CD-ROM Issue intalling XP

Mustang · 10-09-2004, 02:27 AM

Here is my end goal: a clean install of Windows xp on a Dell Dimension 2100

Here is what I am trying to overcome: When I try and boot off of the CD-ROM drive with the Windows XP disc in it, it thinks that the CD-ROM drive is a floppy drive and says invalid boot diskette. If I press enter at this point the CD-ROM drive's LED lights up and it gives the same message again, so I am communicating with the correct device, just in the wrong way.

All bios settings related to specifying drive types seem to be exactly right.

What the hell is going on here?

Also, I have been driven to buying a new HDD to try and fix this because I figured that I could just boot off of the old HDD and use it to do a clean install onto the new one. Unfortunately, it is absolutely impossible to get the second drive to fit into the tiny *** Dell case. I have thought of taking both drives out and just sort of laying them on the table while still connected to the mobo and trying to do it that way (and taking the old HDD out after the install), would this be bad for any reason?

10-09-2004, 05:09 AM

Hi,

First thing you need to do is make sure in the BIOS setup menu that the CDrom drive is set first in the boot order. It should be set as follows:

CDRom
Floppy Drive
Hard Disk

Save, exit and reboot

Second, you need to check your ribbon cable and jumper setup, so I have included a handy little chart:

The master and slave jumpers must be set up correctly on your drives as displayed on the top of each drive.

DO NOT mix master and slave with CS (cable select) on the same ribbon cable. If one is Master the other MUST be slave. If one is Cable Select the other one on the same ribbon cable must be Cable Select. (Please note that the majority of hard drives are factory default as Cable Select)

Make sure the drive is placed correctly on the ribbon cable as shown below:

M
O
T
H ==Ribbon Cable=== Slave ===Master (end of cable)
E
R ..................................„» OR „º
B
O == Ribbon Cable==Cable Select==Cable Select (end of cable)
A ..............................( as Slave)……. ( as Master)
R
D

Ribbon Cables and colors of 80 pin cables look and are to be used like this:

Motherboard============Slave==============Master
……..........Blue…….........…….……..Gray………............……………Black
.
Make sure a master is always present, because you can not run a slave without a master.

Cables must be the 80 conductor cables for hard drives and never any more than 18” long.

If you try cable select and that does not work, give the master/slave setting a try. Conversly, if the master/slave setting does not work, give the cable select setting a try.

A friend recently told me that with Western Digital if it is the only drive on the cable, the jumper will need to be removed ( try removing the jumper and connect the drive by itself on the IDE channel ) I don’t use Western Digital drives, so I can’t verify this, but might be worth a try

Please note thatt the floppy cable red mark is put on opposite as the regular hard drivers. Otherwise, the red mark faces away from you as you work in the case or you could say it faces the power source for the drive.

Please let us know if you have other questions or need more assistance.

cyclic · 10-09-2004, 06:08 AM

Very strange because the loader is exactly the same on CD or floppy and it may seem an odd question but why do you say it thinks it's a floppy? what happens ?

Mustang · 10-09-2004, 10:35 PM

I don't remember the exact wording but it says something along the lines of Invalid boot disk in drive A:/ Please insert correct diskette.

Here it is actually asking for another disk in drive A, when my CD-Rom drive is specified as drive D. When I press enter, the LED on the CD-ROM lights up and it repeats the message again. Very weird I know. I have never seen this kind of thing before.

Mustang · 10-11-2004, 03:08 PM

I thank you for your advice mark3567, but after installing xp on the new drive using the old one (because I cannot boot off of the CD-ROM, just the old HDD with a messed up install of windows on it) , with both drives laying outside the case because they can't both fit inside, I came to realize that without the old drive still there connected as master, I cannot start windows off of the new drive. So, basically I'm screwed unless I can figure out what is going on with the CD-ROM drive, so that I can boot off of that and use my XP disc to do a clean install on to either HDD.

