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TimPoet · 12-13-2006, 12:28 PM

Well Newegg processed the order Monday and as usual the parts got here Tuesday afternoon-another great job by Newegg.
Got the hardware in last night (HDD, GPU card and stick of RAM) and that went well.
BUT, can't get the dang OS to work!
BIOS is fine, it recognizes the HDD and CD burner. I followed Dave's PC building guide and fdisk'ed the HDD and then formatted it.
Here's is the first question: the formatting took less than a second, literally. Now the last time I formatted an HDD it took several minutes. Is it really that much faster due to better technology or did the format fail?
So, then on the screen with the WIN XP disk in the CD ROm I get this:

Quote:

1. . . Dos

Default: F1
This is not a bootable disk. Please insert a bootable floppy and press any key...

I set the CD ROM as first to be read in the BIOS. I figure the WIN XP disk would be the bootable media. Then when I put in the ASUS mobo driver disk in the CD ROM it loads up a bunch of stuff and ends up with this:

Quote:

Welcome to ASUS Motherboard Mke Disk for DOS Menu
Rev.1.0
1) Intel ICH7 RAID/AHCI Drive Page
2) ITE8211 Driver Page
3) Formate Floppy Disk
4) FreeDOS command prompt
Please choose 1 ~ 4:

So what do I do next, oh great Forum sages?

My Specs:
Pentium D 805 2.66GHz
ASUS P5L-MX 945G
CORSAIR ValueSelect RAM 1 gig, 2 sticks
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA Hard Drive
COOLER MASTER RC-330-KKN1-GP Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Fortron ATX400-PA, version 2.0, SATA, 400W Power Supply
Hauppauge WinTV-Go-Plus Tuner Card
eVGA 7600gt
ViewSonic Q19wb 19" LCD Monitor

flanzig1 · 12-13-2006, 12:46 PM

Shouldn't need to run fdsk from a floppy, all you need to to is let XP format the HD. After XP is done with the format, select install and let it run until you see a Windows type screen asking for a name or the COA. If you have a floppy plugged in, unplug it and try the XP cd.

TimPoet · 12-13-2006, 12:52 PM

Geez, I feel highly ignorant here. How do I get XP disk to do all that? Don't I need to load mscdex first? Or is that on the XP disk?

andper10 · 12-13-2006, 01:03 PM

Its all on the XP Disk. Just put it in, set the CD drive to the top of the boot order, and then it should prompt you for the format. The default settings should be fine. You want to load the OS first, then the drivers, unless you are doing a Raid array, then you need those drivers first, but you aren't, so don't worry about that. Enjoy your new PC!

flanzig1 · 12-13-2006, 01:07 PM

That's old DOS/98 stuff. Just let XP do it's stuff. Let XP format in NTFS and not FAT32. After it formats, it will start loading stuff. There will be a couple reboots, no need to do anything.
It will take around 30 to 40 minutes for XP gets to a point where it asks you manually enter things to finalize the install.

TimPoet · 12-13-2006, 01:09 PM

Guys, when I try to use the XP disk this happens:

Quote:

So, then on the screen with the WIN XP disk in the CD ROm I get this:

Quote:

1. . . Dos

Default: F1
This is not a bootable disk. Please insert a bootable floppy and press any key...

Wish it were as simple as you say but it just ain't happening.

flanzig1 · 12-13-2006, 01:15 PM

In the BIOS, is the CD drive set as first boot device? HD should be set to 2nd.

tetsuo · 12-13-2006, 01:19 PM

I have an XP Pro disk that I know for a fact is bootable. I've used it before. But when I built my friend's computer and went to use it (I'm using Media Center now), it wouldn't boot. I thought, well, maybe it's a HDD, disk, or new mobo problem. So I stuck in a Windows 98 SE and it booted that just fine. So installed the Windows 98 and then installed the Pro over it once I had a system to run the disk drive. Still don't know what the problem was, but that was my solution.

Good luck Tim.

TimPoet · 12-13-2006, 01:26 PM

Thanks, Tetsuo, hope this all pans out....

Flan:

Quote:

Originally Posted by flanzig1

In the BIOS, is the CD drive set as first boot device? HD should be set to 2nd.

Yes, it is.

flanzig1 · 12-13-2006, 01:34 PM

Another quick thought: If the IDE cable to the CD drive has blue connector to the mobo and has a black one at the other end(gray in the middle) then that is an 80 wire IDE cable. The CD should be plugged into the black connector and jumpered to CS.

TimPoet · 12-13-2006, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flanzig1

Another quick thought: If the IDE cable to the CD drive has blue connector to the mobo and has a black one at the other end(gray in the middle) then that is an 80 wire IDE cable. The CD should be plugged into the black connector and jumpered to CS.

