BIOS: hard disc boot priority?

[MilesG]

I'm building a computer for the first time and am about to install XP. This is a pretty dumb question, but I am a dumb novice and the mobo (Gigabyte GA-81PE1000 PRO) manual is not clear what
"hard disc boot priority " in the BIOS Advanced Settings is for. The default is 1. bootable add-in cards 2. Channel 0 M. Maxtor...(etc). The order can not be changed, but I just wonder what this means. Can anyone explain please? Why provide an apparent option to change the order, when the + and - controls don't do it anyway?
Thanks
MilesG

[Rob R.]

Highlight the bootable and hit enter and it should pop up the list of bootables, arrow around on it to pick what you want and hit enter again. It should go:

Floppy
HDD
CD-ROM

[BipolarBill]

In his case, HDD = Channel 0.

[MilesG]

Thanks for your help.
I did set the 1st 2nd and 3rd boot devices to CDROM, but it's the very first line of Advanced BIOS features that puzzles me, which is:
Hard Disk Boot Priority
so I highlight that, it says Press Enter, which reveals a new screen reading
1. Bootable add-on Cards
2. Channel0 M. Maxtor .....

Now I find I can switch that order using PageUp/PageDown, not + and -
The default order was as above, but I don't know what these Bootable Addon cards are, and should they have priority over the HDD? Or should I switch to the other way round?

MilesG

[Rob R.]

Bootable add-on cards are for SCSI, SATA, and RAID.

[BipolarBill]

Highlight the object in question and press Enter to change that device. Use +/- to re-order them.

[MilesG]

I don't have SCSI or RAID or sata. Am I right then to assume that if these are not part of the system, the boot procedure just moves on to line 2 when it doesn't find them?
So the default order only matters when one or more of these functions are present?
Thanks to all for the guidance.
Miles

[BipolarBill]

Just put the floppy first and CD second.

[MilesG]

Thanks BBill for your further help. I do appreciate your patience!
I think this BIOS is different from most others, because everywhere I look in BIOS guides on the net there is no mention of this line. Even on the Gigabyte site I can't find guidance.
Under Advanced BIOS Features is:

Hard Disc boot priority
first boot device
second boot device
third boot device
Password check
CPU hyperthreading

highlighting "Hard Disc boot priority" and pressing Enter goes to a sub-menu where those two lines feature:

1. bootable add-in cards
2. Channel 0 M.....Maxtor etc with the option to switch their order

I don't have a problem with

1st boot device
2nd boot device
3rd boot device they are all set to CDROM right now to install XP and after the install I'll reset them to Floppy - HDD - HDD or whatever (there seem to be differing schools of thought on this)

I am guessing that if one of those boot devices is set to HDD, then that first line will activate and the BIOS will search for those non-existent (at present) add-on cards if the order is as above. But I'm not sure! I'ts probably insignificant, but I don't want to screw up!

Miles

[comp_nut]

"1st boot device
2nd boot device
3rd boot device they are all set to CDROM right now to install XP and after the install I'll reset them to Floppy - HDD - HDD or whatever (there seem to be differing schools of thought on this)"


should be

1st-------floppy

2nd-----cdrom

3rd------ide 0

you can change after os is install

[MilesG]

I dove in and set it to
1. Channel0 M. Maxtor..etc
2. bootable add-in cards

reasoning that as I didn't have the scsi raid or sata it might as well go straight to the HDD, which it does, and now XP is installed, and drivers and applications seem to be installing OK

My thanks to you all for your help and patience.
Miles

[BipolarBill]

You should really change that Add-in Cards setting. It's useless to you. Just highlight and press ENTER. Select another device.

[MilesG]

Hi B Bill
Not possible. I tried that. All I can do is switch the order of
1. Channel0 M. Maxtor..etc
2. bootable add-in cards

The system seems to be running fine still. Maybe if I decide to install a bigger/another HD and employ the SATA or RAID technology then they would need to be reversed?

[BipolarBill]

You really need to read your manual. Those selections can definitely be changed. Look for onscreen prompts.

[MilesG]

Hi again Bill
The first thing I did before even picking up a screwdriver was RTFM! Several times. And the pretty-coloured quick-start colour fold-out. And several BIOS settings guides that I found on the net.

The Advanced BIOS Features view looks like this:

Hard Disc priority [Press Enter] (line 1 in view panel)

(This accesses the sub-menu which offers the choice of order of
1. Bootable add-in cards
2. Channel 0 M. Maxtor....

Highlighting one of these and pressing Enter has no effect at all. These are pre-determined and immutable. All you can do is switch them with PageUp/Down. This is the default order shown. I have switched them, so that the HDD is no 1. I haven't tried the default order now that the system is running OK. If it ain't broke don't fix it?)

Then comes in the view panel:

First Boot device [Floppy] (line 2)
Second Boot Device [CDROM] (3)
Third Boot Device [Hard Disk] (4)
P/w check [Setup] (5)
CPU HyperThreading [enabled] (6)


Highlighting each line in turn and hitting Enter brings up the standard sub-menu allowing choice of HDD, ZIP, LS120, USB-FDD
etc...for each device

All the manual says re Hard Disc Boot Priority is

" >>Press Enter Select Hard Disc Boot Priority"

nothing more.

I hope that clarifies this aspect of this particular BIOS! I think I've been a bit unclear in describing the BIOS menu structure. I must say it's not the only ambiguous or unclear item in the GA-81PE1000PRO manual, which is very detailed and particular for most procedures, but suddenly jumps to the next stage and assumes some technical knowledge in the meantime. Glad to say it's all working, and thanks again to you and the others on this thread.