# [SOLVED] "PXE-E61 Media Test Failure, Check Cable" Error Message



## Johnnie2x

Please forgive my computer ignorance, i'm on my last leg here. I have a laptop (Compaq Armada M700) Microsoft XP Professional is the OS and it just wont boot AT ALL.. 

When I start I get the COMPAQ screen and it looks as if it's going to boot, but then I get this: 

PXE-E61: Media Test Failure, Check Cable 

I have tried Boot Disk, Restore Disk, the system just doesn't seem to want to read from the disk drive either... When I do that it gives me the "Non-System disk or disk error replace and strike any key when ready" message... 

After I do that, it just flashes the laptop screen repeatedly and pops back up the SAME MESSAGE 

Keep in mind, there are no disk installed at this time, and the only thing connected to the laptop is the AC Power Cord... 

What can I do to get it to boot?? 

I'll even WIPE the HardDrive and reload the XP Software if need be, I just need to get around this "PXE-E61: Media Test Failure, Check Cable" message.. 

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated..


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## toto

See if this helps:

Deskpro/workstation - Error: PXE 61 Test Media failure 
Last Updated: 2002-06-17 Solution-id: 260.0.10233996.3024914 
Environment: 
Deskpro 
Workstation AP 
Evo Notebook 
Problem Description: 
Error: PXE 61 Test Media failure 
Error at boot 
Solution: 
Put 'Hard Drive C:' before 'Network' in the boot order
(If the hard drive does not appear in the boot order, that's why the PXE network boot agents start)

Note : Check that the hard drive is seen in the BIOS setup 
Cause: 
PXE (pronounce Pixie) is an agent used to boot on to the network
It's using the DHCP protocol to localise a server where the image of the OS is located
In order to PXE boot press F12 at startup or configure the boot order in BIOS to display 'Network' before 'Hard Drive C:'
If, for any reason, the hard drive is not seen the computer will attempt to boot on the network controller.
That is caused by the hard drive is missing, unplugged or failed

http://www.compaq.com/support/askkcs/abg/260_0_10233996_3024914.html


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## Johnnie2x

Thank Toto, but that was one of my FIRST tries this AM... I was on Compaq's site at about 9AM today and I still have NOT found a solution...

*pulling hair our*

I can't even get to DOS mode to wipe out the entire hard drive and start from scratch..

It just keeps giving me the PXE-E61 message... Now I see why IT technicians make so much money, the problems they encounter are worth every penny.

Still taking advice on how to just CLEAN the entire hard drive and start over...

A new Hard Disk is my last option i'm thinking... That's a $239 waste... *sigh*


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## brianF

Is the hard drive a removable, if so, remove it and reinsert it.
Also check in the bios for the ide configuration screen, is the hard drive being detected and showing the proper size.


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## Johnnie2x

Brian, i've taken the hard drive out and reinserted it, it's a Compaq Armada M700, so I had to unscrew a small screw, flip the latch up and pull it out... I put it back in and secured it...

I have no idea what the other stuff you're speaking of is, i'm a Paralegal, so this may be just a tad out of my spectrum of understanding...

What's a BIOS and IDE??

I press F10 when it seems to start up, it gives me a blue screen in the middle of a dark background and asks for a 
SETUP PASSWORD, after that it takes me a to "Computer Setup" screen, there I can adjust Boot Order, get System Information and some other options (Serial #, Language, Passwords)....

I am completely lost....

*don't laugh at me, i'm trying*


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## brianF

should be a menu option in there for ide or standard settings. This is where the hard drive would be configured, hopefully it says autodetect, if not, it will need to be manually detected until it shows the hard drive's correct size. Look around on the other pages, has to be there.


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## Johnnie2x

Brian, an overview of what I see here.

Setup Password (to get in)

Computer Setup 1.00 (the program)

3 Menu Option (followed by sub-menus)

FILE - System Info - Product Name - Compaq Armada
Notebook Model- M700
Processor Type - Intel Pentium III
" " Speed - 450 MHz
" " Stepping - 1
Cache Size - 32/256KB
Memory Size - 128MB
Rom Date - 11/27/1999
Rom Family - 686H
Serial #s

Save To Floppy
Restore from Floppy

Restore Defaults
Ingnore Changes and exit
Save Changes and exit

SECURITY - Setup Passsword

Power On Password

Device Security - Serial Port - Enable
Infrared Port - Enable
Parallel Port - Enable
Floppy Drives - Enable

CD Rom Boot - Enable
Floppy Boot - Enable
Floppy Write - Enable

System ID's

ADVANCED - Language

Boot Option - Quick Boot - Enable
Multi Boot - Enable

Boot Order
MultiBay - Second
Hard Drive - First
Ethernet - Third


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## Jedi_Master

If I may offer my humble 2 pennies here...

