# [SOLVED] Floppy Drive Error: Unable to write to disk in drive A



## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I receive the following error whenever writing multiple or large files to my floppy disk:
Disk Write Error
Unable to write to disk in drive A:
Data or files may be lost

It occurs about every 5 seconds when writing files. Some files, typically small ones, are written with no problems. 
I've replaced the floppy drive with a new one and the problem remains.
I swapped in a known working floppy and cable from another working PC and experienced the same problem.

Please suggest a solution.


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## Guest (Sep 18, 2002)

Hmm. Well, this is my only suggestion (my brain is in pain right now because it cannot comprehend this  ) -- 

1. What about your Hard Drive?, it could be messed up. Do you only copy from you HD or does this problem also happen when copying from a CD-ROM? 

2. Try copying a small enough file so that it will fit on your floppy from a CD-ROM, and see what happens. Since you have replaced the floppy drive, the floppy disk, AND the cable, I guess it isn't the floppy, it must be something else. 

3. And, also this -- when did you last defrag and how many programs do you have running when you copy the files? It could be a performance problem. 

4. When did this start happening? Did you add/replace hardware right before this happened? Did you install any new software?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I had this problem when I bought the PC. A replacement floppy drive fixed it then. This round of problems started about 6 months ago. At the time, I considered recently installed hardware and software but there was none. I replaced the floppy in July hoping a new drive would fix it. It did not. 

Not only did a working floppy drive and cable from another PC not work in my PC, but my floppy drive and cable did work in the other PC. 

I tried copying files from a CD as you suggested. I had the same problem. I tried again to copy about a dozen files from the hard drive and had the problem. However, most of the files "appeared" to be copied and I noticed that the counter on the copying files screen seemed to indicate 5 seconds had expired every time after I clicked off the blue write error screen.

Device Manager says the drive is ok, and the floppy disks I'm using are new.


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## Guest (Sep 19, 2002)

Right. Ok, well, what kind of computer do you have? I mean everything -- brand, processor, mobo (motherboard). ram, etc. You don't have an Emachine by any chance, do you? Because if you do, you're screwed!

And like I asked in my last message, when did you last defrag and how many programs do you have running when you're copying the files?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I defragged two weeks ago and do so monthly. 
Typically, the only thing I have running is Norton AntiVirus, Windows Explorer and whatever normally starts up with Windows 98 SE (loadqm and systray).

As for my computer, its a MICRON Pentium 1 with 150 Mhz processor. Other details include:

Microsoft Windows 98 4.10.2222 A 
Upgrade using CD /SrcDir=D:\WIN98 /IQ /U:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
IE 5 6.0.2800.1106
Uptime: 0:00:26:45
Normal mode


GenuineIntel Pentium(r) Processor 
48MB RAM
66% system resources free
Windows-managed swap file on drive C (13903MB free)
Available space on drive C: 13903MB of 19553MB (FAT32)
Available space on drive D: 1280MB of 1546MB (FAT32)

Phoenix BIOS M54Hi
I haven't been able to find the motherboard manufacturer yet, but I am still looking.


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2002)

It's alright, don't waste your time finding out stuff that isn't necessary, I got the basic idea. I don't want to waste your time unless I know that it's necessary. Now, the only thing that bothers me are the system resources -- 66% free. That isn't very low, but still low enough. Now, you know about msconfig? Click start, run, type in msconfig, enter, click on startup. Then attach the contents. And, show your IRQs, I'm going to need AcaCandy's help on them, she is the expert on IRQs! Or someone else's help, I don't know much about IRQs.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

I don't think it's an IRQ issue here.

What happens if you try to copy files in safe mode?


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## Guest (Sep 22, 2002)

Yea, and also check Device Manager for any exclamation marks or any other error marks (AcaCandy told me to do that, so the credit goes to her). Yea, to get to Safe Mode, restart, and start pressing F8 shortly after the computer turns back on. Then, from the options, pick Safe Mode.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

The following is from MICRSOFT SYSTEM INFORMATION


IRQs:

0	System timer
1	Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
2	Programmable interrupt controller
3	Communications Port (COM2)
4	Communications Port (COM1)
5	Creative Sound Blaster 16 or AWE-32
6	Standard Floppy Disk Controller
7	Printer Port (LPT1)
8	System CMOS/real time clock
9	CMD USB Open Host Controller
9	IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
10	Future Domain TMC-1650/1660/1670/1680 SCSI Host Adapter
11	S3 Trio64V+ PCI (765)
11	IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
12	PS/2 Compatible Mouse Port
13	Numeric data processor
14	Primary Ultra ATA controller
14	Intel 82371FB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
15	SupraMax 56i Voice PCI
15	SUP2750 PCI Modem Enumerator
15	IRQ Holder for PCI Steering




Future Domain TMC-1650/1660/1670/1680 SCSI Host Adapter
SCSIAdapter
Alloc resources: Logical Configuration 0
IRQ: 10 Mask: x0000
IO Range: Base=x0160 End=x016F Alias=x00, Decode=xFF
Driver: FD16_700.MPD 4/23/1999 10:22 PM Size: 10528 

Iomega Parallel Port Interface
SCSIAdapter
This Device Has a Problem: Code=10 (0xA)
This device is not present, not working properly, or does not have all the
drivers installed. See your hardware documentation.
Alloc resources: None
Driver: PPA3.MPD 5/26/1999 3:14 PM Size: 56832 

Standard Floppy Disk Controller
fdc
Alloc resources: Logical Configuration 0
IRQ: 6 Mask: x0000
DMA: 2 Mask: x0000
IO Range: Base=x03F0 End=x03F5 Alias=x04, Decode=x03
Base=x03F7 End=x03F7 Alias=x04, Decode=x03
Driver: HSFLOP.pdr 4/23/1999 10:22 PM Size: 25741 

GENERIC NEC FLOPPY DISK
DiskDrive
Alloc resources: None

Intel 82371FB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
hdc
Alloc resources: Logical Configuration 0
IRQ: 14 Mask: x4000
IO Range: Base=x01F0 End=x01F7 Min=x01F0 Max=x01F7 Alias=x04, Decode=x03
Base=x03F6 End=x03F6 Min=x03F6 Max=x03F6 Alias=x04, Decode=x03
Base=xFBF0 End=xFBFF Min=x0000 Max=xFFFF Alias=xFF, Decode=x00

Primary Ultra ATA controller
hdc
This Device Has a Problem: Code=10 (0xA)
This device is not present, not working properly, or does not have all the
drivers installed. See your hardware documentation.
Alloc resources: Logical Configuration 0
IRQ: 14 Mask: x4000
IO Range: Base=x01F0 End=x01F7 Min=x01F0 Max=x01F7 Alias=x04, Decode=x03
Base=x03F6 End=x03F6 Min=x03F6 Max=x03F6 Alias=x04, Decode=x03
Base=xFBF0 End=xFBF7 Alias=xFF, Decode=x00
Driver: ESDI_506.pdr 4/23/1999 10:22 PM Size: 24406 
intelata.mpd 

Secondary Ultra ATA controller
hdc
This Device Has a Problem: Code=29 (0x1D)
This device has been disabled in the hardware. In order to use this device,
you must re-enable the hardware. See your hardware documentation for details.
Alloc resources: Logical Configuration 0
Driver: ESDI_506.pdr 4/23/1999 10:22 PM Size: 24406 
intelata.mpd 

PLEXTOR CD-ROM PX-40TS 
CDROM
Alloc resources: None


The IOMEGA device problem listed above is from a zip drive someone recently (long after the problem began) loaned me to do a backup and is now disconnected. The ATA errors started 2 weeks back when I purchased (to do backups) and installed a CD R/W that I haven't been able to get to work either. 

These are the only devices showing problems in DEVICE MANAGER. Device Manager also indicates there are no problems with the floppy drive.

I haven't tried the safe mode copy yet, but will tomorrow


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Well...if I may offer my humble 2 pennies...

It appears that you do have a problem with the IDE drivers, as from this...



> Primary Ultra ATA controller hdc This Device Has a Problem: Code=10 (0xA) This device is not present, not working properly, or does not have all the drivers installed. See your hardware documentation.


And we will need the motherboard # or chipset, in order to find the drivers, or if you have the original install disks, you can install them from there...

Also, when you installed the CD-RW, is it slaved to the HD ( on the same ribbon cable ) or on a seperate channel, as per this, the secondary channel isn't enabled in the BIOS...



> Secondary Ultra ATA controller hdc This Device Has a Problem: Code=29 (0x1D) This device has been disabled in the hardware. In order to use this device, you must re-enable the hardware


Just my humble 2 pennies...


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Copying files to the floppy drive in SAFE MODE from the hard drive WORKED! 

I did it three times successfully using enough files of different types to fill the floppy disk each time. I assume this means there's a setting which need to be fixed for normal booting, but I don't know where to look or how to fix it.



As to the motherboard: According to Micron and using the serial number on the PC the motherboard is an:

Elan M541Hi ISA/PCI Motherboard

I believe there is an update out there which may fix my CD R/W problems. However, I believe I need the floppy drive working to do the update. CATCH 22


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Post the contents of the autoexec.bat and the config.sys files.....

Start button, run, then type sysedit and press ok....go to each tab and copy and paste the contents in your response.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

AUTOEXEC.BAT
@PATH C:\PROGRA~1\WIN98RK;%PATH%
@PATH C:\MSBOB;%PATH%
@ECHO OFF
PROMPT $p$g
@REM this next line created by 95check.exe to load cdrom drivers.
@call cdrom\loadcd.bat
SET QTJAVA="C:\Program Files\JavaSoft\JRE\1.3.1\lib\ext\QTJava.zip"
SET CLASSPATH=%QTJava%;"C:\Program Files\JavaSoft\JRE\1.3.1\lib\ext\QTJava.zip"

CONFIG.SYS
FILES=45
rem the next line(s) created by 95check.exe to load cdrom drivers.
device=cdrom\fdcd.sys /d:fdcd01
set cdrom=fdcd01
Files=100
DEVICEHIGH=C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\DRVSPACE.SYS /MOVE


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Let's try this........