The CD is plugged into the gray connector, the black connector is unused- does this matter if the CD is the only device on the ribbon?
And there is no jumper at all. And I am at a friend's house and don't have a dang jumper. Rats....

flanzig1 · 12-13-2006, 01:46 PM

The black connector at the end is considered the master postion and the gray is the slave but they are automaticly set by CS(cable select).

TimPoet · 12-13-2006, 01:47 PM

I bet the lack of the jumper is the problem here....

Edit:
I got it seconded by high authority. So, I have to go home and find that teeny, tiny, little piece and come back here and hook it up....

2nd edit:
Well, that didn't work!

I get this again:

1. . . Dos

Default: F1
This is not a bootable disk. Please insert a bootable floppy and press any key...

Help. please....

glc suggested I fdisk it again and reformat- so, here goes....

Cricket · 12-13-2006, 03:25 PM

Let's take a step back and start at the beginning.

Is the motherboard in or out of the care right now?

What jumper position do you have the shunt on for the optical drive? Best to set it to CS and put the optical drive on the black connector.

What optical drive are you using? I don't see one in the specs. Is it new or used?

In the BIOS make sure the hard drive and optical drive are recognized.

Are you using a genuine MS WinXP installation CD?

Cricket

TimPoet · 12-13-2006, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cricket

Let's take a step back and start at the beginning.

Is the motherboard in or out of the care right now?

In

Quote:

What jumper position do you have the shunt on for the optical drive? Best to set it to CS and put the optical drive on the black connector.

CS and its on black

Quote:

What optical drive are you using? I don't see one in the specs. Is it new or used?

It's a Lite On Cd burner and it's old.

Quote:

In the BIOS make sure the hard drive and optical drive are recognized.

both are

Quote:

Are you using a genuine MS WinXP installation CD?

Yepper, brand new

Cricket · 12-13-2006, 03:50 PM

Are you sure that Lite-On works okay?

If you have another optical drive available, try swapping it with the Lite-On just to see if it makes a difference.

Cricket

TimPoet · 12-13-2006, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cricket

Are you sure that Lite-On works okay?

If you have another optical drive available, try swapping it with the Lite-On just to see if it makes a difference.

Cricket

I'm having my doubts.... I'll have to make another trip home... sigh.

Heh.

TimPoet · 12-13-2006, 05:13 PM

Welllllllll, no joy. DVD burner produces the same result:
F1. . . Dos
Default: F1

newbuilder14 · 12-13-2006, 05:20 PM

Reset your CMOS - maybe your BIOS is mis configured from your previous attempts to use your older hard drive.

TimPoet · 12-13-2006, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newbuilder14

Reset your CMOS - maybe your BIOS is mis configured from your previous attempts to use your older hard drive.

There's a way to do that without removing the battery on the ASUS mobos but I can't find it in the mobo manual. Hmmm.

Cricket · 12-13-2006, 06:34 PM

Instructions for clearing the CMOS (Clear RTC RAM) can be found on page 1-23 of the P5L-MX manual.

Or see the attachment.

Cricket

TimPoet · 12-13-2006, 07:11 PM

Well, thanks a bunch for the diagram, Cricket.

It didn't work....................................................

Argh- ugh- bleck... sigh......

newbuilder14 · 12-13-2006, 07:17 PM

If that doesn't work, and your motherboard doesn't do this with no drives attached, the problem lies within one of your drives. Possibly your hard drive...

Cricket · 12-13-2006, 07:18 PM

Are you still using the old Lite-On?

Cricket

TimPoet · 12-13-2006, 07:29 PM

Nope, an old dvd burner.

man, Asus sure ain't Newegg when it comes to customer service....

Cricket, is it normal for a HDD format to happen so quickly as I mentioned?

Edit:
Well, I'm beginning to wonder if I stumped the sages at PC Mech.

*sigh- I gotta go to a Christmas party and therefore must pack up my new build and leave my friend's house without any resolution yet. Don't know if I can repeat this tomorrow or not....
Well, thanks for the helpful suggestions so far.

***glc*** · 12-14-2006, 04:31 AM

Go all the way back to the first post, folks - it booted with the Asus motherboard cd - so the drive and stuff should be okay. You may have a defective Windows cd. See if your friend's machine will boot with it - if it boots to a setup screen you can quit. See if you can borrow a different XP CD from someone for a test. If it's the same exact version as yours (Home, SP2 OEM?) you can use it to install XP with your product key, then burn a copy of it for yourself. This is totally legal as long as you only use YOUR product key.

Newegg has a 30 day exchange policy on defective software.

