xp install problem

[chas]

I'm having problems trying to install xp(full install). I have set what i think is the cd-rom as the #1 boot device in the bios, so i can format and partiton the drive.and install xp. It seems that the cd rom is not being recognized by the bios, it won't start.and i get a message saying boot disc failure. Can anyone tell me exactly what i need to adjust in the bios to make the cd rom work and load xp? Or the sequence i need to follow in the bios so i can finally load xp? Thanks - Very frustrated

[Cricket]

Hi chas,

Make sure the CD-ROM drive is installed correctly...is the jumper set properly? Is it the only optical drive installed? Is it recognized at boot up?

In BIOS, just set the CD-ROM as the first boot device and then make sure the IDE position (Secondary Master or whatever the CD-ROM drive is) is set to AUTO. Save and Exit the BIOS.

Try another IDE cable.

Try another CD-ROM (or DVD or CD-RW) drive.

Cricket

[ktkendall]

How is your CDROM cabled to what ide and how is it jumpered. Right after memory count when drives are detected is the cdrom being detected by the drive detection sequence?? It's pretty fast on newer boards, the pause key will stop it so you can read it, then enter key to resume.. On first page of BIOS,, do you have the channel the cdrom is on set to auto or cdrom?? Some BIOS's have an autodetect feature that you run and it sets the channels for you to what it finds on them...

[chas]

Kt, i had the cd-rom entered in 1st boot position as cd-rom, when the bios runs it comes up with all the drives as none, and gives me a message saying boot failure. i have tried this with many different positions and i get the same message. Any ideas?

[chas]

Cricket, I have the cd-rom set as master on the secondary channel, the cd-rom is first on the boot up list, i changed the ide cable. The bios reads all the drives as none,and tells me i have a boot disk failure. Any suggestions?

[reboot]

Depending on your motherboard, go into BIOS setup, and look for "Detect IDE", or Autodetect Drives...
If it's not there, don't panic, go through the BIOS screens, and make sure that both IDE channels are active (Auto), and DMA is also Auto.
Set first boot device to CD-ROM (Atapi device).
Disable all other boot devices, including floppy.
Now you should be able to boot from CD.
Once you've started the XP setup, the FIRST time it restarts during setup, change the BIOS boot sequence to Floppy, HDD-0, CD-ROM, otherwise it will get stuck in a setup loop.

[chas]

Thanks- Reboot i will give that a try

[chas]

Reboot- I got it to boot from the cd-rom and it started to load files. It came to staring setup and told me it couldn't recognize my hd. I rebooted and reconfigured, but it didn't go back to setup and start. How can i go through changing the loop without loosing setup?

[Cricket]

Is the hard drive recognized properly in BIOS (correct size shown)? When the PC is booting up, is the hard drive detected and recognized? Is it the only hard drive installed? Is it jumpered properly? If you're using a 80 wire Ultra ATA66/100/133 IDE cable, the drive jumper should be set to CS or CSel (cable select) and the IDE cable connected blue to motherboard, black to master hard drive and grey to slave drive. If you're using a 40 wire ATA33 IDE cable, set the drive jumper to master and connect it to the primary IDE connector on the motherboard. Position on the cable doesn't matter.

Is the computer set to still boot from the CD-ROM drive?

Cricket

[reboot]

Cricket, you're jumping to conclusions. It couldn't find a hard drive, because the system doesn't know there is one, it's not found in BIOS if it's disabled in CMOS setup.

OK, it's found the CD, and can boot from it.
Now go into BIOS setup, set first device to CD-ROM, second device to floppy, and 3rd device to HDD-0.
Boot to the CD, and start the install process again.
This time it will find the HD. It couldn't last time, because it wasn't detected in BIOS. Just a troubleshooting measure on my part, and I probably should have explained that.
You MUST get it to boot to CD, and still have the hard drive recognized in BIOS, but not so it always trys to boot to the hard drive, hence the order I specified here.

[chas]

Reboot- I finally got it to install. Many thanks to you and Cricket and anyone else who responded. You guys are great!!!! Sure i'll be chatting with you all in the future. It's great having my first build up and running!!!! - Chas System: Intel p4 2.4, Asus p4b533 mb, Ati 7500 64 mb agp, WD 40 gb hdd Chenming (blk alu case)