Find those two files in windows explorer, right click on each one of them and rename them with .old extensions.

For example, rename autoexec.bat to
autoexec.old

and do the same thing for the config.sys file.....then restart the computer and test a copy to floppy........


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

These files appear in multiple directories (see below). Which one should I change? Also, what's the risk of making these changes?

C:\
C:\WINDOWS\COMMAND\EBD
C:\Program files\rescue disk
C:\Failsafe.drv
C:\WINEBD0.400\EBD


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

The one under c:

The risks normally are associated with the cdrom drivers not being loaded and any TSR programs.....windows 95 was more particular about those two files, but windows 98 isn't.

We can always rename them back if you run into problems...it's not as if we're going to delete them from the face of the earth


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

Just change the ones in the C:\ directory. The worst that will happen is that you wont' be able to read from your cdrom. But you can always change the names back later. This is just a test. Did you have Microsoft BOB installed? I've never seen anyone that had that. Are you still using it?


AcaCandy beat me in posting but I still would like to know about BOB.


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## kilowatt1 (Oct 27, 2001)

Yeah. What about BOB?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

It did not work, i.e. same copy floppy problem. 

....and Bob's long gone.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

And just to be sure, you rebooted the computer, correct?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Yes, I rebooted it. Turned it off for 3 minutes and turned it back on....


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Ok, back to sysedit.......go to the system.ini tab.....what is listed under the [386Enh] section and the [boot] sections.......

Also, do you have a NIC card installed?

And in normal mode, right click on my computer, properties, performance...does it say configured for optimal performance?

Go to start button, run, then type msconfig and press ok...go to the startup tab, uncheck everything except for systray, scanreg and the two load power profiles......


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

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

The IDE drivers for that chipset were not designed for W98, they were designed for W95, what you will have to do is to get them from here...

http://www.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/al440lx/busmastr.htm#win98

And...if you want click on the link entitled...

If you have upgraded to Windows* 98 and are experiencing IDE subsystem problems, it should explain the install...


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

1. When opening sysedit I receive the message "CANNOT OPEN THIS FILE" for BOTH autoexec.bat and config.sys as soon as I run config.sys. Should these been automatically recreated? Should I rename the original files back to what they were?

2. SYSTEM.INI information is below:

[boot]
system.drv=system.drv
drivers=mmsystem.dll
user.exe=user.exe
gdi.exe=gdi.exe
sound.drv=mmsound.drv
dibeng.drv=dibeng.dll
comm.drv=comm.drv
shell=Explorer.exe
keyboard.drv=keyboard.drv
fonts.fon=vgasys.fon
fixedfon.fon=vgafix.fon
oemfonts.fon=vgaoem.fon
386Grabber=vgafull.3gr
display.drv=pnpdrvr.drv
mouse.drv=mouse.drv
*DisplayFallback=0
previousProjectorProcessID=0

[boot.description]
keyboard.typ=Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
aspect=100,96,96
display.drv=S3 Trio64V+ PCI (765)
mouse.drv=Standard mouse
system.drv=Standard PC

[386Enh]
DEVICE=DVA.386
device=WPSRCOM.386
device=WPSCREM.386
device=WPSRBND.386
ebios=*ebios
device=*vshare
device=*dynapage
device=*vcd
device=*vpd
device=*int13
mouse=*vmouse, msmouse.vxd
woafont=dosapp.fon
device=*enable
keyboard=*vkd
display=*vdd,*vflatd
WPSLPT1=1
NONJUMBOLPT1=1

[drivers]
wavemapper=*.drv
MSACM.imaadpcm=imaadpcm.acm
MSACM.msadpcm=msadpcm.acm
VIDC.IV32=ir32.dll
VIDC.IV31=ir32.dll
VIDC.RT21=ir21.dll
VIDC.YVU9=iyvu9.dll
VIDC.MSVC=msvidc.drv
VIDC.MRLE=MSRLE.drv
wave=mmsystem.dll
midi=mmsystem.dll

3. I don't know what an "NIC card" is or how to tell if I have one installed.

4. In normal mode it does NOT say configured for optimal performance?

5. There's about 20 tasks checked to start under mconfig. Is there a way I can copy this list and paste in here so you can see what's running before I turn them all off? Some I recognize, some I don't.........

for JEDI MASTER....

My floppy drive was working fine under Windows 98SE for a couple of years before the problem started. I assume your suggestion is for my CD R/W problem.

MICRON has a motherboard fix out there too, but I need the floppy drive working to do that one. That's why I thought I'd try to get that one resolved first (and then open a new post for the CD R/W if I need to.)

In reading the information on the link you sent, it sounds like it could be part of the solution assuming I have the chipset it's meant for. Thanks for the idea and I'll let you know what happens once I change gears and focus on that "challenge".


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Well...

Per... post #10 IMHO, you do have an IDE problem...IMHO, what I would suggest is to install the IDE drivers per INTEL on post # 23...and see what happens...

Just my humble 2 pennies, you can do what you want...


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I've downloaded the v3.02 driver and ran it. However, I haven't found any set-up, readme text in the download file. Any suggestions?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

In normal mode, what DOES it say? something about msdos compatibility mode?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Drive C is using MS-DOS compatability mode
Drive D is using MS-DOS compatability mode


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Have a look thru this:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;q151911&


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Both of the IDE fixes and the Micron BIOS upgrade sound like they have potential for fixing my CD R/W problem. I certainly plan to apply those fixes once/as I figure out how to do so and appreciate your helping me through that problem too. (Should I put this problem in a separate posting for future access by others who have that problem?) The BIOS upgrade requires my floppy to be fully functional. 

To me, the facts that my floppy drive worked for almost two years with Windows 98 SE and does work today, in SAFE MODE, indicate these fixes aren't the answer to my floppy drive problem. Instead they suggest there's a setting or corruption that exists in NORMAL MODE that does not exist in SAFE MODE. 

Please continue to help.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I just did the fix procedure recommended for "Windows 98 Only" in Q151911. I assumed it applies to WIN98 SE as well. 

I also attempted to apply the chipset fix. I received a message that a file was missing and the fix could not be applied.

The suggested solutions did not fix my IDE problems.


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

Hi 
Go and try AcaCandys suggestion "Go to start button, run, then type msconfig and press ok...go to the startup tab, uncheck everything except for systray, scanreg and the two load power profiles......"

This will not erase anything. It just stops these programs from running when you boot up. Llater you can go back and recheck the boxes to let the programs start again. But really you don't want many things starting up as they use up your systems resources. 

The can't open autoexec bat and config.sys messages are normal as you have renamed them and they will not be automatically recreated. You can change the renamed filed back later.

As a side note have you considered wiping your system and starting over. You seem to have a lot of junk left over on your system that should be cleaned out. Personally I like to reformat my system about every two years. (But thats just me)  See my sig.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

MSCONFIG
I just tried reducing msconfig to the four tasks suggested. It did not resolve the floppy problem. Just as an FYI, things I turned off included: TaskMonitor, mdac_runonce, TWEAKUI,S05 Integrator Pass Tw, Register DropHandler, NAVAgent, LOADQM, S05Integrator Pass One, Scheduling Agent, Script Blocking, Microsoft Fast Start and Corel Friends and Family Reminder.

SYSTEM WIPE
I purchased the CD R/W so I could back up the over 800 meg of user files I have. However, the CD R/W won't work and it appears I need to upgrade the BIOS (one's available at MICRON for CD readers and CD R/Ws). The update requires the floppy to work. A System Wipe has some appeal to me, but the floppy fix and CD R/W problems need to be solved first for the backup.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Wait a second, the you've got the modem on IRQ 15, is the cdrom on the same cable as the hard drive? Or is it on IDE # 2? Do you have an IDE # 2? Can you access the bios setup to see how many ide channels you have.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I have two hard drives on one IDE cable and the CD R/W on the other IDE cable. I also have a SCSI CD reader which works fine. 

As for the BIOS...I'll have to check.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Well that pretty much explains why the CDRW doesn't work...not quite sure where that modem is going to go once you enable the secondary ide......but getting back to, I think what Jedi Master said, the motherboard drivers are more than likely going to have to be reinstalled.


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

Since you can read and write all right in safe mode the floppy drive should be ok. Try booting off a floppy boot disk to be sure the system can boot from it. If so you can copy the bios upgrade files to a floppy disk on a different system (Or use yours in safe mode) and make the disk bootable you should be able to upgrade your bios. Bios upgrades are usually made in dos from a boot disk and don't use windows. Just be VERY carfeful to follow the bios upgrade instructions and make sure that you have the correct bios file for your system or you will be left with a pile of electronic components that wont do anything.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I tried having someone download the BIOS upgrade onto a floppy using their PC and using it to do the upgrade on my. Unfortunately, the floppy errors occurred as the upgrade disk was read.


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

Did the errors occur when you were booting off the floppy disk or were you trying to read it in normal mode from windows? Can you run a scandisk on that floppy disk on the other (good) system?


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

From the Readme.txt from Intel...

****************************************************************************
* 5. DE-INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE *
****************************************************************************

NOTE: The de-installer function of this software package can be used to remove the Intel(r) BM-IDE driver from both Windows* 95 and Windows* 98 operating systems. Due to a limitation in the Microsoft Windows* 98 Upgrade installer, the Intel(r) BM-IDE driver is not replaced by the Microsoft BM-IDE driver during the upgrade procedure. This scenario may cause problems in the system's IDE subsytem. The recommended procedure is to replace the Intel driver with the native Microsoft BM-IDE driver by running the Intel(r) BM-IDE driver SETUP.EXE program under Windows* 98.

