another boot fail

[doktor1360]

Thanks, man.

I think I will just take the HDD out, rescue some files and keep the (possibly broken) drive.
You're right: that's probably a good time for putting a CF in the CPU instead of a new IDE HDD.
I believe there is a how-to-do-guide in the FAQ. Should I just follow that, download the 3.0 OS and see if that works?

Greetz from Berlin, Germany

nick

Hey Nick...

Here's my bootable CF assembly:


Here it's installed into the CPU (without IDE cable attached):


The BOM for parts:
Drive Tray, Orico Aluminum - these are from Taiwan, but I got mine from NewEgg (currently out of stock):
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORICO-AC325-1S-2-5-HDD-SSD-Hard-Drive-Rack-mount-desktop-aluminum-alloy-/261152608235?pt=US_Drive_Enclosures_Docks&hash=item3ccde88feb

CF to IDE Adapter - StarTech... it just works:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-STARTECH-COM-IDE2CF-40-44-PIN-IDE-TO-CF-SSD-ADAPTER-/181115211546?pt=US_Drive_Cables_dapters&hash=item2a2b4ecf1a

Dual Floppy Drive Power Cable - dirt cheap, and just works; PERFECT for this particular application:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/170400790495?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649

A CF Type I Card, 4GB - anything less than 4GB won't have enuff space, more than 4GB is a waste, because the installed image is ~ 2.1GB in size (OS 5.1). I also used insulated standoffs purchased from RadioShack to mount the adapter to the tray. EASY upgrade, drops right in like a hard drive, less than $50 in parts and it's FASTER than a fucking Scalded Dog. It you can handle a screw driver and have basic mechanical skills, this is a Slam Dunk - should take less than 30 minutes from Square One to Boot Up...

Apologies for the size of the images uploaded...

Again, you knew it was coming:
[Standard Mgmt Disclaimer] - "Your actual mileage may vary..."

Peace

[nicktight]

Wow. Thanks a lot for your help. man!

Oh... by the way:
As I can access all data on the hdd on my PC at home, is it worth trying to copy all the OS files to a new hdd or CF card for not having to install 5.1 freshly?

[nicktight]

Ok, I'm starting to lose hope...

Spent 4 hours in the studio, trying to reinstall 5.1 on a new drive.

I found an old (working) Maxtor DiamondMax 8 Plus (80GB) drive, which should perfectly do the job.
I took the old HDD out of the CPU and installed the "new" one. Jumpers set to Master and CapLimit, so the drive could be recognized by the CPUs BIOS (which it did).
I then booted from an old DOS 6.22 bootdisk and used fdisk to erase all partitions on the drive. I now had a "raw" disk without any partitions, logical drives, etc...
After a reboot I tried "fdisk c:" as described in the "10 golden rules of replacing the HDD". That caused fdisk to display an error message ("unknown parameter 'c:' "). That made sense to me as there was obviously no partition called "c:".
www.computerhope.com doesn't mention the parameter "c:" as well, by the way...

So I deceided to install OS 5.1 on the "raw" disk. Installation went smooth without error messages or so. As my first disk contained the "format:on" line, the drive was formatted during the installation (took about 10 sec).
However - IT DID NOT BOOT!

The only difference from my old drive is that it now says:

Searching for boot record on IDE-0...ok
Copyright MDI 2002 blablabla... (I don't remember that full line)
file not found
BOOT FAIL

What am I doing wrong?

I installed the old, untouched, original Mackie drive on my pc to check out it's partition table. Windows showed me two partitions having 2GB size (FAT - not FAT32!!). The primary partition has the OS and all the files on it, the other one contains two logical drives, if I remember right - both being empty.

Really strange. ANY help? What should I try? Or should I face the possible fact that my IDE controller is broken or something?

thanks so much for your help!

nick

[doktor1360]

Ok, I'm starting to lose hope...

Spent 4 hours in the studio, trying to reinstall 5.1 on a new drive.

I found an old (working) Maxtor DiamondMax 8 Plus (80GB) drive, which should perfectly do the job.
I took the old HDD out of the CPU and installed the "new" one. Jumpers set to Master and CapLimit, so the drive could be recognized by the CPUs BIOS (which it did).
I then booted from an old DOS 6.22 bootdisk and used fdisk to erase all partitions on the drive. I now had a "raw" disk without any partitions, logical drives, etc...
After a reboot I tried "fdisk c:" as described in the "10 golden rules of replacing the HDD". That caused fdisk to display an error message ("unknown parameter 'c:' "). That made sense to me as there was obviously no partition called "c:".
http://www.computerhope.com doesn't mention the parameter "c:" as well, by the way...

So I deceided to install OS 5.1 on the "raw" disk. Installation went smooth without error messages or so. As my first disk contained the "format:on" line, the drive was formatted during the installation (took about 10 sec).
However - IT DID NOT BOOT!

The only difference from my old drive is that it now says:

Searching for boot record on IDE-0...ok
Copyright MDI 2002 blablabla... (I don't remember that full line)
file not found
BOOT FAIL

What am I doing wrong?

