with it.

Setting the HDD first makes no difference as does taking the DVD-Rom out of the Boot sequence.

The main BIOS page (after disconnecting the DVD) should read
"Primary Master = 40gbxxxxxx "
"Primary Slave = Undetected ", but it reads PM as undetected too. Then, after reboot, seems to go looking for PM, eventually locates it and goes on to boot normally.

I can't fathom why it is losing PM parameters when only PS is disconnected.

BTW - no jumper settings involved.

Thanks,
Den

 

With IDE drives there is always jumper settings involved. Do you just mean you have checked and you are sure the settings are correct? You are using the plug on the end of the cable for the master, and it’s an 80 wire cable? Try another cable. Try both jumper options of Cable Select and single Master to see if there is any difference. Your problem really sounds like a jumper or cable issue.

 

I will attempt to set drives to cable select. It might take a day or two as I can't afford a lot of down time at the moment, but will let you know what happens. Hopefully it will be good news......

 

Hi All,

sorry for my delay in getting back to you, but xmas happened and then Boxing Day saw my father taken to hospital (he's still there) so today was the first opportunity I had to experiment.

That having been said - I set both drives to CS, refused to boot. Then disconnected DVD-Rom and had a normal boot from HDD.

I little thought got me realising that I was using an old IDE data cable with the 'long' span of it between the two drives, the shorter span from HDD to MoBo - for the physical reasons that the shorter span would not reach between the HDD and the DVD-Rom.

I pulled the DVD out, used a newer cable (the correct way around) and everything worked fine. Now I've just to establish how I can manage this when the drives are mounted in the case.

Thanks,
Den