Invalid System Disk problem

[McGuireI]

I have this problem, I just bought a Abit BX6 rev 2 M/B, installed it and hooked up everything and turned on the computer, it has WIN98, well, when it goes into this:
"Verify DMI Pool Data.........."
I get this:
"Invalid System Disk
Replace the disk & then press any key"
It does not have a disk in the disk drive or anywhere, the 3.5 disk drive has its light turned on constantly, it never goes off, so I changed the Disk drive with another one that I know works from another computer, same problem.
Do I have a bad IDE Connector on the motherboard? Thanks.

[zskillz]

I just got a new BP6, and I'm having the exact same problem, and I also tried a different floppy... what type of hdd are you putting in there? is it new as well, cause you need to set format it and set an active partition as well.

just out of question... during bootup, after the RAMcheck, I get a message saying something like "your CPU is not right" (that is way off, but I can't remember what it says right now, sorry).. then am given the choice to either pres DEL for setup or to press F1 to continue loading... if I choose to continue loading, it is then that I get the exact same message that you are getting...
Z

[fishboy]

try running sys c: from a win98 bootup disk. make sure the fat exists on the drive. If not you will need to create it and format.

[zskillz]

FISHBOY:...
I know that this is the problem, but I can't figure out how to format the drive, cause the boot disk won't even work with a drive that hasn't been formatted, and I don't know how to get around it. Even when I attach the drive as a slave to my other system, it's just totally ignored for some reason... sheesh. Can u help with this problem.. the hdd is totally bare!
thx
Z

[This message has been edited by zskillz (edited 08-06-99).]

[fishboy]

What is the error you get when you type from a:\format c: ? Can you run fdisk from the floppy? Option 4 will give you the partition info. You may have to delete and re-create the partition. Does the BIOS pick up the drive as Master..or at all?

[McGuireI]

I put a Win98 boot disk in A: but it does not read it, I changed to another disk drive that I know works and the same problem, my CMOS read & identified my Hard drive, I was told that it might be a damaged hard drive, I am going to check later this day, I have a second hard drive that I know works, it is from my main computer.

[philipg]

Have you tried reversing the floppy cable.

The on light continuously means the cable is backwards.

As far as the invalid system disk error, it may be related or your bios doesn't support a large capacity drive and the drive requirs Ez-bios/ez-drive.

[zskillz]

fishboy: The BIOS doesn't pick up the drive at all, so I can't do the fdisk stuff on it. I know how to do most of the stuff once the comp actually recognizes the hdd, but I can't get it to recognize it, so I'm screwed as of yet.

philipg: When you say reverse it, what exactly do you mean? The cable will only fit in one way. I'm probabaly missing something obvious here b/c my light is always on.

thx all
-Z

[fishboy]

if the BIOS does not see the HD, you could have a bad drive. I agree with philipg that it could be that the drive is to big for the mb to see it. What size is the drive again? You could see if there is an update for the BIOS and you could save it to a floppy and try to update it from there. However since you cant access the drive at all I am not sure how effective that will be. Try to enter the heads\cylinders manually and definately try to put in another drive (8gb or smaller should be fine in any modern board) That way you can rule out the controller on the board.

[fishboy]

Also, when philipg said reverse the cable, thats because if you have the cable for the floppy upsidedown, the light will stay on. Is the white strip facing up or down? I believe it should be up. Also the red strip on the cable generally faces toward the power supply.

[zskillz]

the hdd is 14.4 gigs...
and I'm trying to run it on the new abit BP6 mobo.

I'll try and just move my current hdd from my working system and see if it all boots up, but I'm hesitant to do that in case I possibly f*ck it up.

Something else that I tried (not for long, I was to tired at 2am) was putting the new drive into my old system as a slave. I attached everything, but when I ran fdisk, I couldn't even detect the new drive. This could be because my working comp is win95b with fat16, but I don't have a clue what the hell is wrong with this thing...

-Z

[fishboy]

I dont know much about that board but you might want to contact the company to see if the BIOS can even see a drive that big. I am curious to know how it turns out when you put a smaller drive in. Also you must be running FAT32 if you want windows to see that drive in its full capacity!

[Mike H.]

Check if the jumpers for Single/Slave/Master is set correctly

Mike H.

[zskillz]

I'll send an email to abit after this post to find out if the board can support that size drive, but I would assume that it can.

I did check the jumpers on the drive several times last night, but who knows.. I was really tired (probably not the best time to do this stuff) so I may have messed up.

fishboy: r u saying that my working comp has to hav fat32 in order to run the new hdd at it's full capacity?

and this is getting a bit off the topic, but how hard is it to change my current sys from fat16 to 32?.. do i have to reformat and all?
thx guys,
-Z

[fishboy]

Fat 32 is the type of partition table on your HD, not on the computer. You have three ways of converting a drive from fat 16 to fat 32.
1.Fdisk it (Create new primary dos partition)using a boot disk from win95OSR2 or Win98 and answer yes when it asks you if you want to enable large partitions.You will loose all data and need to format.
2.You can download a fat32 converter (you must have Win95b or higher to do this and Win 98 has the feature built in)

3. You can use something like Partition Magic which will convert the drive without destroying any data.

Actually that HD should have come with a disk configuration utility that will do this for you as well. Its eithierEZdrive\Maxblast\etc.