1. Either Windows* 95 or Windows* 98 must be installed.

2. Close any running applications.

3. The driver de-installer is stored in an integrated application setup 
program. This program is a Windows* 95 program that allows the driver 
files to be INSTALLED or DE-INSTALLED.

Execute the driver setup program - run SETUP.EXE.

4. Click 'Next' on Welcome Screen to continue.

5. View the 'Software Use and Distribution License Agreement' and choose 
'Yes' if you agree to continue.

NOTE: If you choose 'No' the program will terminate.

6. If running under Windows* 98, a dialog box will appear, stating that
the installation software will only provide a driver DE-INSTALL function
under Windows* 98. Select OK to continue.

7. Select 'DE-INSTALL', to install the Intel(r) BM-IDE driver when prompted
to do so.

NOTE: If the driver is not currently installed on the system, SETUP will
exit.

8. If running under Windows* 98, a dialog box will appear next, indicating 
that after the system reboots, only NEXT should be chosen for all 
Windows* 98 system prompts that appear. These prompts are native to
Windows* 98, and cannot be suppressed by the BM-IDE de-installer program.
Be sure not to change any of the dialog box settings, and simply select 
NEXT as many times as necessary in order for the system to reboot and
reconfigure properly.

9. Click 'OK' to restart the system when prompted to do so.

10. Follow the screen instructions and use default settings to complete the 
setup when Windows* is re-started.

NOTE: After Windows* 95 configures the primary IDE controller, you 
will be prompted to reboot. At this prompt, select 'No.' 
Windows* 95 will configure the secondary IDE controller next,
and you will be prompted again to reboot the system. At this
prompt, select 'Yes' to reboot.

If you selected 'Yes' to the first of the two prompts, a blue
screen may show upon rebooting, and a message may appear stating
that the system is now running in MS-DOS compatibility mode.
To remedy this situation, see 'A1.#4' in the TROUBLESHOOTING
section below.

11. If desired, enable the native Microsoft driver's bus mastering
capability, which is not enabled by default.

NOTE: Unlike the Intel(r) BM-IDE driver, the Microsoft BM-IDE driver
relies on the system BIOS to correctly identify each IDE
device's maximum transfer mode and configure the device 
appropriately. As a result, be sure to have the latest 
system BIOS upgrade installed on your system at all times.
Contact your system manufacter to obtain the lastest BIOS
upgrade for your system.

a) Run START/SETTINGS/CONTROL PANEL
b) Run SYSTEM applet.
c) Select DEVICE MANAGER tab.
d) Select VIEW DEVICES BY TYPE option.
e) For each IDE device type (e.g., Disk Drives, CD-ROM) perform
the following:
- select IDE device entry (e.g., "GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE01")
- select PROPERTIES option
- select SETTINGS tab
- select DMA checkbox (if exists)

NOTE: Windows* 98 will display a dialog box entitled
'Unsupported Hardware' when the DMA checkbox is
selected. Ignore this message and continue.

f) Reboot the system when prompted to do so.
g) Reference the following Microsoft website for more info:
http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/devdes/idedma.htm


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

The error occurred when I was trying to boot from the floppy.
The PC used to create the floppy is no longer available.

Where do configuration differences reside between SAFE MODE and NORMAL mode?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Basically safe mode doesn't process the autoexec.bat, config.sys, the two sections of the system.ini I asked about, some win.ini items and safe mode loads a standard display adapter, that's why the icons will be larger and the color crappier.......

Here's a Microsoft start up trouble shooter that you can walk thru to see what may be loading that creates the problem.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q188867&#3

Were you able to access the bios and get that secondary controller enabled?

Also, try downloading a boot disk from here: (save it to the desktop on your good computer, double click on it and follow instructions to create a boot disk)

http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Both IDE Adapter 1 (Master) and IDE Adapter 1 (Slave) are set at (None). I haven't figure out how or what to reset them to.

As to creating a boot disk on the good PC, I no longer have access to it


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Can't you download it on the computer you are typing on now, and restart in safe mode and make one?

In the bios setup, you have to use either the enter key to select the word NONE and then use arrow keys to make it change to auto or enabled, whatever the word choice is. Then save changes coming out.........

There should be a bunch of instructions at the bottom of the bios screen that tells you which keys to hit to do what..........


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Hmmm...

I don't know if this has been asked yet, but while you're in the Bios, check and see if the floppy drive is set to 3.5 1.44, and not 1.2 5.25...


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Floppy: 1.44 MB, 3 1/2"


IDE 1 Master & IDE 1 Slave

Both are set at TYPE: None. I have scrolled through the options. They mostly appear to be for hard fixed drives (Settings 1-39; RSRV, USER). I have been looking for information as to what the proper settings should be for the CD R/W. The CD R/W vendor, has been of no help, and I have yet to receive a response form PHOENIX the BIOS's vendor.


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Does it have a setting for "Auto" ??

If so try setting it to that...


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

No, there's no setting for AUTO. Type options are NONE, 1-14, Rsrv, 16-39 and USER. Each numeric setting has a number of megabytes asociated with it, as well as a number of cylinders, heads, sectors/track and write precomp values. My "OWNER's MANUAL" offers no relief either, and the PC's to old for vendor (MICRON) support.


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

Hold on there!!!!!
Do you have an addin hard drive controller card that you are using for your hard drives? A P1 system should not be able to run ultra 100 without one. Can you give us a listing of where each device is connected so we can sort out where everything is(all the hard drives and cdroms) and how they are connected? If you have a addin disk controller card you need to install the drivers that came with it for it to work properly. If your system bios doesn't have a cdrom setting just set it to none. This is only if you have the cdrom connected to the system board itself.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I do not have an add-in card. Western Digital, however, provided a software solution which allowed me to use the larger hardware (if that's what you are referring to). My floppy drive problem began long after the drive and this software were installed. I discussed the CD R/W problem with them and was told that it should not be related to their software.

The IDE 1 COntroller Type is and has been set to NONE.

Below is a list which I think may answer your other question. Please ley me know if it does not.

Future Domain TMC-1650/1660/1670/1680 SCSI Host Adapter
SCSIAdapter
Alloc resources: Logical Configuration 0
IRQ: 10 Mask: x0000
IO Range: Base=x0160 End=x016F Alias=x00, Decode=xFF
Driver: FD16_700.MPD 4/23/1999 10:22 PM Size: 10528 

Iomega Parallel Port Interface
SCSIAdapter
Alloc resources: None
Driver: PPA3.MPD 5/26/1999 3:14 PM Size: 56832 

Standard Floppy Disk Controller
fdc
Alloc resources: Logical Configuration 0
IRQ: 6 Mask: x0000
DMA: 2 Mask: x0000
IO Range: Base=x03F0 End=x03F5 Alias=x04, Decode=x03
Base=x03F7 End=x03F7 Alias=x04, Decode=x03
Driver: HSFLOP.pdr 4/23/1999 10:22 PM Size: 25741 

GENERIC NEC FLOPPY DISK
DiskDrive
Alloc resources: None

Intel 82371FB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
hdc
Alloc resources: Logical Configuration 0
IRQ: 14 Mask: x4000
IO Range: Base=x01F0 End=x01F7 Min=x01F0 Max=x01F7 Alias=x04, Decode=x03
Base=x03F6 End=x03F6 Min=x03F6 Max=x03F6 Alias=x04, Decode=x03
Base=xFBF0 End=xFBFF Min=x0000 Max=xFFFF Alias=xFF, Decode=x00

Primary Ultra ATA controller
hdc
This Device Has a Problem: Code=10 (0xA)
This device is not present, not working properly, or does not have all the
drivers installed. See your hardware documentation.
Alloc resources: Logical Configuration 0
IRQ: 14 Mask: x4000
IO Range: Base=x01F0 End=x01F7 Min=x01F0 Max=x01F7 Alias=x04, Decode=x03
Base=x03F6 End=x03F6 Min=x03F6 Max=x03F6 Alias=x04, Decode=x03
Base=xFBF0 End=xFBF7 Alias=xFF, Decode=x00
Driver: ESDI_506.pdr 4/23/1999 10:22 PM Size: 24406 
intelata.mpd 

Secondary Ultra ATA controller
hdc
This Device Has a Problem: Code=29 (0x1D)
This device has been disabled in the hardware. In order to use this device,
you must re-enable the hardware. See your hardware documentation for details.
Alloc resources: Logical Configuration 0
Driver: ESDI_506.pdr 4/23/1999 10:22 PM Size: 24406 
intelata.mpd 

PLEXTOR CD-ROM PX-40TS 
CDROM
Alloc resources: None

IOMEGA ZIP 100 
DiskDrive
Alloc resources: None


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Just a thought...

Let's try booting the pc to DOS, and see if we can at least make a boot floppy from there...

During the boot up, hold down the CTRL key untill you get menu asking what mode you want to boot to, scroll down to Command prompt only, when you see the C:\>, put a floppy in and from the C:\> prompt type in *format a: /s* if it formats without any errors, leave it in the drive reboot and see if it will boot from the A:...


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

Yup just what I thought
"Primary Ultra ATA controller 
hdc 
This Device Has a Problem: Code=10 (0xA) 
This device is *NOT PRESENT*, not working properly,"

You dont have an Ultra controller in your system. I suggest you go into safe mode and delete both the primaty and secondary ultra controllers from there. If you can get your standard hard drive controllers working again you may be abe to use the cdrw. The software Western Digital sent you should have been MAXBLAST which is an overlay program used to address larger hard drives.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

No errors appear for the controllers in SAFE MODE. However, the CD R/W does not work there either. 

I believe the controllers were deleted once before, soon after I got the CD R/W and I saw the errors. However, I believe they were deleted while in NORMAL mode. It took several hours to get the PC up and running again after the deletion. I'll check and re-post after I verify what was done.

As an aside: the software Western Digital provided is called EZ-BIOS.


