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won't load boot disk

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12 replies

by lynne

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I'm troubleshooting an Acer Aspire with an AMD K62 200, 32MB RAM, Quantum Bigfoot, etc, etc. (I know you ask, why bother....nevertheless...)

Problem is, I believe the HD and more is bad. When I could boot from floppy, it appeared that someone had run scandisk and found scads of errors. Now I can only get partway through the boot from a 98 setup disk...usually hangs around "Start Computer with CD ROM Support"

It goes thru POST and displays CPU, memory, HD as all set in BIOS. BIOS is set to boot from Floppy. I've pulled the HD, tried another HD, tried another floppy. The same on all. CPU & memory and cables are all seated. Do you think I've got a mother board problem or something else?

Give me some ideas before I have to tell this guy that he's got a worthless box of junk. Thanks.

Lynne

12 replies

by true_texan

200MHz, 32MB Ram - nevermind, I wont go there. If you've tried a different floppy and your still not getting any results, I would suspect either the motherboard or the memory. Even though it scans the memory, you could still have a problem with it. I'd start with the memory. If you have more than one memory module, I would try taking all out except one. If you have the same type of memory, try different memory.

Hope this helps!

by dpalsen

My first thought would be the disk itself. I assume you can boot another computer from this disk? If so, the next suspect is actually the floppy. Then the cable, then the Mobo. Also, try it without a Hard Drive installed. That will at least tell you if it's a problem in the boot sequence. Basically, try to isolate the cause. Also, pull all the expansion boards, as it could be an IRQ conflict.

by lynne

The floppy is good. Checked that. Also tried to boot without the HD. No deal. Will try replacing the cable and expansion board.

by timthetoolman

Hi,

Try booting with a simple DOS boot disk.
I reckon you could have a dud CD drive thats causing problems with the HD too. Especially if its on the same controller.

Make sure the CD drive and HD are on different controllers. Remove the CD and see if its more stable.

Cheers,
Tim.

by derekdcosta

Try This:

If the BIOS supports it disable both CPU and VGA caching .
Some AMD CPUs were known to have problems with L2 cache that then caused any number of problems when booting up.
If it works then the CPU ought to be replaced.

by trippin

Maybe is your cdrom not properly installed?
or you could try to disable the cd-rom and the use a 95 setup disk to try again. you dont nid the cd-rom for troubleshooting don't you?
Cheers~

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