[DSEG]

If you have a Hard drive that was previously on a different motherboard and when putting it in to a new one sometime all you have to do is run FDISK and make the partition ACTIVE for some reason it loses this attribute. If that doesnt work from a win95 or 98 startup disk type a:\sys c: if that doesnt work try fdisk /mbr
that usually works but for 9 times out of 10 when you get "Invalid System Disk " it just means that your computer cant see a startable drive

IF your Floopy drive light is constantly on you have the floppy cable in the wrong way round. The floppy light should only come on when it is accessing the disk.

If you get "Unworkable cpu " its just cos you have the clock speed wrong or that your trying to overclock it in which case disable the cpu error control in the soft menu.

I have a BP6 dual motherboard and it see my IBM 10.1 gb 7200rpm drive no problem. You will need to do some fault diagnosis but first before anything else calm down, get some rest and do things methodically. Everyone makes mistakes when they are tired.

Now take the hard drive cable out of the motherboard.... you must get your floppy drive working first. connect the floppy cable to the floppy drive with the twisted end towards the drive and plug it in with the red stripe away from you. Then connect it to the motherboard. When you switch on the floppy light should NOT stay on all the time. That DEFINATELY means you either have the cable pluged in to the floppy or the m/b the wrong way round. If the light does not stay on go in to the bios and set the first boot device as a: or floppy. Save on exit and then reboot the computer with a win95b or win98 disk and you should get to and A:\ prompt.

Once you get that at least you know your floppy drive works. next check the jumpuers on the Hard drive and make sure it is set to MASTER and be careful you dont choose slave or especially CABLE Select cos its easy to get it wrong if your looking at the jumper diagrams and reading it the opposite way. Make sure that the IDE cable HAS already been test and known to be working on another machine.plug in your power and ide and then switch on.

Hit del and go in to your bios. Set all the drive to AUTO. Save on exit and reboot. You should see the Hard drive detect as it boots up. with the floppy left in you should have gone to and A:\ prompt. Change to drive c by typing C: and if you get an invalid system disk go back to an A:\ prompt and type in FDISK. If your startup disk is win95B or win98 you will see a paragraph of text asking you if you wish to enable LARGE DISK SUPPORT (That means do you want it to be FAT32) If your not gonna have NT on you can say yes to ENABLE LARGE DISK SUPPORT (FAT32) you will be presented with some option. At the top will say the FIXED DISK number 1 which is your C: drive. First hit number 2 and look to see if there is a capitol A next to the drive to tell you this drive is ACTIVE which means it has a startable partition. If there are not partitions at all you will need to create a primary dos partition. either way once you have done that you can hit escape and reboot you pc. If you previously had an operating system on it and you havent already damaged it with playing around you should be able to boot from the hard drive if you dont and had to create a primary dos partition you will have to boot from your floppy to an A:\prompt and then type FORMAT C: /s which is format and copy the system files. once that is done you will be able to boot from the C: drive.

If you have a FULL win98 cd and i mean full retail one you may boot from the cd drive but you MUST have your drives set to AUTO in the bios (well for the cdrom anyways) and first bootable device must be CDROM. Win98 will boot from the cd and you will be asked if you would like to boot from CDROM or HARD DISk. your choice but either way you should get the choice to load your cd drom drives.

Hope i that was helpful.... just dont forget to eliminate the DONT KNOW factor before hand by just putting in the basic hardware needed to boot up and DONT forget to check that your cables are already working correctly


[This message has been edited by DSEG (edited 08-08-99).]

[DSEG]

One other thing i have noticed.... You cant rely on just one startup disk. i have had it were it wont boot from floppy and just gives me the "invalid system disk" even if it does work on another computer ... get someone to create you another startup disk from a different floppy.

[zskillz]

THANKS SO MUCH!...
All of that information was very helpful, but it turns out that the most simple part was my mistake. The floppy cable was reversed. In my own defense though... Sony (the brand of floppy drive that I baught) manufactured the drives WRONG!!... I couldn't believe it. The cable would only fit in one way because of the black IDE socket. Unfortunately Sony installed the black socket thing upside down. Sheesh. In the end, I just ended up breaking half of the black think off, and now the drive works fine... hehe.. pretty ghetto, but it works!!
thx
-Z

[nilknarf]

The next time someone tells you to reverse a cable, particuarly a floppy cable, try reversing it on the drive first. If that doesn't work, change it back and reverse it on the mainboard or drive controller. I've found that either end of a floppy cable can be a problem when reversed.

[McGuireI]

Thanks for all your help guys, I fixed the problem by doing the following:
Taking the computer apart and rebuild it, it worked, the only change was I installed a new 3.5" disk drive, everything is working properly.