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

Yes my mistake, maxblast is for maxtor drives. However both programs still do the same thing by loading a disk overlay on the hard drive so that the system can be tricked into using the full amount of drive space.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

The procedure that was attempted before and caused problems was to delete one of the VXD files.

What is the risk of my going into safe mode and deleting both the primary and secondary ultra controllers (I assume I do this through DEVICE MANAGER), and what should I expect with the next reboot?


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

Your system should boot up and either do nothing wrong as the controllers you deleted dont exist or it will find new hardware and attempt load drivers for them. If it asks for the drivers you can point it to the windows 98 cab files on the 98 cd.

If this creates any problems you can boot up in DOS mode, type SCANREG /RESTORE and restore you registry back to the way it was before you deleted your controllers. ( if your registry back up is working correctly).


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## RJCE Support (Oct 6, 2002)

The only caution I would advise with the above thought to remove the current controllers and try restarting normally would be that Windows 9x seems to "remember" what drivers were installed.

In other words, removing those controllers may or may not yield a better set of controller drivers being used by the system. Many times it just goes back and installs the drivers for the device that was preiviously installed. (For controllers and those main system devices that is)

Other than that, it is worth a shot. It won't hurt anything, at most it will just bring back the ones currently installed.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I tried to remove the drivers in SAFE MODE through Device Manager. Device Manager would not allow it and displayed the following message:


This device is part of a multi-function device and cannot be removed indepenently.


There was no device listed as Parent Device


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

May as well give it a try in normal mode then........


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

There should be something like PCI bus master IDE controller just above the primary and secondary IDE controller. Thats what you want to remove.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

As those are the hard disk controllers and considering I'm running EZ-BIOS, what will deleting them do? With no back-up I hesitate to take high risk actions.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I have noticed that my floppy drive error seems to occur every 5 seconds. In trying to write several files, I get the blue error screen and when it returns to the copy window the time remaining seems to always be reduced by 5 seconds (35, 30, 25, 20,15...)


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

EZ Bios is installed to the hard drive, removing the ide controllers would have no effect on the EZ Bios.....BUT, that would explain you having problems with a boot disk though.....you have to catch EZ Bios from loading first, by holding down the Ctrl key....THEN put the boot floppy disk in the drive and choose to boot to A.......


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## RJCE Support (Oct 6, 2002)

The above is correct.

Right-Click on My Computer -- Properties -- and go into Device Manager. Goto Disk Controllers and remove only the "Bus Master" device(s) listed.








If picture not displayed, click here

Then it will ask you to restart, go ahead and restart and it will then find the correct drivers... or, if they are in there by mistake, will not find anything new and will just boot normally.

If it finds something, it will then install the drivers for it and ask you to restart again. Restart and you might just be in business if that was the problem.

Regardless, it will either fix the problem or get you back to where you are currently. Win98 will find the devices you remove again if they should be in there. It may, however, not load the correct drivers so it may be necessary to check with the manufacturer of the motherboard for the correct drivers.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I removed just the "Bus Master Controller. It was an INTEL 82371FB PCI BUS MASTER IDE CONTROLLER before I removed it and was the same after the restart. The CD R/W errors are still listed in Device Manager, and the drive does not work.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

I would try to remove all 3 items myself.....the bus master and the 2 ide controllers........

When you removed the bus master, were you prompted for the drivers or did they just auto load by themself?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

When I removed the BUS MASTER I looked at removing them all. There was a comment on both the Primary and Secondary controllers that removing the MASTER would reset them. Further, it wouldn't allow the attempt.

After the restart for the BUS MASTER removal, they loaded themselves. 

Micron has several BIOS upgrades available for my motherboard. I don't know which have or have not been applied, but perhaps part of the answer is there. I need to figure out if any are already applied and how to apply the ones I don't have. I thought they might be cimulative, but their sizes don't suggest that.


BIOS 
M54HI_11.EXE
113KB
8/18/98

Revision 11 for PS/2 style motherboards only. For rev A and B Boards. Supports automatic Bios Rollover to Year 2000.


HI_10.EXE
180KB
3/11/96

Revision 10 for PS/2 style motherboards only.


HI_07.EXE
95KB
2/20/96

Revision 07 for PS/2 style motherboards only. EIDE CD-ROM version only.


HI_09.EXE
96KB
9/19/95

Revision 09 for PS/2 style motherboards only. EIDE CD-ROM version only.


HI_08.EXE
95KB
9/5/95

Revision 08 for PS/2 style motherboards only. EIDE CD-ROM version only.


HI_02.EXE
194KB
6/12/95

Revision 02 for PS/2 style motherboards only.


HI_01.EXE
194KB
5/2/95

Revision 01 for PS/2 style motherboards only.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Will let someone else address the bios stuff......I avoid bios flashes at ALL cost.....

In the device manager, have you tried selecting the ide controllers, choose update driver and pointing it to the folder where you downloaded the other drivers.....the problem is, I believe, is Windows is just auto finding the old drivers.


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## RJCE Support (Oct 6, 2002)

Okay... BIOS Updates are cummulative for starters, meaning that they include all previous updates in the most recent.

As for finding out what is currently flashed to your BIOS, just look as the computer boots. it will tell the BIOS brand (Phoenix, Award, etc...) and tell a version number/code and a date. The date should correspond to one of the dates listed on the website you got those from. (As I know the website and have been there to help find them myself) 

BIOS updates are good, but the old phrase of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes into play here. If you aren't experiencing any problems, generally they aren't necessary. In this case I believe that might be a major part of why the CDRW will not work --- older BIOS versions do not support the newer IDE drives... CD, CDR, CDRW, or even just newer HD's.

It should give the instructions for how to backup current BIOS (though typically it is done automatically and saved to a BIOS file on your root drive C:\ ) and then apply the flash update. DO NOT restart or abort the process while it is updating. That is the ONLY danger in flashing BIOS. As long as it is completed and was the correct BIOS update for the BIOS on the PC (though again the companies have put safe guards that check for the correct BIOS prior for most newer updates), you should be fine.


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## RJCE Support (Oct 6, 2002)

Forgot to address the device manager stuff. 

The above post is correct... and was something I had mentioned earlier in the posts... Windows most likely will just reinstall the same drivers it was using before removing it. So... I didn't think that would actually fix the problem by itself.

The site where the BIOS updates are found should also have drivers for the motherboard chipset as well... if not, you may need to find out on the spec sheet for the PC what motherboard it is and go to the actual manufacturer's website and search for that particular motherboard. Then download those for Windows 9x/Me and you should then update the drivers in Device Manager for those devices. (Or you could remove them, restart and choose USE DISK or SELECT DRIVERS when it boots rather than letting Windows install what it wants to)

Hopefully that helps...


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I went to SAFE mode and executed the BIOS upgrade. It got through formatting the floppy disk but it failed while trying to write some of the files to the floppy! This, of course, terminated the upgrade attempt. 

I deleted what it wrote and tried it again. This time it failed during the reformatting. 

I then copied 10 files totaling 1.3 meg from MY DOCUMENTS to the floppy. That worked fine. I opened several of these freshly written floppy files (of differing types) and was able to access the data without a problem! I deleted those 10 files and copied 10 others with no problems. 

As for new drivers; WINDOWS claims I'm using the most current. All the fixes previously were applied successfully. If you tell me which specific drivers you are referring to I will attempt to reapply them.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

> _Originally posted by zarniro:_
> *Floppy: 1.44 MB, 3 1/2"
> 
> IDE 1 Master & IDE 1 Slave
> ...


Can you get to the tops of the hard drives themselves.....can we try and set it to user, and enter the heads/cylinders/etc.


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

Candy

You need to visit the coffee shop.  

zarniro is looking for setting for cdrw not hard drives. There are not any usable setting under the hard drive settings. If the system is new the bios should autodetect the cdrom drive and put it in the correct place under the drive listing in bios.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Who's in the coffee shop   

Lol, I'm still concerned about the dos compatibility mode on C and D drives.....do you think that may have something to do with the ide channels......

Thinking it may not be too early to hit the Tavern


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

When selecting USER for the IDE controller which the CD R/W is on I have the following settings:

Cylinders:0
Heads:1
Sectors/Track: 0
Write Precomp:0

Multi-Sector Transfers: Disabled
LBA Mode Control: Disabled
32 BIT I/O: Enabled
Transfer Mode: Standard

I have two hard drives on IDE Controller 0. Which, if any, do you want to know about?


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## Lurker1 (Jan 30, 2001)

This seems to be going on a long time. If it were my system I would get a new hard drive, replace the current hard drive and install windows on the new hard drive. After windows is running correctly slave the original hard drive to it and copy the files you need off of it to the new hard drive. Then either format the slave drive to use as a spare or remove it. Well thats my two cents worth today.


By the way have you tryed scanning for a virus?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I ran a full virus scan on both hard drives this weekend. No viruses were found.

I alreday have two hard drives, one of which (the smaller original drive) contains basically backup files. 

I went through all the posts for this incident. It does seem we're stumped. I keep getting back to the BIOS upgrade I want to do. I feel this holds a good part of the solution. To do it, however, I must get the floppy drive working right (which is where this all started). It does work better (but maybe not 100%) in SAFE mode. Even though I can copy and read many files to the floppy in SAFE mode without errors, the BIOS upgrade aborts at different points when I try it in SAFE mode. But in all cases the abort points at floppy drive errors.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

The floppy not working would have nothing to do with a bios.........

Do your IRQs still appear the same in device manager? Can we try to delete the floppy drive controller then reboot?


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Well...

I'm going to jump back in for a couple of suggestions...

If Aca's suggestion doesn't produce results, try removing the floppy drive from the pc, while it is out of the pc, plug in the power and ribbon cables, power up the pc and see if the errors go away...

And for the CD-ROM, I'm sorry, but where you are at in the BIOS you can not enable the IDE channel for the CD-ROM, there should be a menu or heading in the BIOS for "Integrated Peripherals", "On Board Devices" or something to that effect, that is where you will need to enable the IDE channel...