Can you power the laptop down, hold down the FN or FTN key down, power up the laptop, while holding down the Ftn or FN key start tapping the F11 key, you should get a box asking you to save settings, make sure that OK is highlighted, then press enter...

I've worked on several of the Armada series ( don't remember working on a m700 though, so it may not work, but wouldn't hurt to try ) laptops and what this does ( per a Comapq tech I talked to ) is reset the BIOS to factory defaults...


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## Johnnie2x

Jedi, you've gotten me the furthest so far, but still no luck... 

I powered down, then powered back up holding the "Fn" key, then tapped F11 until it beeped...

I got the basic red "COMPAQ" screen (with "F12=Network Service Boot" at the lower right corner of the screen) 

then, It read:

"Initializing Intel Boot Agent Version 2.6 (build 004)"

then it take me back to another screen that says..

"Remove disks or other media. Press any key to restart"

There are no disks inserted, nothing but a power cord hooked to the laptop, and even if i press any key, it just flashes the laptop screen and pops right back up....

I'm about to take it out front and "Rock Bottom" it a few times.... The frustration is setting in.. How do you guys do it??


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## Johnnie2x

Hey, maybe this has something to do with it also....

Yesterday, I tried (got the info OFFLINE) to group the partitions.. meaning my laptop was broken down into 2 drives C:/ an D:/.... I wiped D:/ and wanted to move all the space C:/ to make one complete drive... maybe I broke it myself... *sigh*

I used the Management Software in Control Panel Settings to do it...

worked FINE til I restarted...


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## Jedi_Master

Hmmm...looks like it is not seeing the HD...

Will it boot to a floppy now ?


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## Johnnie2x

It worked FINE on the initial ReStart, I used it for a few hours after that, and then shut it down...

This morning when I tried to start it up to finish some work... NOTHING...

won't even let me start from the floppy to get to DOS mode or anything... just keeps giving me the error message, and telling me to "Remove disk or other media"...


You'd think it'd recognize that there is NOTHING in there...

okay, simple solution, how to I kill it?? I mean just delete everything, and i'll just reload XP tomorrow...

I can't start from the Floppy, so i'm guessing when I change out the drives, it's going to NOT let me start from the CD-ROM either to load the XP again....

Any quick ways to wipe out the system.. or is taking out the hard drive and just putting in a new one, the only way??

*I can easily borrow a hard drive from my office, they use the same notebooks there... got this one thru a discount program at work... can't I just take one of their hard drives.. me and the IT guy are pretty cool*


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## Johnnie2x

No, won't boot from Floppy either, even when there's a disk in the drive at Start-Up, it gives me the red COMPAQ screen then acts as if it's going to boot with the INTEL screen, then gives me the error message and pretty much says "take the disk out and press any key"... when I do that, it just flashes the screen and says it again...

If I take the hard drive out and change it off, stick a new one in, I wont have this same issue... 

*on the phone with IT guy now, he may have a spare hard drive for the M700 in the office*


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## Johnnie2x

Im convinced, my IT guy's an idiot also..

He says he sends them back to Compaq when he can't fix something, and just gives the user a loaner...

How sick is that??


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## Jedi_Master

HMMM...odd...it still should've booted from the floppy...

Go into the BIOS and make the Multibay the first boot device...

Can you make another floppy boot disk and see if it will boot from it ?

Or...

Remove the floppy drive, and reinsert it, and see if it will boot from the floppy...


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## Johnnie2x

Okay, I FINALLY got it to go to DOS mode...

Can someone help me restore my laptop now....

I've made the 6 BOOT DISK set, but can't figure out how to run the dam things...

I'm helpless.. Pleae help!


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## ~Candy~

Are you at a c: prompt now? Or at an a: prompt?


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## Jedi_Master

Well...

I'm assuming that it is booting from the floppy now, can you insert the CD-ROM in the Multibay, and put the XP CD in the CD-ROM and see if it will install from there ?


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## Johnnie2x

Okay, this sucks, NO LUCK yet, and it's a new day... 24 hours later and STILL no luck...

I was able to FDISK both partitions, deleted EVERYTHING and figured I could start fresh, so I created a new Partition, C:, formatted the C: drive, gave it a label, and restarted....

