Tech Support Forum - View Single Post - "New" Harddrive in a PII - Won't Boot from Floppy or CD-Rom

stubborn1776 · 11-19-2008, 01:08 AM

Hello,
I really appreciate this forum. I've dug around the internet and this site, can't find an answer to my admittedly very obscure questions.

I have an old Gateway G333, PII that I gave away but has found its way back to me (just won't go away, apparently)

Sorry for the long story, but in case history is important somehow, thought it better be included here.

It came back because "givee" had foolishly tried to install Windows XP Home (retail) on it. Needless to say, it was sloooow. We moved its 10GB hard drive to an extra P4 tower without a hard drive I had sitting around.

I just took the 80GB Western Digital HD (slave) out of one of my P4's and replaced it with a 200GB and that's perfect.

I thought I'd take the 80GB WD and put it in that PII tower. I used "Move" to take all of the files on the HD to a temp. external on my network. It had maybe three small files left on it when I took it out of the tower. I didn't think to format it there because I thought I would go through a format just prior to the windows install.

I've read a little and realize I might either need to be limited to some kind of ceiling on the HD space the PII will recognize or perhaps, if it's available, flash the BIOS to get it to recognize the whole HD size.

I'm not going to be able to get even that far, because I can't seem to boot from the floppy or CD-ROM drive to get to the point of installing the never used Windows 98SE I have.

I have three different floppy boot disks I've tried. Two I'd made, one from Windows 98, and both I used in the past, albeit it's been about five years ago. Another was a "Universal Boot Disk" from Windows 95. I've also used that disk before.

Both the DVD-ROM and Floppy drives worked on this system when it was "gifted" to the user. They reported not using the floppy drive at all and thought the "CD" drive worked fine; they had installed a printer with the CD disc, etc., but weren't heavy users of it.

I have changed the boot order in BIOS several times and had both the Windows 98SE disk drive and boot disk in the floppy drive each time, or only one of each, with different configurations of the BIOS boot order.

BIOS says:

Under Main
Pentium II
333 MHz
64 MB
BIOS version 4A4LL0X0.15A.0023.P18
Language English
System Time (accurate)
System Date (accurate)
Floppy Options
Hard Disk Pre-Delay 6 seconds
Primary IDE Master [WDC WD800BB-OOCAA1-(PM0]
Primary IDE Slave [None]
Secondary IDE Master [TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1102-]
SECONDARY IDE Slave [None]

Advanced
Play & Play O/S: [No]
Reset Configuration Data: [No]
Memory Cache: [Enabled]
Cache ECC Support: [Disabled]

>Resource Configuration
>Peripheral Configuration
>Keyboard Configuration
>Video Configuration
>DMI Event Logging

Under Boot
Boot-time Diagnostic Screen: [Enabled]
On Modem Ring: [Stay Off]
On LAN: [Power On]
On PME: [Stay Off]
QuickBoot Mode: [Enabled]
Scan Flash User Area: [Disabled]

First Boot Device: [ATAPI CD-ROM Driv]
Second Boot Device: [Removable Devices]
Third Boot Device: [Hard Drive]
Fourth Boot Device [Network Boot]

>Hard Drive
>Removable Devices

(Note: I changed to Boot-time Diagnostic Screen to "Enabled" midway through my attempts to see if that would slow things down or give more information, but it didn't make a difference)

Under the "Main" Menu, details on the Hard Drive:

Type: [Auto]
CHS Format
Cylinders [16383]
Heads [16]
Sectors [63]
Maximum Capacity 8455 MB
LBA Format
Total Sectors: 156301488
Maximum Capacity: 65535 MB

Multi-Sector Transfers: [16 Sectors]
LBA Mode Control: [Enabled]
Transfer Mode: [FPIO 4 / DMA 2]
Ultra DMA: [Mode 2]

Under the "Main" Menu, details on Secondary IDE Master (Toshiba)
Type: [Auto]
Multi-Sector Transfers: [Disabled]
LBA Mode Control: [Disabled]
Transfer Mode: [FPIO 4 / DMA 2]
Ultra DMA: [Disabled]

Floppy Options
Diskette A: [1.44/1.25 MB 3 1/2"]
Diskette B: [Disabled]
Floppy Write Protect: [Disabled]

I realize I know just enough to be dangerous here. It looks to me from what my admittedly limited knowledge tells me that BIOS is recognizing all three drives, but the HD seems to be smaller than its 80GB capacity.