Just my humble 2 pennies...


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## kilowatt1 (Oct 27, 2001)

In case any of you would like to see what you're dealing with,

HERE is the manual for the machine.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

I'm looking at pages 43 and 44 of the user's manual and a silly thought just ocurred to me........

The gray cable that plugs into your hard drive, how many pins are on it?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Floppy Drive

I deleted the floppy drive controller and rebooted. The floppy was found and loaded after the reboot. The floppy's IRQ did not change (see below):

0	System timer
1	Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
2	Programmable interrupt controller
3	Communications Port (COM2)
4	Communications Port (COM1)
5	Creative Sound Blaster 16 or AWE-32
6	Standard Floppy Disk Controller
7	Printer Port (LPT1)
8	System CMOS/real time clock
9	SupraMax 56i Voice PCI
9	SUP2750 PCI Modem Enumerator
9	IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
10	Future Domain TMC-1650/1660/1670/1680 SCSI Host Adapter
11	S3 Trio64V+ PCI (765)
11	IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
12	PS/2 Compatible Mouse Port
13	Numeric data processor
14	Primary Ultra ATA controller
14	Intel 82371FB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
15	CMD USB Open Host Controller
15	IRQ Holder for PCI Steering



CD R/W

Integrated Peripherals is under the Advanced tab, page 3-12 of the manual. The Integrated PCI IDE is set as PRIMARY. I tried changing it to BOTH this past weekend (even though the CD R/W isn't a PCI device) to see if it would have an effect. It did not help the CD R/W problem nor did it seem to hurt anything.


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## tjsudo (Jul 27, 2000)

Sorry to butt in guys,

Did you try disabling protected mode driver?
Floppy works in the Safemode, right? Then it could be a driver.

Open properties for Floppy drive in device manager and check on "disable in this hardware.....". that'll prevent Windows from loading a driver for floppy.

TJ


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Any progress on this yet? Seems to be popping up in a couple of other threads, so I figured I would check on you........


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

TJ: Are you suggesting "disabling protected mode driver" in SAFE or NORMAL mode; and what should I expect to happen once it's done. I really need the floppy to work in both.


ACACANDY: I've really made no progress on either issue yet. Which are you seeing occur elsewhere?


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## tjsudo (Jul 27, 2000)

It is a long thread and I didn't double check but I think you said floppy works in the safemode.

What's the difference of Safe and Normal? Some system files and protected mode drivers.
Floppy drive works fine, maybe a little slower, without any protected mode driver.

So, by turning protected mode driver off in Normal mode, we will know what to trouble shoot.

TJ


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I disabled the protected mode driver in NORMAL mode as suggested. The floppy drive no longer works at all in NORMAL mode as it's disabled (error message code 22).


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## tjsudo (Jul 27, 2000)

Sorry Zarniro, I have nothing more to suggest,

I tried same thing on three PC and floppy dirves work fine after "disable' checked and rebooted. I also have code22 and red "X" on floppy controllers.
It should work for you too, unless your floppy drive controller driver is in conflict with the driver for the other device. 

To check that involves a lot of work and I'm not going recommend that at this moment. I will be following this thread and if nobody come up with fix, I will post again.

TJ


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I believe a device conflict was suggested early on when I first posted the IRQ list. However, it has never been pursued. 

Please tell me where I can find the steps to determine this as being the cause of the floppy problem.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

This is still buggin me too 

Can you try something........check your IRQ listing again.......is that modem still on #15?

Oh, yes, and another thing, I asked a while back about the gray cable that connects to the hard drive? Per chance is the hard drive SCSI?

EDIT, I see above the new posting, now you've got the USB controller on #15......Can you go into device manager and place a check mark in the box to disable that in this hardware profile? Of course any USB devices aren't going to work....what do you have that is USB?

Also, you might have a look at this thread, it ended up being the cmos battery, and he had the same problem with the tranferring of files via the floppy drive, and it was fine in safe mode as well....just grasping at things now 

http://forums.techguy.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=101840


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## tjsudo (Jul 27, 2000)

zarniro,

I'm not suggesting device conflict.
You don't have IRQ, I/O or DMA trouble.(those will appear in Device Manager, you don't see any symbol, right? "!""?""X")

I might be wrong but I think the problem you're having is Software(Driver, Service) problem.

First I thought it might be a hardware problem(FD controller), but FDC is integrated in chipset now and it's hard to imagine only FD has problem. Chipset controls everything, you know. And you can access it from safemode that pretty much rules out hardware issue.

To find out what's conflicting with your FDD, you can do either one of following,

Uninstall, remove any hardware, software or driver one by one until problem clears.

or

Start from the very begining. Remove all hardware except HDD, FD. Format HDD and install Windows. FDD should work without any added soft/hardware or you have bad chipset or its service.

If the chipset is bad(I doubt this as I mentioned above), you have to replace MB.
If the service for the chipset is not working there's two options,sorry... , again. Weak CMOS battery is known to cause weird symptom in BIOS.
Or services in CMOS is corrupted(Unlikely because FDD works in Safemode.) and have to be flashed.

I can't suggest you to do any of the above, because it's alot of work and there's a chance of breaking the PC.

TJ

Woops, Candy I didn't read your post well. This box has SCSI? How about HDD? If it's connected to SCSI as a boot drive, gotta have IDE HDD to do the test above.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

A few quick answers.


* The modem is IRQ 9 (See 10/29/02 post for complete list)

9 SupraMax 56i Voice PCI 
9 SUP2750 PCI Modem Enumerator 
9 IRQ Holder for PCI Steering 


* The USB device is a scanner. 

* The CMOS battery is original. I don't know how to tell if it needs replacing. The clock is not losing time though (I seem to recall that's one indicator).

* I don't believe the hard drive is SCSI, but I'll have to check. I'll open the case later this week and post the cable answer


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

In the thread dealing with the cmos battery, his clock wasn't losing time either, so that is something you should consider, for the small price 

I think I'd still try to disable that USB controller just to see if IRQ 15 goes back to what it is supposed to be....the secondary IDE controller......which would/should explain why the CDRW doesn't work, if it's on the secondary.


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## tjsudo (Jul 27, 2000)

I think you may want to try what Candy says.
She always come up with a miracle fix.  

And I always break computers.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Lol, I have my share of blown up parts


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## kilowatt1 (Oct 27, 2001)

Hello guys/gals,

Could this possibly be a registry issue? I'm just wondering what is listed in Regedit under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\enum\FLOP\GENERIC_NEC_FLOPPY_DISK\. There should be two listings: BIOS&*PNP0700&0400 and BIOS&PNP0700&0F00. I was wondering because in a previous post under Generic Floppy Disk there was no mention of a registry or driver entry.

Also did this computer originally have a 5 1/4 inch floppy as well as a 3.5 inch? What about the cable. Does it have a connector for a 5 1/4 floppy? 

Just wondering.

Kilowatt


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I disabled the USB controller. The floppy's IRQ is still 6, and the CD R/W still has the same errors. The updated IRQ list is below:

0	System timer
1	Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
2	Programmable interrupt controller
3	Communications Port (COM2)
4	Communications Port (COM1)
5	Creative Sound Blaster 16 or AWE-32
6	Standard Floppy Disk Controller
7	Printer Port (LPT1)
8	System CMOS/real time clock
9	SupraMax 56i Voice PCI
9	SUP2750 PCI Modem Enumerator
9	IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
10	Future Domain TMC-1650/1660/1670/1680 SCSI Host Adapter
11	S3 Trio64V+ PCI (765)
11	IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
12	PS/2 Compatible Mouse Port
13	Numeric data processor
14	Primary Ultra ATA controller
14	Intel 82371FB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
15	IRQ Holder for PCI Steering

I tried copying files to the floppy afterwards. The "unable to write error" continued to occur with the "time remaining" estimate decreasing by 5 seconds between each error.

The PC never had a 5 1/4" floppy. Its always had only one 3.5".

The original hard drive is a 1.6 GB EIDE Western Digital. The second hard drive is also EIDE; a 20 GB Western Digital. 

I'm looking for a local source for a CMOS battery. As soon as I find one, I'll open the case and answer the PIN question if you still want to know.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

In Regedit under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\enum\FLOP\GENERIC_NEC_FLOPPY_DISK\are two listings. However they are:
BIOS&*PNP0700&0300 
ROOT&*PNP0700&000000


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

That secondary controller still isn't being detected for some reason.....and I recall when you've looked in the bios setup, there is no option for the secondary ide to be set to ENABLED?

Let me look around, this is becoming real personal now 

Is this the fix you were referring to some pages back?

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q276602&


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I've applied all the Microsoft and other fixes everyone's suggested except the MICRON BIOS upgrade. I've tried, and continue to try, to apply that one in SAFE mode where the floppy is more stable. However, the BIOS upgrade aborts at different stages when it tries to write or format the floppy. I'll try to find the post discussing this BIOS upgrade and refer back to or repost it.

The PC is from 1996, so the CMOS battery needing replacement sounds like it has potential from what you mentioned.

The floppy's registry entry is different than what kilowatt1 suggested it should be. I don't know if they should be changed or what's in my PC is correct for it.

I'm considering disabling all the hardware except the hard drive and maybe the floppy drive (perhaps I should disable that to), rebooting, and reenabling them one by one. If I do this, I'm curious as to in what order I should reenable them. (floppy, modem, cd reader, cd r/w, printer, scanner).

CENDYNE, the CD R/W vendor, also feels it's the device needing to be enabled in the BIOS. They suggest this without their knowing there's an upgrade available. However, their support appears to be poor at best and they are unwilling to suggest how or help in anyway until this is done.

PHOENIX, the BIOS provider, has been totally unresponsive. They point me to MICROn as the PC manufacturer who, in turn, won't do anything but try to sell me a new PC.