I installed the old, untouched, original Mackie drive on my pc to check out it's partition table. Windows showed me two partitions having 2GB size (FAT - not FAT32!!). The primary partition has the OS and all the files on it, the other one contains two logical drives, if I remember right - both being empty.

Really strange. ANY help? What should I try? Or should I face the possible fact that my IDE controller is broken or something?

thanks so much for your help!

nick

Hey Nick...

At this point, the encouraging point is I'd seriously doubt the on-board IDE Controller is balky, or you'd never be able to get the Installer to work. Spidey Sense is tingling here, and has me thinking it's in the way the disk is being prepped; the drive capacity does sorta concern me tho. I'd redouble back, FDISK and remove ALL partitions (unallocated), reboot w/ Disk #1 of the OS Installer (with the format:on line in the tools.ini file) and see what happens. I personally don't think you're all that far from success - this shit drove me Nutz as I was experimenting with the install disks (about 2 months ago). Pissed me dafuq off Good n Proper but persistence pays dividends...

Give this a whirl, and let me know what happens... we'll work from there...

Peace

[Old School]

I agree with Dok, whenever I tried to use Fdisk in the past to prep a drive, and I tried to delete a logical drive it would say that there is no drive to delete when I KNEW that there was a drive left to delete. Use a stronger program, such as Disk Genius, to delete ALL partitions from your drive (make sure you select the correct drive letter). I believe once you have a truly raw disk, your problems will go away.

Have a Blessed Day,
Mike W.

[nicktight]

Ok, thanks again for your help, guys!

So you both are suggesting I should give it just another try, wipe all the partitions off the (cap-limited) hdd and re-install. I'm just asking because the "10 golden rules of HDD replacement" state that you have to feed the d8b with a partitioned and formatted drive!

Oh, and by the way: There's no way you can install the OS without the console hooked to the CPU, right? Because all the installation messages appear in the consoles LCD, right?

[anyhorizon]

This and the two following posts should get you in the ballpark.

Cheers,

Peter

[doktor1360]

Oh, and by the way: There's no way you can install the OS without the console hooked to the CPU, right? Because all the installation messages appear in the consoles LCD, right?

Yup... you got it... gets transferred to console control when the installation process ensues..

Post back here with how you're making out on all this...

Peace

[nicktight]

Ok...

I know have tried about a dozen time to install OS 5.1 and I'm giving up.
I tried every possible configuration, e.g. raw hdd, preformatted hdd (I actually tried two different disks!), triple checked the BIOS before and after installation and so on...
Every attempt to install went perfectly smooth, until booting the beast for the first time.
I always got the same "File not found BOOT FAIL" message.
I even hooked the HDD (actually the old one, which I thought it was broken) to my computer at home and actually saw it booting from the HDD - which ment all three HDDs I had were fine!

I then went for a OS 3.0 insatllation attempt and IT WORKED.
Installation took five minutes and now I'm back on 3.0...

What the hell is happening??

Oh - one more thing: When I installed OS 3.0 I forgot to put the "format:on" in the config file, so I simply took one of the not booting HDDs that had 5.1 on it and installed 3.0 without formatting!! Worked fine. Conole boots.

That is actually the first time I see v3.0 in action.

I'm quite happy. But getting back to 5.1 would be even better. Any ideas?

Thanks so much for your help guys! You are awesome!

nick

[doktor1360]

Ok...

I know have tried about a dozen time to install OS 5.1 and I'm giving up.
I tried every possible configuration, e.g. raw hdd, preformatted hdd (I actually tried two different disks!), triple checked the BIOS before and after installation and so on...
Every attempt to install went perfectly smooth, until booting the beast for the first time.
I always got the same "File not found BOOT FAIL" message.
I even hooked the HDD (actually the old one, which I thought it was broken) to my computer at home and actually saw it booting from the HDD - which ment all three HDDs I had were fine!

I then went for a OS 3.0 insatllation attempt and IT WORKED.
Installation took five minutes and now I'm back on 3.0...

What the hell is happening??

Oh - one more thing: When I installed OS 3.0 I forgot to put the "format:on" in the config file, so I simply took one of the not booting HDDs that had 5.1 on it and installed 3.0 without formatting!! Worked fine. Conole boots.

That is actually the first time I see v3.0 in action.

I'm quite happy. But getting back to 5.1 would be even better. Any ideas?

Thanks so much for your help guys! You are awesome!

nick

Hey Nick...

Have you checked the 'boot flag' information on the install partition?!? If it's not set to be bootable, you're gonna get that 'file not found' bullshit you seem to be seeing being barked back at ya. Load it up on another machine, and with some sort of partition editor or Windoze Disk Manager (if you're actually using Windoze) and check the extended information for that drive - it should be the partition with the MBR on it. It's only a 1-byte value, but it's HUGELY important in terms of operability... if you got OS 3 to install & boot, there's no reason OS 5.1 shouldn't follow suit...

Lemme know how you're doing with this, kinda working 'blind' with ya here, without physically being in your loci...

As always, you knew it was coming:
[Standard Mgmt Disclaimer] - "Your actual mileage may vary..."