TimPoet · 12-14-2006, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by glc

See if your friend's machine will boot with it - if it boots to a setup screen you can quit.

Er, how do I do that? Just stick in her CD rom and restart?

Edit:
Well, I stuck it in her CD ROm and got a look at the file that is on the disk. It is labeled as Windows Xp MediaCenter2005KB900325-USA and it's only 29 MB in size. Printed on the disk it says Windows XP Media Center Edition Updates for Version 2005
This CAN'T be an XP OS disk, can it? It's too small.

well, hold on a minute here, under Properties it also says it is an operating system. But why so small?

Jimmy0 · 12-14-2006, 01:03 PM

Yes, but first check in the BIOS to make sure that the CD ROM is set to boot before the HDD, then pop the CD in and boot up her pc.

TimPoet · 12-14-2006, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TimPoet

I set the CD ROM as first to be read in the BIOS.

Ahem

TimPoet · 12-14-2006, 01:31 PM

Freakin' Microsoft put the CD that has the OS on it on the bottom of 3 Cd's in the pack that it came in.
Win XP is now loading.

THANKS everyone for the help!!!

PS Would the install be faster if I uploaded the cab files to the HDD so it would be read faster?
How much faster?

12-13-2006, 12:46 PM	#2
flanzig1 Wrench Bender Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Plymouth,MN Posts: 5,961	Shouldn't need to run fdsk from a floppy, all you need to to is let XP format the HD. After XP is done with the format, select install and let it run until you see a Windows type screen asking for a name or the COA. If you have a floppy plugged in, unplug it and try the XP cd. Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter __________________ "When sliding down the banister of life; look out for splinters pointing up."

12-13-2006, 12:52 PM	#3
TimPoet digitally confused Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 2,301	Geez, I feel highly ignorant here. How do I get XP disk to do all that? Don't I need to load mscdex first? Or is that on the XP disk? Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

12-13-2006, 01:03 PM	#4
andper10 Member (9 bit) Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Indiana Posts: 500	Its all on the XP Disk. Just put it in, set the CD drive to the top of the boot order, and then it should prompt you for the format. The default settings should be fine. You want to load the OS first, then the drivers, unless you are doing a Raid array, then you need those drivers first, but you aren't, so don't worry about that. Enjoy your new PC! Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter __________________ \| i7 950 @ 4.0 Ghz \| Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme \| 4870 1GB \| 6GB DDR3 1600 Kingston \| Gigabyte X58A-UD3R \| 1TB, 500GB, 320GB, & 160GB Seagates \| Corsair 520W \| HDTV Tuner \| Logsis Green Transparent Case \| Windows 7 Home Premium \| 25" Hanspree 1080p LCD \| Cyber Acoustics 5.1 Surround Sound \| Chaintech AV710 w/ Via Envy 24 \| 17,478 3DMark06 (Old CPU) \|

12-13-2006, 01:07 PM	#5
flanzig1 Wrench Bender Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Plymouth,MN Posts: 5,961	That's old DOS/98 stuff. Just let XP do it's stuff. Let XP format in NTFS and not FAT32. After it formats, it will start loading stuff. There will be a couple reboots, no need to do anything. It will take around 30 to 40 minutes for XP gets to a point where it asks you manually enter things to finalize the install. Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

12-13-2006, 01:15 PM	#7
flanzig1 Wrench Bender Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Plymouth,MN Posts: 5,961	In the BIOS, is the CD drive set as first boot device? HD should be set to 2nd. Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

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12-13-2006, 01:19 PM	#8
tetsuo Member (8 bit) Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 138	I have an XP Pro disk that I know for a fact is bootable. I've used it before. But when I built my friend's computer and went to use it (I'm using Media Center now), it wouldn't boot. I thought, well, maybe it's a HDD, disk, or new mobo problem. So I stuck in a Windows 98 SE and it booted that just fine. So installed the Windows 98 and then installed the Pro over it once I had a system to run the disk drive. Still don't know what the problem was, but that was my solution. Good luck Tim. Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

12-13-2006, 01:34 PM	#10
flanzig1 Wrench Bender Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Plymouth,MN Posts: 5,961	Another quick thought: If the IDE cable to the CD drive has blue connector to the mobo and has a black one at the other end(gray in the middle) then that is an 80 wire IDE cable. The CD should be plugged into the black connector and jumpered to CS. Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

12-13-2006, 01:46 PM	#12
flanzig1 Wrench Bender Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Plymouth,MN Posts: 5,961	The black connector at the end is considered the master postion and the gray is the slave but they are automaticly set by CS(cable select). Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