I found that my PC was shipped with QAPLUS, some optional diagnostic software that was never installed. Unfortunately, the software is all on floppies.

I really appreciate all the help being offered. I believe if it wasn't for need to upgrade the BIOS, the floppy and CD R/W problems would be unrelated. If we find a solution for either, I should probably open a separate posts for each so the solution(s) can be more easily found by the next person who may need it.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

I've pm'd someone who is a lot more smarter than I, and he used to have a great presence on the board. Hopefully he'll check his email and have another idea or perhaps see what we may be overlooking.....besides a really big hammer


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

Well, I think I am the "someone" that candy referred to, but I don't think I am "more smarter" than she is - though I may be a little better at speaking English 

The floppy issue has a few possibilities. The first thing I would like to clear up is whether or not it works in DOS. If it does NOT work in DOS it is NOT a Windows problem at all and we can stop trying to fix Windows.

To check it in DOS - at boot hold down CTRL and from the boot menu choose Safe Mode Command Prompt Only. This will dump your right to a C prompt.

Put a blank disk in the A drive and then type FORMAT A: and see if that works. If it does, copy files to the disk (for instance COPY AUTOEXEC.* A: ) and see if you have any trouble.

Let us know how that goes and we'll move forward from there.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

The DOS format and copy both worked flawlessly.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

Ok - step two then is to figure out why you can't seem to boot from floppy.

Go back to DOS again, format, then type SYS A: which should make the disk bootable. Do a DIR A: to verify that COMMAND.COM is actually there.

Now, leave the disk in the drive and restart the computer. Does it try to boot from A or does it go right into Windows? If it does try to start from A, does it work or do you get an error?

You will NOT have access to your C drive even if it does work, because we are skipping over EZ-Drive, but at this point I only care about the floppy drive so that doesn't matter.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

How do I get out of these tasks whether they work or not?



Also, for everyone, I looked at my System's history. I may be SWAGing but I think my floppy problem began soon after I installed my scanner (originally installed as a parallel device sharing the port with the printer. Recently hooked up to USB). There are no similar problems reported on the scanner vendor's (Visioneer) help site. Just food for thought....


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

If it works, you should end up at an a: prompt.

Quick question for Larry though (hopefully I'm speaking better this afternoon   ), I have EZ-Bios installed as well, and I think you can't put the disk into the floppy drive until you hold the CTRL key down and get the bypass of the EZ-Bios.......after that you'll have an option to hit a: and insert a floppy or choose c: and continue on............

BRB, I think I should test that theory 

Should know better than to doubt Larry  It definitely should work that way too, and like he said you won't have access to the c: drive......


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

You're right. I got the A or C options when I first tried it. I had to wait until the EZ-BIOS loaded and do it to get the C: prompt Larry suggested.

As to my "Whether it works or not"; how do I get back into Windows and are my user files still safe?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

But we want you to be able to get to the a: prompt...........

What happens if you choose boot to a:? Then insert the floppy disk you made with the file command.com on it?

Your user files are safe, don't worry......what we are doing is in no way going to hurt your files  Trust me  or at leat trust Larry 

To get back into windows, all you are going to do is remove the boot disk and start the computer as you did before..........


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

I'm not sure I followed all of that correctly, but if I did, you booted from the floppy without trouble.

If so, we can be sure it is a Windows problem. Before going any further though, I would like to test something else - your CDROM. If you can boot from floppy, you can test the CDROM too. This has nothing to do with the floppy working, but as long as you are there, you might as well check it - then when we get to trouble shooting the CD we'll know if that one is a Windows issue or not.

Having said that, I just realized that you will only be able to test the CD if you have a Windows 98 or Me startup disk that you created before the drive died - or maybe you can make one on another computer? If so, boot from it and it should assign a drive letter to your CD, or give you an error saying no CD found. If it does not find the CD then the problem with the CD is not in Windows. If it does find the CD, then it is a Windows problem.

Back to the floppy though... try this - in Windows run MSCONFIG and choose selective startup, then uncheck all the boxes and click ok - you will be asked to reboot - after the reboot, test the floppy. If it works, go back to MSCONFIG and check one of the boxes and click ok, and try again - keep going until you find the one that kills the floppy drive and let us know what happens.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

You can download a good windows 98 boot disk from here (not sure if we've already done that without reading back thru the thread) :

http://freepctech.com/pc/002/files010.shtml

Save it to the desktop on a good working computer, or if you need to save it to this one, that's fine..............then boot up in safemode, double click on the file and follow the instructions to create a bootable floppy disk, then boot again with that and select 'start with cdrom support' and watch the info scroll by and watch for any errors in the cdrom loading.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

The format, SYS A:, DIR A: and reboot worked. During the reboot it said it was starting Windows 98; but then ended with an A: prompt.

Per ACACANDY's recommendation, earlier we tried disabling everything through MSCONFIG except 4 tasks (I don't recall the 4 tasks off hand we left enabled, I think two were Load PowerProfiles). It did not affect the floppy (or CD R/W) problems. 

We also renamed autoexec.bat and config.sys in NORMAL mode and restarted. But thinking back, I believe the MSCONFIG changes and renames were not done together.

I'll download the boot disk from pctech.com as the one I have is quite old and I'm not sure it would be of any value.

I have a SCSI CD Reader and the CD R/W which is not working. The errors for the CD R/W do not appear in SAFE MODE's Device Manager, but the CD R/W does not work or appear as a valid drive there either.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

Please re-read what I said to do in MSCONFIG - all they had you do was stuff in the Startup tab. I don't even want you to go there. I want you on the main tab, unchecking everything - SYSTEM.INI, STARTUP, etc...

The boot floppy that Candy reffered to should give access to the IDE CD, but may not see the SCSI one - which is fine, that one works anyway.

Safe mode will NOT see any CDROM - it is not supposed to.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Should I make the MSCONFIG changes in SAFE or NORMAL mode?


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

Doesn't matter, actually.

MSCONFIG disables certain things that Windows does at boot up in a nice, simple format - so you can go back and enable them easily if you want to. 

Since it doesn't actually do anything until you reboot, it doesn't matter which mode you are in when you run it.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Just an FYI:


I tried upgrading the BIOS again today in SAFE mode. It got to about 20% in the floppy disk formatting process and then had 3 successive fatal exceptions. I assume these are related to my floppy problems, but they were different from the normal UNABLE TO WRITE error messages I get:

#1: 
A fatal exception OD has occurred at 0028:C0040B6E in VXD V86MMGR(01) + 0000006A


#2 @ 0213:0147268B

#3 @ 0246:014747FB


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I turned off everything under the GENERAL tab in MSCONFIG. After the reboot, I tried copying about 15 files totalling 1.3 mb to the floppy from the C drive. I experienced the same floppy drive UNABLE TO WRITE errors. I tried it again using a different new floppy disk and got the same errors. 

I've turned everything back on and rebooted.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

All 6 boxes on the general tab were unchecked, correct? If so, that doesn't make sense, because you can copy to the floppy in safe mode, no? Can you try that again before Larry gets back, not sure of his schedule...........and double check safemode copying too........


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

All 6 being off is not quite the same as Safe Mode - it is very close, but there are several VxDs that are not turned off. In Me you can turn them off too, but not in 98.

So, it would appear the problem is in a VxD somewhere. That's not all that much help really, because there are so many of them.

Of course, even in Safe Mode you are having some troubles - you can copy, but when you try to create a boot disk you get errors.

There is only one other thing I would like you to try - I don't think it will work, to be honest, but I think it is worth trying anyway.

Are you comfortable with taking some parts out of your machine? I would like you to temporarily remove your SCSI card, modem, sound card, and any other add in card - then boot into Windows and see if the floppy works. I had a problem like this once that turned out to be due to a bad sound card so I think it is worth a try.

Windows won't forget about your drivers - when you put the cards back in they will work just like before.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

The SAFE mode copy to floppy worked flawlessly using the same floppy and set of mixed type files.

I downloaded the 98 boot disk file and have it in the DOWNLOADS folder.

As to removing everything: the only cards which have been added or change to the original configuration are a new modem (2 years ago) and a USB PCI card (3-4 weeks ago). Before I consider taking the PC apart and reassembling it, I have some questions.

1. Can the SAFE MODE VxDs just be compared to or copied over the NORMAL mode ones without disabling the PC? 

2. I originally ran Windows 95 and used an upgrade version to get to WIN 98SE. Should reinstalling WIN 98SE fix the problem (and if so where can I get a best approach step by step guide) or would I just corrupt WIN 98 SE again once I reloaded whatever corrupted it to begin with? Also, what if I upgraded to WIN ME (assuming I could find a copy)?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Under the GENERAL tab in MSCONFIG, all 5 were unchecked. Process WINSTART.BAT file was not checked to begin with.

Also, there's a Diagnostic Startup option under the GENERAL tab. Would that be a useful tool to try?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Here's a long shot, I think I'll wait for Larry to comment on your last questions though..........but while you're waiting, have a read here:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q192835&

Certainly can't hurt to try it  If that solves it, I'll be screaming


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

If I remember correctly, diagnostic startup is Safe Mode.

No, you can't copy Safe Mode VxDs.

No, reinstalling 98 won't help, because the installation will preserve your existing VxDs.

Installing Me might work, as that is a new OS and will replace most of the VxDs.

As for the card removal - it doesn't matter that they were there before when things were working. Something is not working now - just because the cards we ok before does not mean they still are.

Just saw Candy's post - damn, a PDR file... I didn't think of that. It is certainly possible - that file may not be used in Safe Mode. I'm not sure. Certainly worth a try.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I applied the MS fix Q192835. Afterwards, I was able to copy two different sets of files from the C to A drive without an error message being displayed! Perhaps its fixed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Ok, I said I was gonna scream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YAY!.............I still can't believe I didn't pull that out of my Microsoft BS earlier.......... I feel like an idiot  


Now, we can concentrate on the secondary IDE channel.........

