Can't boot from dvd. Will BIOS update help?

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tg
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Can't boot from dvd. Will BIOS update help?

Post by tg »

I'm trying to load linux from a dvd, but I can't seem to boot from the dvd. Is there a BIOS update that will help? I've never updated my BIOS since I first built my computer in early 2000. Can I just go with the latest update, or will that screw things up.

Thanks for your time,

tg
purrkur
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Post by purrkur »

What happens when you boot your computer? Are you sure you have pointed out that the computer should boot from CD/DVD first? What version is your BIOS today?
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tg
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Post by tg »

I've got the boot order as "cdrom, c, a". If I've got the right string of numbers, I'm running the LP version of the bios (the numbers at the bottom of the screen are: 2A69KA1SC-LP. What happens is, I put the dvd in the drive, shut off the computer, and turn it back on. After the initial start up screen, the dreaded "windows" emblem appears, at which time I say a bad word or two and try something else. I'm running windows 98, btw.

Otherwise, the dvd drive works fine for cdroms and dvds. Any ideas?

Also while I have you, if I do flash the bios, and I don't like what happens, how do I get back to my original? Do I just do the awdflash etc... but use the old bios version numbers (it is LP isn't it?)?

I appreciate your time,

tg
purrkur
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Post by purrkur »

Are you sure that your CD is bootable? Have you tried booting it on any other computer? Have you tried another bootable disk in your BP6?

If you flash your BIOS then getting the old one back is just a matter of flashing it again. However, I have never heard of anyone asking for their old BIOS back. All of us here, or at least the regulars, are using the latest and greatest.
2x533MHz@544MHz, 2.0V
640MB PC100 memory
Realtek RTL-8139 NIC
Maxtor 6Y080L0 80GB hdd
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tg
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Post by tg »

I haven't tried booting the dvd on another computer, and I don't really have one available to try that with. Should my computer be able to boot from the dvd with my old bios version? I hadn't even thought of the possibility that the dvd might be bad. Is there any other way I can test it?

Thanks again,

tg
purrkur
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Post by purrkur »

I haven't experienced a BIOS upgrade being a cure for a computer that isn't able to boot from a CD/DVD but it that doesn't mean that it hasn't happened.

What distro are you trying out? Where did you get your DVD? Are you absolutely sure that it is bootable? Can you put the CD in your computer and read it from Windows?
2x533MHz@544MHz, 2.0V
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tg
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Post by tg »

I've got Fedora 3 from the latest "Linux for Dummies" book (actually it's "Fedora 3 for Dummies") published in 2005. They said that they put the os on a dvd instead of the 9 cdroms it would have taken. I just assumed when it didn't work, that my computer couldn't boot from a dvd. It never occurred to me that the dvd itself might be at fault. I'm at work right now, so I can't try to check the dvd. Should I be able to read any of it from Windows? I figured since it was Linux stuff that Windows wouldn't be able to translate any of it.

Regards,

tg
phaedrus
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Post by phaedrus »

Windows should be able to read the DVD just fine (the filesystems for data DVDs and CDs are standardized, and a Linux just uses those filesystems as does Windows and MacOS).

Definitely check the disk on another machine to make sure it boots. Although, if you got it from a Fedora book, I would bet it's not the DVD.

Another thing, when the BP6 POSTs, the DVD drive is detected, right? This means it's plugged in to one of the normal IDE ports (not the HPT366 IDE ports--the HPT366 IDE ports are white and the normal ones are black), and the proper drive is set to "auto" under the Standard CMOS Setup screen in the BIOS setup (if unsure, set them all to auto, it takes a little longer for the board to POST, but you'll catch everything). I'm sorry if this is below your knowledge level, but I'm asking because of old tech support instincts (make sure the user with the problem has everything plugged in first lalala).

I've got a DVD drive on my box. It boots CDs just fine, but I haven't tried a bootable DVD.

Jeff
"If it ain't broke, mod it till it is"
They said... and now my BP6 needs new processors... D'oh
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tg
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Post by tg »

YOU DA MAN, JEFF!

I checked the settings, and they were all at "none". I changed them all to "auto", and was able to boot from the dvd. Unfortunately, I've got something else squirrely going on, because it shows my cdrom as the "primary master" and I'm also getting a "slave disk failure" warning. It also won't boot to Windows. However, I changed everything back, and Windows booted fine, so my wife won't kill me while I trying to figure out where I went wrong with my drive connections. Thanks a million for the help!

BTW, I don't think it would be possible for you to get "below my knowledge level" I know just enough to get myself in trouble!

Thanks again!

tg
tg
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Post by tg »

OK, that's weird, I just went back and changed those settings back to "auto" so that I could write down the error messages and find out what's going on, and now everythings fine! "Nope, no problems here!" says my BIOS. Oh well, I'll play with it some more tomorrow. Thanks again guys!