12-13-2006, 01:47 PM	#13
TimPoet digitally confused Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 2,301	Me computer hate me I bet the lack of the jumper is the problem here.... Edit: I got it seconded by high authority. So, I have to go home and find that teeny, tiny, little piece and come back here and hook it up.... 2nd edit: Well, that didn't work! I get this again: 1. . . Dos Default: F1 This is not a bootable disk. Please insert a bootable floppy and press any key... Help. please.... glc suggested I fdisk it again and reformat- so, here goes.... Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter Last edited by TimPoet; 12-13-2006 at 03:12 PM. Reason: tried it and it didn't work

12-13-2006, 03:25 PM	#14
Cricket Shiro Usagi Premium Member Join Date: Sep 1999 Location: Kaneohe, Hawaii Posts: 34,002	Let's take a step back and start at the beginning. Is the motherboard in or out of the care right now? What jumper position do you have the shunt on for the optical drive? Best to set it to CS and put the optical drive on the black connector. What optical drive are you using? I don't see one in the specs. Is it new or used? In the BIOS make sure the hard drive and optical drive are recognized. Are you using a genuine MS WinXP installation CD? Cricket Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

12-13-2006, 03:50 PM	#16
Cricket Shiro Usagi Premium Member Join Date: Sep 1999 Location: Kaneohe, Hawaii Posts: 34,002	Are you sure that Lite-On works okay? If you have another optical drive available, try swapping it with the Lite-On just to see if it makes a difference. Cricket Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

12-13-2006, 05:13 PM	#18
TimPoet digitally confused Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 2,301	Welllllllll, no joy. DVD burner produces the same result: F1. . . Dos Default: F1 Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

12-13-2006, 05:20 PM	#19
newbuilder14 Not so new Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Maryland, United States Posts: 2,576	Reset your CMOS - maybe your BIOS is mis configured from your previous attempts to use your older hard drive. Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter __________________ “To me there are three things everyone should do every day. Number one is laugh. Number two is think -- spend some time in thought. Number three, you should have your emotions move you to tears. If you laugh, think and cry, that's a heck of a day.” - Jim Valvano

12-13-2006, 07:11 PM	#22
TimPoet digitally confused Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 2,301	Well, thanks a bunch for the diagram, Cricket. It didn't work.................................................... Argh- ugh- bleck... sigh...... Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

12-13-2006, 07:17 PM	#23
newbuilder14 Not so new Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Maryland, United States Posts: 2,576	If that doesn't work, and your motherboard doesn't do this with no drives attached, the problem lies within one of your drives. Possibly your hard drive... Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

12-13-2006, 07:18 PM	#24
Cricket Shiro Usagi Premium Member Join Date: Sep 1999 Location: Kaneohe, Hawaii Posts: 34,002	Are you still using the old Lite-On? Cricket Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

12-13-2006, 07:29 PM	#25
TimPoet digitally confused Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 2,301	Nope, an old dvd burner. man, Asus sure ain't Newegg when it comes to customer service.... Cricket, is it normal for a HDD format to happen so quickly as I mentioned? Edit: Well, I'm beginning to wonder if I stumped the sages at PC Mech. sigh- I gotta go to a Christmas party and therefore must pack up my new build and leave my friend's house without any resolution yet. Don't know if I can repeat this tomorrow or not.... Well, thanks for the helpful suggestions so far. Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter Last edited by TimPoet; 12-13-2006 at 08:28 PM.*

12-14-2006, 04:31 AM	#26
*glc* Forum Administrator Staff Premium Member Join Date: May 2000 Location: Joplin MO Posts: 37,765	Go all the way back to the first post, folks - it booted with the Asus motherboard cd - so the drive and stuff should be okay. You may have a defective Windows cd. See if your friend's machine will boot with it - if it boots to a setup screen you can quit. See if you can borrow a different XP CD from someone for a test. If it's the same exact version as yours (Home, SP2 OEM?) you can use it to install XP with your product key, then burn a copy of it for yourself. This is totally legal as long as you only use YOUR product key. Newegg has a 30 day exchange policy on defective software. Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

12-14-2006, 01:03 PM	#28
Jimmy0 Member (9 bit) Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: UK Posts: 278	Yes, but first check in the BIOS to make sure that the CD ROM is set to boot before the HDD, then pop the CD in and boot up her pc. Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter

12-14-2006, 01:31 PM	#30
TimPoet digitally confused Premium Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 2,301	The battle is over! Freakin' Microsoft put the CD that has the OS on it on the bottom of 3 Cd's in the pack that it came in. Win XP is now loading. THANKS everyone for the help!!! PS Would the install be faster if I uploaded the cab files to the HDD so it would be read faster? How much faster? Share Share this post on Digg Del.icio.us Technorati Twitter Last edited by TimPoet; 12-14-2006 at 01:34 PM.

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