You've got to get back into the bios.....there must be something there for the secondary IDE channel........


I told you this was getting personal  Almost a 2 month project


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

In the manual, beginning on page 3-7, the IDE Adapter 1 settings are displayed. None seem to apply to a CD R/W. Type Options include NONE, USER, and 1 through 39. I'll chech the current settings and post them.....


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

The CDRW is connected on the secondary ide connector, correct? By itself?

In the bios, do you see primary ide controller and secondary ide controller?

I believe what the confusion is, that ide 0 is your primary hard drive...........the controllers are a different animal.


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## Jtoast (Oct 3, 2002)

Been kinda following this one...

Just wanted to send a quick congrats to ya on the floppy fix...hehehe


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

The two hard drives are on IDE Adapter 0 (Master and Slave)

The CD R/W is on the secondary connector by itself.

IDE adapter 1 settings are as follows:


Main Screen
IDE ADAPTER 1 MASTER (None)
IDE ADAPTER 1 SLAVE (None)


IDE Devices Screen

Autotype Fixed Disk - PRESS ENTER
Type - NONE
Cylinders - blank
Heads - blank
Sectors/Track - blank
WritePrecomp - blank

Multi-Sector Transfer - DISABLED
LBA Mode Control - DISABLED
32 BIT I/O - ENABLED
Transfer Mode - Standard


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Available MICRON BIOS Upgrades are at:

MICRON BIOS UPGRADES


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Can we check the jumpers on the CDRW........can you open the tray?

Another thing that seems curious, didn't you say you had one SCSI drive of some sort?

Another item of note, the bootdisk that I had you made? Can you attempt to boot with that floppy, choose cdrom support and gain access to the cdrom that way?

Thanks Jtoast......  we're giving it our best shot........soon we'll have a huge SOLVED here!


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Some quick answers:


I have a separate Plextor SCSI CD ROM drive that works fine.

I can open the tray on the Cendyne 32x12x40 CD R/W.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Should I open a new and separate incident posting just for the CD R/W?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Since everyone knows the history here regarding the bios settings, setup, etc. I think it's best we keep it here, at least for now........If you start a new thread, there will be the same, how is everything connected, how is it jumpered, etc. I really think we are close to getting this whole enchilada solved 

Try the bootdisk and see if we can access that puppy.....and keep looking thru the bios.....there just has to be some setting to enable the main controller and the secondary controller.......you are sure we have the cdrw jumpered as master, correct?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I just pulled the CD R/W and reset the jumper. It was and is put in where the installation guide says. After booting up, I checked DEVICE MANAGER to see if there's still an error for the CD R/W. The error (CODE 10) did not change AND now there's a CODE 10 error for the floppy! I then successfully copied my test files to the floppy disk again with no problem.

The error for the floppy indicates no drivers may be installed!

Let me know if you suggest I leave the cover off the PC to do more CD R/W reconnects


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

The code 10 (not the floppy one) but the other one, is it on the CDRW itself? or on the ide controller?

In the device manager do we still have nothing on IRQ 15? Did the floppy drive get it's IRQ taken away from it? It should be on 6.

Any luck in the bios setup for IDE controller info? Mine says onboard pci IDE controller.......anything like that?

And as another thought, if it is the ide controller with the exclamation mark, go to the dual controller item on #14, double click on it, go to settings and tell me what is there, default? or maybe even primary only? Can you change it to 'both ide channels enabled' ?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

The floppy controller is still on IRQ 6.

The other CODE 10 error is on Primary Ultra ATA Controller.

There is an Integrated PCI IDE setting under the Advanced tab. Its possible settings are BOTH, DISABLED and PRIMARY. When last I checked it was set at PRIMARY. I had tried setting it to BOTH, but nothing happened so I reset it back.

Where would I find the IRQ setting #14?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Can you set it to both and then reboot?

14 is the primary, not sure why that has an exclamation mark now....it didn't before, correct?

Right click on my computer, properties, performance, are we still in dos compatibility mode? Probably........


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I've set it to BOTH. The Secondary Ultra ATA Controller now appears in Device Manager with a CODE 10 error.

The Primary Ultra ATA Controller has always, since I installed the CD R/W that is, shown a CODE 10 error.

I'll have to check on the DOS Compatibility question (after I find where you told me to check before...too many changes and too few beers)


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Hehe, I'll have another one for you.......you right click on my computer, then properties, then performance.....it probably still says the same thing though....but I'm happy that we now have the secondary there.......if you go to msinfo32 and hit ok....go to hardware, IRQs......do 14 and 15 both appear there? And 6 as well?

Next thing to do, is back to device manager, and select the primary ide controller, then choose update driver......the drivers that you downloaded before is where you are going to want to browse to.........do one at a time.........


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

A, C and D are all using MS DOS Compatibility Mode


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

0	System timer
1	Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard
2	Programmable interrupt controller
3	Communications Port (COM2)
4	Communications Port (COM1)
5	Creative Sound Blaster 16 or AWE-32
6	Standard Floppy Disk Controller
7	Printer Port (LPT1)
8	System CMOS/real time clock
9	SupraMax 56i Voice PCI
9	SUP2750 PCI Modem Enumerator
9	IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
10	Future Domain TMC-1650/1660/1670/1680 SCSI Host Adapter
11	CMD USB Open Host Controller
11	S3 Trio64V+ PCI (765)
11	IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
11	IRQ Holder for PCI Steering
12	PS/2 Compatible Mouse Port
13	Numeric data processor
14	Primary Ultra ATA controller
14	Intel 82371FB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller
15	Secondary Ultra ATA controller
15	Intel 82371FB PCI Bus Master IDE Controller


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

What drivers are you referring too?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

The ones you downloaded many pages ago.....but those IRQs look nice now........just for fun, can you try the CDRW?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

No luck on the CD R/W.
Should I change from MS DOS Compatibility Mode?
Can't find the drivers you're referring to. I'll have to go through the posts and find the link again and re-download.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

What do you mean, should you change from dos compatibility mode? Are you still forcing it via msconfig? If yes, then please.....give it a try........I think I forgot you did that.......


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I just went through all 145 posts. I found 1 driver suggestion. I attempted to apply the fix but it did not apply to what I'm running.

From what I read, MS DOS Compatibility Modeis set because I don't have better drivers to use.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Did you try going back to msconfig and setting things back to the way they were?

Also, have a run thru this for info:

To force Windows to attempt to reinitialize the protected-mode IDE driver you'll have to remove the noide entry from the registry: 

Start the Registry Editor 
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ VxD \ IOS 
Delete the NoIDE entry 
Search your registry for BAD_IDE (You can Search the registry by pressing F3 while working in the registry editor. 
Delete any BAD_IDE values you find 
After you update the registry, restart Windows. Windows will then attempt to initialize the protected-mode driver for the controller. If no problems are encountered, the file system and virtual memory will operate in 32-bit mode, and Device Manager will not display an exclamation point in a yellow circle for the IDE channels. 

If the protected-mode driver is not initialized properly, an error message will be displayed and the NoIDE registry entry will be re-created.


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

zarniro...

Did you upgrade from W95 to W98 ??

If so look at post # 40...


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

There were no NOIDE or BAD_IDE entries found to be deleted.


I reviewed settings under DEVICE MANAGER for HARD DISK CONTROLLERS - Intel 82371FB PCI BUS Master IDE Controller. The DUAL IDE CHANNEL SETTINGS (which, perhaps should be automatically changed by the BIOS) is set to "DEFAULT". Other settings include: BOTH IDE CHANNELS ENABLED; PRIMARY IDE CHANNEL ENABLED ONLY; SECONDAY IDE CHANNEL ENABLED ONLY; NO IDE CHANNELS ENABLED. Should I change this to BOTH ENABLED and if so can it disable the PC?


As to POST 40: I did upgrade from Windows 95 to Windows 98SE. I've run the download and I get a message no BMD-IDE driver found. Also, there is no DMA check box to select.


As to the FLoppy Drive CODE 10 error: Even though the floppy drive's working better; any thoughts as to its cause or fix (or should I even bother)?


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

For the floppy - leave it alone. It makes no difference how Windows treats the drive since it is so slow anyway - as long as it works. Hard drives are different - in compatibility mode they run much slower than normal, and of course, in your case, the CD isn't working either.

Did you ever try the boot floppy with CD support to see if it works? That will tell us if you have the CD physically connected correctly, which is important.

Also, you may want to try this - disconnect the new drive and reboot. Check the IDE controller in Windows - does it still have errors? If not, try changing the jumper on the CD (if it is master, change to slave, if slave, change to master) as some motherboards simply like one setting over the other.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I went to create a new 98 boot disk floppy in NORMAL mode to do Larry's suggested CD test, but I got three fatal exception errors during formatting. This happened earlier during the attempted BIOS upgrade but addresses were different:


A fatal exception OD has occurred @

0028:C003DB92 in VXD V86MMGR(01) + 0000006A 


#2 @ 4906:015F268B 

#3 @ 0246:015F47FB


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Try that last Microsoft fix again, maybe that same file got corrupted again........did you download that boot disk that I had posted a link to........and were you able to execute it to a floppy earlier?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I had successfully created a boot disk earlier from the download link you sent me.

I'll reapply the fix and let you know.

As to Larry's suggestion; How do I the boot floppy with CD support to see if it works? 

What's your thoughts on:

I reviewed settings under DEVICE MANAGER for HARD DISK CONTROLLERS - Intel 82371FB PCI BUS Master IDE Controller. The DUAL IDE CHANNEL SETTINGS (which, perhaps should be automatically changed by the BIOS) is set to "DEFAULT". Other settings include: BOTH IDE CHANNELS ENABLED; PRIMARY IDE CHANNEL ENABLED ONLY; SECONDAY IDE CHANNEL ENABLED ONLY; NO IDE CHANNELS ENABLED. Should I change this to BOTH ENABLED and if so can it disable the PC?