I don't understand all of the tweaks in BIOS to know if there is some obvious setting here preventing the simple step of getting this thing to boot from one of these drives or not.

I should note that a previously installed wired Ethernet card was removed when we pulled the 10GB HD and I did put it back in at the same time I installed the 80. I will say that my biggest weakness in doing any of this stuff is fear of bending the connectors on stuff. I once had a system not boot after upgrading memory because I hadn't pushed the cards in far enough. (I get a little scared

) For this LAn card, I pushed as hard as I could without going crazy and did hear a little "click". The instructions said "you'll know the card is seated properly when it lines up with flush with the back of the computer case". It did line up, but it was little shy of being able to screw it in and some of the gold was still showing on the edge of the connector area. I thought I had it but now I'm wondering, but wondering why BIOS would see drives if there was some overall connection bugaboo.

Just trying to list all possible variables.

When the computer boots, there's a screen I have a hard time reading because it comes and goes so quickly, but I see something about a DVD but then it moves to the BIOS screen which slows down enough for me to read.
It shows the hard drive with an (0)
Then lists the DVD, the light goes on the DVD drive, but I don't hear any spinning noises, then there's some message that appears immediately under the DVD drive listing, but that goes by too fast to read, then it gives one beep and goes to:

"Operating System not found"

It doesn't seem to even try the floppy, the light does not go on nor do I hear the sound I'm familiar with those always making on boot. I think it may be dead; after several times of using it, I can't put a disk in as there now seems to be an obstruction.

Now finally - yes Finally!

I realize it's possible that on this dinosaur that BOTH the DVD and floppy drives may be dead.

Before I do anymore fun stuff with this old beast, is there anything obvious besides these two drives being dead that I'm overlooking?
Would it make any difference if I swapped the 80 for 200 temporarily, reformatted, and then installed Windows 98, then put it back in the tower?
Or does the BIOS need to be flashed before any of it would work anyway?

Or...is it time to put this old beast out of its misery?

I was just going to use it for a while with an older TV tuner card until we do another computer shuffle (upgrade).

If its time to head Old Bessy for the barn, any good suggestions for what to do with it?

Thanks for anyone's help.