I have actualy tried putting in a different CD-ROM drive; same problem. I tried disabling the diskette drive in the BIOS; nothing. I tried disconnecting the A drive, changing the type of CD-ROM to every different option in BIOS, I updated the BIOS, but something is really wrong and I am beginning to wonder if this motherboard is just a POS. Dell's tech support had no idea what I was talking about when I called them. Can anyone help?

10-11-2004, 04:46 PM

Hi Mustang,

First, are you sure you have a full version or an EOM disk that is a full version of XP? Or, do you have that dell disk that does not have the complete version on it?

If you have the full version of XP, then why not try a backdoor approach like using a Fat32 partition? If you wish to do that:

Go to Bootdisk.com and download a startup floppy of Win98. (using a friend's computer)

Boot your computer with the floppy in the drive and when it comes up then type Fdisk at the prompt.

Go in and delete all partitions.

Go back and create one large partition.

Activate the partition.

Exit fdisk and reboot

When it comes up again, type Format at the prompt?

Shut down again when it is done (that is a quirk of mine, but not always necessary so I am told)

** Take out the disk and put in your CDRom OS disk and it should boot if the disk order is like I told you in an earlier post.

** If this does not work then reboot with the A: drive boot disk in and when it boots up with CDRom support....then type setup with the Operating System disk in the CDRom and it should go.

I would give it a try and when it comes up, then you can have it reformat with NTSF as you install.

Remeber, it is important when you are working with the A: drive that it is listed as first in line to boot and when you want it to boot off the CD, then that needs to be listed first in line to boot.

Mustang · 10-14-2004, 01:29 AM

I am a total dork.

Because I am such a total newb to all of this, (I have only built 1 computer, the one I'm dealing with now is pre-built) I failed to realize that I can just use the frickin floppy drive to boot initially anyways. Wow I'm an idiot. Sorry to waste your time guys.

BTW I learned this from bootdisk.com; thanks Mark3567, my problem is now solved; although the real problem was just my lack of knowledge.

10-09-2004, 02:27 AM	#1 (permalink)
Mustang Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 12 OS: XP	CD-ROM Issue intalling XP Here is my end goal: a clean install of Windows xp on a Dell Dimension 2100 Here is what I am trying to overcome: When I try and boot off of the CD-ROM drive with the Windows XP disc in it, it thinks that the CD-ROM drive is a floppy drive and says invalid boot diskette. If I press enter at this point the CD-ROM drive's LED lights up and it gives the same message again, so I am communicating with the correct device, just in the wrong way. All bios settings related to specifying drive types seem to be exactly right. What the hell is going on here? Also, I have been driven to buying a new HDD to try and fix this because I figured that I could just boot off of the old HDD and use it to do a clean install onto the new one. Unfortunately, it is absolutely impossible to get the second drive to fit into the tiny *** Dell case. I have thought of taking both drives out and just sort of laying them on the table while still connected to the mobo and trying to do it that way (and taking the old HDD out after the install), would this be bad for any reason?

10-09-2004, 05:09 AM	#2 (permalink)
mark3567 Posts: n/a OS:	Hi, First thing you need to do is make sure in the BIOS setup menu that the CDrom drive is set first in the boot order. It should be set as follows: CDRom Floppy Drive Hard Disk Save, exit and reboot Second, you need to check your ribbon cable and jumper setup, so I have included a handy little chart: The master and slave jumpers must be set up correctly on your drives as displayed on the top of each drive. DO NOT mix master and slave with CS (cable select) on the same ribbon cable. If one is Master the other MUST be slave. If one is Cable Select the other one on the same ribbon cable must be Cable Select. (Please note that the majority of hard drives are factory default as Cable Select) Make sure the drive is placed correctly on the ribbon cable as shown below: M O T H ==Ribbon Cable=== Slave ===Master (end of cable) E R ..................................„» OR „º B O == Ribbon Cable==Cable Select==Cable Select (end of cable) A ..............................( as Slave)……. ( as Master) R D Ribbon Cables and colors of 80 pin cables look and are to be used like this: Motherboard============Slave==============Master ……..........Blue…….........…….……..Gray………............……………Black . Make sure a master is always present, because you can not run a slave without a master. Cables must be the 80 conductor cables for hard drives and never any more than 18” long. If you try cable select and that does not work, give the master/slave setting a try. Conversly, if the master/slave setting does not work, give the cable select setting a try. A friend recently told me that with Western Digital if it is the only drive on the cable, the jumper will need to be removed ( try removing the jumper and connect the drive by itself on the IDE channel ) I don’t use Western Digital drives, so I can’t verify this, but might be worth a try Please note thatt the floppy cable red mark is put on opposite as the regular hard drivers. Otherwise, the red mark faces away from you as you work in the case or you could say it faces the power source for the drive. Please let us know if you have other questions or need more assistance.

