PCBUILD Archives

Personal Computer Hardware discussion List

PCBUILD@LISTSERV.ICORS.ORG

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show Text Part by Default
Show All Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Subject:
From:
"Paul A. Shippert" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
PCBUILD - Personal Computer Hardware discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 3 Mar 2004 21:06:17 -0500
Content-Type:
text/plain
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (94 lines)
Hi again Diane and list--
Some responses are interspersed . . .
----- Original Message -----
From: "Diane Duncan" <[log in to unmask]>
> Hello,
>
> Apologies for my silence.  I'm so appreciative for this list
> and all the help I'm getting from you folks!  I'm learning so much!
>
> >After checking to verify that your flat ribbon cables are routed from the
> >correct
> >location on the mother board to the correct devices (Primary IDE to hard
> >disk
> >with the red or blue or colored or striped wire located at pin 1 on the
> >board
> >and at the drive), and that the power plugs are firmly inserted, go into
> >the
> >BIOS settings and hit enter with the Primary IDE line highlighted.
>
> Followed the ribbons and had to .  Upon restart, I now get the additional
> information of ATAPI CDROM [CD-ROM CDU701], which wasn't listed on the
> first screen prior to this ribbon exchange.  There is still no mention of
> the
> harddrive.  Is that sequence of information on the screen called the POST?
>

As another poster indicated POST is an acronym for Power On Self Test.
When you "exchange[ed] the ones to and from the MB-HD
and MB-CDROM with each other", do you mean you changed
the cable that was attached to each device completely, or just the
ends plugged into the devices? In any case, it probably doesn't matter,
because it's beginning to seem as if the cable or the hard disk may
be bad. In an earlier post, you stated that the CD-ROM did appear
in the BIOS setup area as the master on the Primary IDE channel.
If you switched the cable, the CD-ROM should now appear as
the master on the Secondary IDE channel (given that you did not
alter the position of the jumper on the CD-ROM).

> The light on the front of the box lights up when I turn the machine on.  I
> still
> get "No Operating System found" .

At the "hardware level" the hard disk is still either not being 'discovered', or
is improperly configured. Now that you have switched the cables, go into
the setup (the BIOS, what you press DEL or some other key to enter) and
check on the Primary and Secondary IDE settings.

[[Different BIOS manufacturers allow you to configure these settings in different
ways.
Look at the bottom of the screen to find out how to make changes in these areas.]]

The CD-ROM doesn't seem to be a problem, but it should not be the master
device on the Primary IDE channel. It can be the master on the Secondary IDE
channel. If it is shown as the master on the Primary, switch your cables back again.
Since you have the case open, try to see the cylinder and head numbers
on the hard disk drive enclosure. As I said in an earlier post, they can usually
be input in a "User" setting for the IDE channel (Primary or Secondary).
Often (in recent vintage BIOS), all you need to do is
1.) Make sure the jumper on the hard disk is in the master position
    (This jumper block is usually next to the power plug on the end of the drive.)
2.) Make sure the data cable is properly oriented and plugged in firmly
3.) Make sure the power plug is firmly plugged into its receptacle
4.) Set the Primary IDE Channel to AUTO.
If the data cable is good, and the drive is good, it should be automatically
detected and configured.

>
> In essence, there's some progress in that the ATAPI whatsit is listed.
>
> I have yet another even older computer here that works.  Should I venture a
> hard drive swap out?  (sheesh...I'll need a pith helmet for _that_
> odyssey!)
>

Not necessarily, but you might want to try the hard disk data cable from
that computer in the one you are describing, if you feel that the drive is probably
OK.
(Newer drives use an 80 wire cable to get the benefit of the ATA100 interface,
but your drive may still work if it turns out that the data cable was what was bad.)

HTH,

Paul A. Shippert
Library Media Specialist
Margaret Brent Middle School
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
"and I'm hovering like a fly,
waiting for the windshield on the freeway." Genesis
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                  Visit our website regularly for FAQs,
               articles, how-to's, tech tips and much more
                          http://freepctech.com

ATOM RSS1 RSS2