Best regards,

tg
phaedrus
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Post by phaedrus »

tg wrote:YOU DA MAN, JEFF!
Thanks, glad I could help.
I checked the settings, and they were all at "none". I changed them all to "auto", and was able to boot from the dvd. Unfortunately, I've got something else squirrely going on, because it shows my cdrom as the "primary master" and I'm also getting a "slave disk failure" warning. It also won't boot to Windows. However, I changed everything back, and Windows booted fine, so my wife won't kill me while I trying to figure out where I went wrong with my drive connections. Thanks a million for the help!
There are two ingredients beyond the BIOS settings. You've got those two IDE ports, one is labeled IDE0 and the other IDE1, they correspond to Primary IDE and Secondary IDE in the BIOS settings/errors. You can string two drives off of each. The two drives on the ports are labeled as either master or slave (which is where you get the labels you see in the BIOS). This is selected based on a jumper setting on the drive (the jumper is usually sandwiched between the ide cable connector and the power connector on the drive). Each drive should have the jumper settings diagrammed on the top. Don't use cable select, and double check the jumper settings on your drives when you move stuff around.

Generally, you'll want to put your harddrive and DVD drive on different ports because the DVD likely runs slower, and the drives on a single IDE port have to run at the speed of the slowest device on the port. You probably also want your harddrive as the primary master drive--that way the BIOS will think the first partition on that drive is the C: drive for windows.

It sounds like you've got your system working at the moment, so this is mostly FYI and for when you tinker again.
BTW, I don't think it would be possible for you to get "below my knowledge level" I know just enough to get myself in trouble!
Knowing just enough to get into trouble is a good start. ;)

Jeff
"If it ain't broke, mod it till it is"
They said... and now my BP6 needs new processors... D'oh
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tg
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Post by tg »

Thanks for the info, Jeff. Before I do anything else, I'm going to take the cover off and refamiliarize myself with what I did when I built my computer--5 years ago! I've got a sneaking suspicion that my hard drive is attached at the IDE 3 connector, which is supposed to be one of the "ultra ATA/DMA 66" connectors.

On a different, but related topic, is there a good place on the web, or a good book that goes further into explaining hardware (motherboards, etc) and bios stuff? I see some things in the BP6 user's manual that I would like to know more about--such as, should I have my celeron 400s set at "400/66" or "400/100", and why?

Anyway, thanks again for your assistance.

Best regards,

tg
phaedrus
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Post by phaedrus »

tg wrote:Thanks for the info, Jeff. Before I do anything else, I'm going to take the cover off and refamiliarize myself with what I did when I built my computer--5 years ago! I've got a sneaking suspicion that my hard drive is attached at the IDE 3 connector, which is supposed to be one of the "ultra ATA/DMA 66" connectors.
Honestly, I've never booted off a drive on the HPT366 controller, so I don't know if that's likely or not (maybe, it's plugged into one of the white ones, or pops up on the blue screen after the BIOS POST, then again, maybe not. I've got my zip drive hanging off of one of those ports, and a BIOS without the HPT366 stuff (Linux does not care about the BIOS, and I haven't had any problems), so, I actually don't know on this one).
On a different, but related topic, is there a good place on the web, or a good book that goes further into explaining hardware (motherboards, etc) and bios stuff?
That's a good question. It's been quite a while, but from the deep recesses of my mind come two sources. One that I use constantly, and one that I used back when I first started building systems to get off the ground:

Ars Technica: These guys are my source for industry news and the dirt on new hardware. They've got a lot of good info on basic CPU design theory and system performance theory (eg. why is FSB more important than clock multiplier most of the time). Good stuff. I check them daily.

Motherboards.org: I used their "how to build a computer" guide to put together my first computer (meaning, the first one that was mine alone, the first computer I ever used was a 286 based PC). That system was an Abit BH6 with a slot 1 Celeron 300A, the overclockers board of choice at the time. Then the BP6 came out.

There's a lot of info on those two sites, if you dig around, you'll learn more than you ever wanted to know about these silly boxes.
I see some things in the BP6 user's manual that I would like to know more about--such as, should I have my celeron 400s set at "400/66" or "400/100", and why?
400/66 or 600/100 are your options. The reason for this is Intel. The Celerons and all processors since the PII (as far as I know) have been multiplier locked. Basically, the processor gets its clock by multiplying the frequency of the bus by a set factor. Your Celeron 400s have a 6x clock multiplier, so the core speed will always be the front side bus times 6, hence 600/100.

This, BTW, is how the overclocking that we do here works. The best configuration anyone has found yet for performance is the Celeron 366s overclocked to 550 (66 to 100 MHz bus change). The only thing benchmarked as faster is the dual PIII 650 configuration. Now, while I'm running this setup, the PIIIs are actually rated as 866MHz procs, but they'll only run at that speed with a 133MHz bus (6.5x multiplier, and I'm, obviously, running at 100MHz FSB right now). Oh, I wouldn't recommend overclocking until you really understand what's going on (basically, a good measure is once you know the answer to why wouldn't a PCI card like a setting of 83MHz for your FSB. If you've got the handle on details like that, it might be worth trying, but remember, it's a great way to fry hardware, so whatever you do, it's not my fault. Only do what you are comfortable doing).

Welcome to the wonderful world of performance tweakers.

Jeff
"If it ain't broke, mod it till it is"
They said... and now my BP6 needs new processors... D'oh
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purrkur
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Post by purrkur »

tg wrote:is there a good place on the web, or a good book that goes further into explaining hardware (motherboards, etc) and bios stuff?
There is a good BIOS guide found here.
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Post by Dave Rave »

you could also just read a lot of forums
over 10 years
and slowly piece together all that you need to know

or try it from scratch now and get frustrated....

I think i'd ask a question and see of some dill (like me) was in the mood to help you! ;-)
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