11-19-2008, 01:08 AM	#1 (permalink)
stubborn1776 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Lincoln, NE Posts: 2 OS: Windows XP SP3	"New" Harddrive in a PII - Won't Boot from Floppy or CD-Rom Hello, I really appreciate this forum. I've dug around the internet and this site, can't find an answer to my admittedly very obscure questions. I have an old Gateway G333, PII that I gave away but has found its way back to me (just won't go away, apparently) Sorry for the long story, but in case history is important somehow, thought it better be included here. It came back because "givee" had foolishly tried to install Windows XP Home (retail) on it. Needless to say, it was sloooow. We moved its 10GB hard drive to an extra P4 tower without a hard drive I had sitting around. I just took the 80GB Western Digital HD (slave) out of one of my P4's and replaced it with a 200GB and that's perfect. I thought I'd take the 80GB WD and put it in that PII tower. I used "Move" to take all of the files on the HD to a temp. external on my network. It had maybe three small files left on it when I took it out of the tower. I didn't think to format it there because I thought I would go through a format just prior to the windows install. I've read a little and realize I might either need to be limited to some kind of ceiling on the HD space the PII will recognize or perhaps, if it's available, flash the BIOS to get it to recognize the whole HD size. I'm not going to be able to get even that far, because I can't seem to boot from the floppy or CD-ROM drive to get to the point of installing the never used Windows 98SE I have. I have three different floppy boot disks I've tried. Two I'd made, one from Windows 98, and both I used in the past, albeit it's been about five years ago. Another was a "Universal Boot Disk" from Windows 95. I've also used that disk before. Both the DVD-ROM and Floppy drives worked on this system when it was "gifted" to the user. They reported not using the floppy drive at all and thought the "CD" drive worked fine; they had installed a printer with the CD disc, etc., but weren't heavy users of it. I have changed the boot order in BIOS several times and had both the Windows 98SE disk drive and boot disk in the floppy drive each time, or only one of each, with different configurations of the BIOS boot order. BIOS says: Under Main Pentium II 333 MHz 64 MB BIOS version 4A4LL0X0.15A.0023.P18 Language English System Time (accurate) System Date (accurate) Floppy Options Hard Disk Pre-Delay 6 seconds Primary IDE Master [WDC WD800BB-OOCAA1-(PM0] Primary IDE Slave [None] Secondary IDE Master [TOSHIBA DVD-ROM SD-M1102-] SECONDARY IDE Slave [None] Advanced Play & Play O/S: [No] Reset Configuration Data: [No] Memory Cache: [Enabled] Cache ECC Support: [Disabled] >Resource Configuration >Peripheral Configuration >Keyboard Configuration >Video Configuration >DMI Event Logging Under Boot Boot-time Diagnostic Screen: [Enabled] On Modem Ring: [Stay Off] On LAN: [Power On] On PME: [Stay Off] QuickBoot Mode: [Enabled] Scan Flash User Area: [Disabled] First Boot Device: [ATAPI CD-ROM Driv] Second Boot Device: [Removable Devices] Third Boot Device: [Hard Drive] Fourth Boot Device [Network Boot] >Hard Drive >Removable Devices (Note: I changed to Boot-time Diagnostic Screen to "Enabled" midway through my attempts to see if that would slow things down or give more information, but it didn't make a difference) Under the "Main" Menu, details on the Hard Drive: Type: [Auto] CHS Format Cylinders [16383] Heads [16] Sectors [63] Maximum Capacity 8455 MB LBA Format Total Sectors: 156301488 Maximum Capacity: 65535 MB Multi-Sector Transfers: [16 Sectors] LBA Mode Control: [Enabled] Transfer Mode: [FPIO 4 / DMA 2] Ultra DMA: [Mode 2] Under the "Main" Menu, details on Secondary IDE Master (Toshiba) Type: [Auto] Multi-Sector Transfers: [Disabled] LBA Mode Control: [Disabled] Transfer Mode: [FPIO 4 / DMA 2] Ultra DMA: [Disabled] Floppy Options Diskette A: [1.44/1.25 MB 3 1/2"] Diskette B: [Disabled] Floppy Write Protect: [Disabled] I realize I know just enough to be dangerous here. It looks to me from what my admittedly limited knowledge tells me that BIOS is recognizing all three drives, but the HD seems to be smaller than its 80GB capacity. I don't understand all of the tweaks in BIOS to know if there is some obvious setting here preventing the simple step of getting this thing to boot from one of these drives or not. I should note that a previously installed wired Ethernet card was removed when we pulled the 10GB HD and I did put it back in at the same time I installed the 80. I will say that my biggest weakness in doing any of this stuff is fear of bending the connectors on stuff. I once had a system not boot after upgrading memory because I hadn't pushed the cards in far enough. (I get a little scared ) For this LAn card, I pushed as hard as I could without going crazy and did hear a little "click". The instructions said "you'll know the card is seated properly when it lines up with flush with the back of the computer case". It did line up, but it was little shy of being able to screw it in and some of the gold was still showing on the edge of the connector area. I thought I had it but now I'm wondering, but wondering why BIOS would see drives if there was some overall connection bugaboo. Just trying to list all possible variables. When the computer boots, there's a screen I have a hard time reading because it comes and goes so quickly, but I see something about a DVD but then it moves to the BIOS screen which slows down enough for me to read. It shows the hard drive with an (0) Then lists the DVD, the light goes on the DVD drive, but I don't hear any spinning noises, then there's some message that appears immediately under the DVD drive listing, but that goes by too fast to read, then it gives one beep and goes to: "Operating System not found" It doesn't seem to even try the floppy, the light does not go on nor do I hear the sound I'm familiar with those always making on boot. I think it may be dead; after several times of using it, I can't put a disk in as there now seems to be an obstruction. Now finally - yes Finally! I realize it's possible that on this dinosaur that BOTH the DVD and floppy drives may be dead. Before I do anymore fun stuff with this old beast, is there anything obvious besides these two drives being dead that I'm overlooking? Would it make any difference if I swapped the 80 for 200 temporarily, reformatted, and then installed Windows 98, then put it back in the tower? Or does the BIOS need to be flashed before any of it would work anyway? Or...is it time to put this old beast out of its misery? I was just going to use it for a while with an older TV tuner card until we do another computer shuffle (upgrade). If its time to head Old Bessy for the barn, any good suggestions for what to do with it? Thanks for anyone's help.