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[SkunkedAgain]

I don't know how many computer geeks are out here, but I've got a problem. I just bought a new computer system and threw all of the parts together. It's a quad-core AMD with ASUS motherboard and 8GB of RAM. I didn't buy a new DVD/CR-ROM but instead opted to use the old one, which is only a year old but runs off of an IDE ribbon instead of the new SATA connection.

My problem is that the computer boots through all of it's start-up stuff normally and I can access the BIOS but I can't get it to load the new Windows 7, or anything else. It recognizes my hard drive and the DVD drive but I get a message saying to load the boot device and press any key to continue.

I've tried using Windows 7 and my old boot discs for Windows XP and even Windows 98. Nothing....it just keeps asking for a boot device. I've gone into the BIOS and changed the boot sequence. I've even messed around with the jumpers on the DVD drive, going between master, slave, and CS. Nothing works. Any suggestions?

[pureinsanity]

is it the blue screen of death telling you to do this?

also is it a new hard drive?

Can you boot from the disc? It sounds to me its not sure where to boot from...

[pureinsanity]

also make sure your bios is set up right.

Resetting the boot order to dvd first, hdd second, other devices after fixes

Check the BIOS and see if it's already set to IDE rather than ACHI

[upnorth]

Make sure the CD/DVD is set to be master on the jumpers.

[Valv]

Are you using an upgrade CD ? Some of them don't have a boot sector, they are meant to run from within windows.

[Shack]

Make sure the CD/DVD is set to be master on the jumpers.

Yep or try another COM port. Do you hear the DVD power up and spin at all. It is telling you to load a boot device which is needed to load the bootable software (either disc or partition) from. Your case an install bootable DVD. That or like PI said. Reload BIOS and make sure the flash/program is up to date.

[Old School]

Is the wind blowing from the west or east?

[upnorth]

How many IDE ports are there on the Motherboard? You may have plugged it into IDE1 instead of IDE0. Another BIOS setting.

[SkunkedAgain]

The wind is blowing harshly from the west.

It is not the blue screen of death, just a black screen where it says that it can't find a bootable device and to press any key once loaded. All of the components are new except for the DVD burner. The hard drive is a 1.5Tb drive running on a SATA cable. The motherboard only has one IDE connection point, and came with an IDE ribbon which is connected to the DVD burner. I have set the boot device order in the BIOS every which way and back, burner first, HDD first, etc. The jumper on the back of the DVD burner is typically set to Master, but I've also tried it on slave and CS jumper settings. The drive does spin up as the computer starts, but quickly quiets down and then tells me that a bootable device is not found.

I'm not positive about the Windows 7 disc being bootable. That's why I tried using my Windows XP and Windows 98 boot discs. Since those wouldn't load either it seems to me that it's a hardware or BIOS issue.

I have done nothing to the BIOS or computer (besides changing the boot sequence). I put all of the parts together, pressed the power button, it went through its initial start up procedures, and then asked for a bootable device.

It's been almost a decade since I last built a computer. Do I need to format the HDD or do something else before it will allow me to load Windows?

[upnorth]

The install CD does the fdisk and format for you. I would take the cable off the DVD burner and check to be sure you aren't in a CS plug in. Then be sure you have it set to the proper jumper setting. CS only works where you have a CS cable and plug in. I avoid that and use the manual settings myself.

You may need to set/enable the devices in the BIOS as well as the boot order. Too many different BIOS out there to tell you for sure.

[upnorth]

Is there an option to boot from a usb device? You could copy the contents of the DVD to a USB drive and go that route.

[delcecchi]

There should be an option under setup to select boot device. I just had a replacement hard drive put in and the system had gotten into a state where it was trying to boot off every usb device including the printer, but not the new hard drive.

So hit F2 or whatever it is for you and go into setup and set the boot order. That would be the first thing I tried.

[Surface Tension]

You'll need a floppy disc to boot up Win 98.

Long shot but are you using a floppy drive, if not look in your bios and disable it or select none if it shows a floppy in the bios.

Otherwise it won't boot if you don't have a floppy drive but there is on enabled in your bios.

As said you'll need to select the CD drive as the first boot device but you've done that.

I've had problems with some New CD/DVD burners not recognizing CDs but no problem with DVDs. Never did find the issue and just returned the burner

and went with another brand. I believe LG was one that that had that problem.

I would try another CD drive and see if that loads up Windows.

[Shack]

My bad. IDE not COM. Fat thumbed it while think of COM with a project I have going.

[IamZombie]

Are you using the correct SATA port on the motherboard for the hard drive?

Some motherboards will have 2 sets of SATA ports.

1 set for RAID setups and the other for normal.

[SkunkedAgain]

Good questions and advice. I'll have to check it all when I get back to MN tomorrow night. There is no way to use a floppy drive as the motherboard doesn't have a connection for that type of cable/ribbon. I'll have to see if the BIOS somehow lists a floppy drive though.

I'll also look around to see if my HDD and DVD drive are enabled in the BIOS. I hadn't thought of that either.

I might also try the alternate drive route. I have a couple spare IDE drives that I could load Windows onto, or I have a 500GB external USB drive. Maybe those are my next route.

[PierBridge]

Quote:

Some motherboards will have 2 sets of SATA ports.

1 set for RAID setups and the other for normal.

Generally speaking any set of ports can be configured RAID, ACHI, IDE/SATA.

But no matter, that has nothing to do with booting his OS from a ROM drive.

Is the IDE cable for one device or two?

If everything is connected proper then it has to be his BIOS is not setup properly, or his DVDROM is bad!!! There is no other option from there. What kind of ASUS mainboard do you have have? Is there a BIOS tutorial online or manual we can look at?

This is starting to bug me...

[pureinsanity]

It could be his dvd drive isn't compatible with the motherboard. long shot, but possible

[SkunkedAgain]

Yeah, my brother keeps yelling at me to just spend $30 on a SATA DVD drive. If nothing else works, I'll give in to that option.

The motherboard description is:

ASUS M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AM3 AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

[spearchucker]

Go into the BIOS and select the Advanced menu, then select Onboard Devices Configuration.

Make sure that VT6330 1394/IDE Controller is enabled.

Make sure that VT6330 IDE Boot ROM is enabled as well.

The IDE in controlled by a separate chip from the normal AMD chipset so you need to make sure it is enabled.

[SkunkedAgain]

Well, problem solved....mostly. The first thing that I did last night was throw in the motherboard driver DVD. The computer detected it right away. So the hardware setup appears to be correct. Apparently all of the Windows boot discs that I was trying to use were bad. I'll get a new copy and install Windows 7.

Thanks for all of the advice!

[pureinsanity]

Good glad we were able to help, or make it sounds more confusing than it was ;0.

Sometimes the easy little things we have to figure out by doing all the other things first!

[SkunkedAgain]

I've relied on this forum for advice on a variety of issues, but was unsure about who would actually have computer hardware knowledge. Once again I was pleasantly surprised and almost overwhelmed with the insightful responses. Thanks again.

[SkunkedAgain]

**Update**

I'm posting from my new system...awesome!

[Surface Tension]

Good to see you have it up and running.

We have a very diversified group of members with that a huge spectrum of professions.

Fishing is what brings us together here on HSO.

So it is possible to get good advice on the internet.