10-09-2004, 06:08 AM	#3 (permalink)
cyclic Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Chester Posts: 193 OS: XP PRO	Very strange because the loader is exactly the same on CD or floppy and it may seem an odd question but why do you say it thinks it's a floppy? what happens ?

10-09-2004, 10:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
Mustang Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 12 OS: XP	I don't remember the exact wording but it says something along the lines of Invalid boot disk in drive A:/ Please insert correct diskette. Here it is actually asking for another disk in drive A, when my CD-Rom drive is specified as drive D. When I press enter, the LED on the CD-ROM lights up and it repeats the message again. Very weird I know. I have never seen this kind of thing before.

10-11-2004, 03:08 PM	#5 (permalink)
Mustang Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 12 OS: XP	I thank you for your advice mark3567, but after installing xp on the new drive using the old one (because I cannot boot off of the CD-ROM, just the old HDD with a messed up install of windows on it) , with both drives laying outside the case because they can't both fit inside, I came to realize that without the old drive still there connected as master, I cannot start windows off of the new drive. So, basically I'm screwed unless I can figure out what is going on with the CD-ROM drive, so that I can boot off of that and use my XP disc to do a clean install on to either HDD. I have actualy tried putting in a different CD-ROM drive; same problem. I tried disabling the diskette drive in the BIOS; nothing. I tried disconnecting the A drive, changing the type of CD-ROM to every different option in BIOS, I updated the BIOS, but something is really wrong and I am beginning to wonder if this motherboard is just a POS. Dell's tech support had no idea what I was talking about when I called them. Can anyone help?

10-11-2004, 04:46 PM	#6 (permalink)
mark3567 Posts: n/a OS:	Hi Mustang, First, are you sure you have a full version or an EOM disk that is a full version of XP? Or, do you have that dell disk that does not have the complete version on it? If you have the full version of XP, then why not try a backdoor approach like using a Fat32 partition? If you wish to do that: Go to Bootdisk.com and download a startup floppy of Win98. (using a friend's computer) Boot your computer with the floppy in the drive and when it comes up then type Fdisk at the prompt. Go in and delete all partitions. Go back and create one large partition. Activate the partition. Exit fdisk and reboot When it comes up again, type Format at the prompt? Shut down again when it is done (that is a quirk of mine, but not always necessary so I am told) Take out the disk and put in your CDRom OS disk and it should boot if the disk order is like I told you in an earlier post. If this does not work then reboot with the A: drive boot disk in and when it boots up with CDRom support....then type setup with the Operating System disk in the CDRom and it should go. I would give it a try and when it comes up, then you can have it reformat with NTSF as you install. Remeber, it is important when you are working with the A: drive that it is listed as first in line to boot and when you want it to boot off the CD, then that needs to be listed first in line to boot.

10-14-2004, 01:29 AM	#7 (permalink)
Mustang Registered User Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 12 OS: XP	I am a total dork. Because I am such a total newb to all of this, (I have only built 1 computer, the one I'm dealing with now is pre-built) I failed to realize that I can just use the frickin floppy drive to boot initially anyways. Wow I'm an idiot. Sorry to waste your time guys. BTW I learned this from bootdisk.com; thanks Mark3567, my problem is now solved; although the real problem was just my lack of knowledge.