I inserted the XP CD and tried to let it boot itself... 

NOW IT TELLS ME:

"Invalid System Disk
Replace the disk, and the press any key"

what to do, what to do?


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## ~Candy~

Do you have a floppy disk in the floppy drive?

Is your boot order in your bios set to boot to the cdrom first?


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## Jedi_Master

Hmmm...

With the XP CD in the CD-ROM ( assuming that the Multibay is the first boot device ) boot the laptop, and watch real close and see if you get a message at the bottom of the screen saying "*Press any key to boot from CD..* " if you do, tap the space bar a couple of times...

If you don't see it, reboot the laptop, when the Compaq splash screen goes away, start tapping the space bar, and see if it will boot from CD, I've seen on occasion that the message is out of the viewable area of the screen, if that doesn't work, we'll have to take more drastic measures to get the OS on there...


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## Johnnie2x

Jedi Master, i've been away for a few days, but trying what you said worked, sorta....

NOW I have another issue...

It starts loading the XP CD, and acts as if it's going to be okay, THEN I get an error message...

"File atapi.sys caused an unexpected error (5056) at line 3514 in d:\xpclient\base\boot\setup\setup.c."

Press Any Key To Continue


What's that?? I'm lost... Please HELP!

I need to have this laptop up and running by Tuesday b4 I leave for St. Thomas, USVI.....


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## Jedi_Master

Just a few things to try...

Can you clean the XP CD ? it may have some smudges on it.

And...

Try removing the CD-ROM from the Multi Bay and reinserting it, and see if it helps...


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## Johnnie2x

Jedi, I done that... Now it says... 

"atapi.sys is corrupt"

What is 'atapi.sys', and what corrupts it???


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## Jedi_Master

Hmmm...

Atapi.sys is what drives the CD-ROM, and as far as to what corrupts is, it all depends on which stage of the install you are at...

Are you at the very begining of the install, or after the file copy and restart ?


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## Johnnie2x

It starts the beginning of the intall then gives me that 'atapi.sys' corrupt file...

but it does START to install....

I also tried a Windows2000 disk that loaded just fine, but it's not mine, so I don't have the Authentication Codes...

I only loaded that to see if it would work... works JUST FINE, just no codes, so I Had to cancel it out, and fdisk from DOS again, so it wouldn't be there... 

tried to load the XP and it acts ugly.... 'atapi.sys' again... crazy huh?


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## Jedi_Master

Ok...I think I see what is wrong...

Can you inspect the XP CD for any scratches or smudges, ( there are some CD repair kits on the market, or you can go to Microsoft and get a new CD, but I don't think it will be delivered by Tuesday ) because it sounds like you have a bad CD, since the W2K CD loaded...


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## Johnnie2x

Okay, you can mark this one SOLVED also...

I finally got the XP to load....

I finally was able to get hold of a Windows98 CD and load that one first, which installed all the necessary drivers for my laptop, then after that was fully loaded, I did the XP Install from Win98... works like a charm now....

Never thought drivers would hold me back, but someone explained to me that a CLEAN hard drive lacks alot of things, and drivers are crucial.. I didn't quite understand him, but oh well, loaded the Win98, did XP Install over that and it works fine...

Thanks for all your help guys!!


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## cmpcmp

Your suggestion from 4 years ago helped me get a Gateway going.

Holding down the fn button ( on the gateway) and tapping the F11 key
brought up the Windows boot menu.

Thanks again...
cmpcmp


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## imbusel

Johnnie2x said:


> Okay, you can mark this one SOLVED also...
> 
> I finally got the XP to load....
> 
> I finally was able to get hold of a Windows98 CD and load that one first, which installed all the necessary drivers for my laptop, then after that was fully loaded, I did the XP Install from Win98... works like a charm now....
> 
> Never thought drivers would hold me back, but someone explained to me that a CLEAN hard drive lacks alot of things, and drivers are crucial.. I didn't quite understand him, but oh well, loaded the Win98, did XP Install over that and it works fine...
> 
> Thanks for all your help guys!!


So is the blameless Armada behaving itself still?


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## tedeum

Hello.

I have a HP PAVILION ZX5100 and i have buy a new HD.
I change the HD and when i turn on my laptop it appears this mesage:

pxe-e61:media test failure check cable

I have read this post, and i have take off the HD and put it on again, and the problem still persistes.

In the BIOS i haven't found any boot form the network option.

The HD is brand new, i want to format it and install Windows, can anyone help me??

I've tried everthing (i think) and i cant solved the problem.......


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