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

Changing the settings in Windows will not hurt the PC. Worst case, it will lock up during boot and you will need to boot into Safe Mode and change it back to the way it was.

To test the boot floppy - put it in and turn the computer on. It should assign a drive letter to your CDROM or give you an error saying it could not find a CDROM.

Did you try unhooking the internal CD to see if the error in Device Manager goes away?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

I thought we had already set that to 'both enabled' and that was the reason we now have both IDE controllers showing up in the device manager, no? Take another look to be sure they both appear....if so, then leave it where it is at.

To boot with the boot disk, shut the computer down, put the floppy disk that you made, make sure it has more than one file on it and that you indeed expanded it, not just downloaded the one file to the floppy disk.......then turn the computer on, you should receive a start menu to choose with cdrom support...select that, and watch the info scroll by....it should say something happy like CDROM drive found = 1. Then you should be able to place a cd in the drive, change to the drive letter of the cdrom, which will go one letter ahead (you may be able to catch what drive letter is assigned with the info scrolling by as well), and access the cd that you have in the drive......by typing the drive letter, for example....

E:
and press enter.....if it changes, it recognizes the drive is there, if you get invalid drive specification......that will not be good....we will then need to recheck connections and jumpers.

If it changes to the drive letter, then type

dir
and press enter.....

you should get a listing of the files on the cd........

EDIT:
Oops, good, Larry, you are back


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

FLOPPY DRIVE
I tried copying files from the C drive before reapplying the fix. It worked. I reapplied the fix to see if it would clear up the problems with the 98 boot disk creation. Instead, the floppy drive file copy problem returned.



CD R/W
I totally disconnected the CD R/W. The Primary and Secondary ULTRA ATA Code 10 errors remained after the drive was disconnected. It is still removed pending our next test.


98 CD R/W BOOT TEST
With the renewed floppy problems, I did not run this test.


(Sorry for the delay in getting back. I thought I posted this message last week, but something must not have worked or been done properly. In checking the thread today I saw my message was absent.)


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

Can you have someone else create the CD boot disk for you?

At this point I am beginning to wonder if the problem is actually somewhere in the floppy controller on the motherboard. By having someone else make the disk, and then having you use it, we will take one more step.

You should hook the CDRW back up before doing this, because that is another reason for this disk - to see if the CDRW actually works and it is a Windows problem or if the CDRW is not connected correctly / working.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I have the 98 boot disk I created last week from the download site ACACANDY recommended. Will that do?


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

If it is one with CD support, sure.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I don't know if it has CD support. I downloaded the boot disk from the website the first time she suggested it, however there were no instructions or options for CD support when I downloaded it. 

I will ask someone to create and send me another one, but it will take a while to receive. I'll get back to you when I have it (unless you think we should try what I have).


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

why not try it? It either has CD support or it doesn't.

If you boot with it and it talks about CD being set up, great. If it doesn't, you wasted a minute or two and have to wait for that disk sent by someone else.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Is there anything I need to do other than shutting the PC down and restarting it with the boot disk in the floppy drive?


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

nope.

Well, don't forget to hook the CDRW back up first, but other than that, nothing special.

Just watch the boot process to see if it assigns drive letters to your SCSI CD and the IDE CDRW and if it does, put a CD in the CDRW and try to do a DIR of that drive letter to see if it works.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I will do the boot attempt and post he results shortly. 

However, before I forget, I went it DEVICE MANAGER and changed the setting for the INTEL 82371FB PCI MASTER IDE CONTROLLER - DUAL IDE CHANNEL SETTINGS from DEFAULT to BOTH IDE CHANNELS ENABLED. Nothing seems to have changed for better or worse as a result.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I tried booting with the floppy containing the downloaded files. I inserted the floppy before I turned the PC on. I ended up with an A: prompt. (SHhould I have waited for any screen prompt before I inserted it? Should I have entered something at the A: prompt?)

Also, I just located a WINDOWS 98 STARTUP disk I think I created a couple of years ago. Any suggestions?


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

You should end up at an A prompt - that's the idea.

Did anything about CDROMs show up? If not, the disk is just bootable, it doesn't have CD support.

The 98 startup disk may have CD support - it is worth trying.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Nothing about CD support showed up. What should I do if I end up at the A: prompt with the WIN 98 Startup Disk?


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

You are supposed to end up at the A prompt.

If CD support shows itself, you need to see what drive letter is assigned to your CDRW and then take a DIR of that letter (after putting a CD in of course) to see if it works.

If CD support shows up but your CDRW is not listed, something is not set correctly.

If no CD support shows up you will need to get a disk with CD support.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

The WINDOWS 98 START UP I had does have CD support. It found a drive, but it appears to have only found the SCSI drive, not the CD R/W. No new drive appears in my computer, and inserting a CD in the CD R/W does not do anything. (Using the same CD in the SCSI CD drive did autolaunch the software that was on it).However, I may have done something wrong when I got to the A: prompt. What should I have done when I got there?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Did you see a menu to choose 'start with cdrom support' ?
As info scrolls by, did you see a happy message about finding the CDRW?

If so, once at the a: prompt, you want to change drive letter to your cdrw......(with the boot disk, will be pushed one letter ahead from where you are used to seeing it) and see if you can't get a directory of the contents.

If the cdrw didn't load, you should see some kind of error message about it not being found, and it will continue on to the a: prompt.......If you receive neither the CDRW is either not jumpered correctly, not connected correctly or dead.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

It did find a CD device. I did not, however, see a drive assignment. Not knowing what to do, I rebooted after the A: prompt. I'll try again a little later and repost.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

It found the CD R/W! It assigned it a drive of E which is the drive identifier for my SCSI CD Rom drive. I put a CD in the CD R/W and successfully got a directory. However, I rebooted after that as I didn't know the next steps.

What should I have done next ?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Try getting a directory on F.........not sure how SCSI drives line up......take a look at c: ahead and see what we have........good news on the CDRW.............


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I assume that F will be assigned to the SCSI CD ROM drive. Assuming a directory there also works, what do I need to do to keep the successful drive assignment and get into Windows? Also, I assume I can now put the case back on the PC as it appears the CD R/W is connected correctly. Let me know if you feel I should leave it off.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

If it appears in the dos mode, and you can get a good directory, then it is connected correctly. Now we have to deal with the IDE controllers and figure out why everything wants to run in dos compatibilty mode.........where's Larry........... 

Once you restart windows, there's no guarantee that the CDRW will appear, but at least we know what the problem ISN'T and that's progress 

But, for right now, restart into windows with the case open, I've had it happen when people put the case back on, they knock something else loose.......let's just go with the flow for right now.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I'll leave the case open and wait on testing the SCSI CD ROM drive (assumed to be assigned F when we're done) until we do any next steps. It is great to be making progress.....


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

Well, I, for one, am sure about the CDRW - it will NOT show up in Windows.

Until we fix the IDE controller error, or work around it. If it was just a CDROM we could use a simple work around, but I assume you actually want to write CDs with it, so setting up DOS mode drivers won't work. We have to fix the IDE controller.

To be honest, looking back over the thread, I think we've done pretty much all we can to fix it. I don't know if we simply have the wrong driver or if one of the files in Windows is messed up, but I can't think of anything else to try to get it back into normal mode.

I don't suppose you feel like wiping the hard drive and starting over?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Unfortunately, the reason I bought the CD R/W was because I have over 700 meg of user files and need to back them up. 

Does what we've done eliminate the unapplied BIOS upgrades as the possible culprit?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

This may be a silly idea.....but.....do you have access to another hard drive, or a friend who may have a spare drive laying around?

Or even with the price of hard drives now, could you buy another one?

For that matter a friend who can just back up the files that you are concerned about with his/her CDR/CDRW?


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

No, actually - I had forgotten about that. Selective memory I guess.

We now know that you can boot correctly from floppy, which means you can do the BIOS upgrade. You just have to have someone else put it on floppy for you.


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I have two hard drives in my system.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

You want to move a bunch of data to CD... but what about Windows itself? Is the installation of Windows, and any programs you have added, a big deal to you?

Personally I have spent a lot of time getting my machine where I want it, so the idea of starting over is not pleasent. But some people don't care because they either haven't done much or don't like what they have done.

Which are you?


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Beyond saving the data, recreating my PC's setup is important to me. I haven't, as I expect many haven't, kept track of all the tweaks and software changes made over the years. 

Before any re-install, I'd have to try to create a list of those things I need to re-download and re-install, as well as tweak. Also hunt for all the registration numbers I may need. 

Afterwards, I know there would be many Windows, IE and other software upgrades & fixes that I'd have to redownload and reinstall. 

As daunting and time consuming as all that seems, another big concern for me is not knowing if the rebuilding process will not just recreate the problems I'm trying to fix.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

Well, the last part of your concern is why AcaCandy asked if you had a spare hard drive to play with.

If you do, you can install a clean copy of Windows on it and find out if it works or not before messing with your existing installation.


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## Jedi_Master (Mar 13, 2002)

Just a thought...

Have you tried going here, and see if Microsoft will detect the chipset, and provide the BM IDE drivers...

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Thanks. I run Windows Update at least twice a month. I did just run it again. Unforunately, it did not find any appropriate updates.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

As a point of reference, on the windows updates, it has happened in the past, that IDE controllers were updated resulting in the msdos compatibility mode that you are now experiencing.....I would take windows updates only after checking to see if they are necessary.......especially for 'hardware' fixes they know nothing about


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I don't recall ever seeing a driver update for my PC in Windows Update. Of course, that doesn't mean Miscrosoft didn't disguise it as something else or slip it into a "critical update" that I installed.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

I didn't either until I was forced into msdos compatibility mode all of a sudden..........a scanreg /restore fixed me right up, but I saw it right away...............


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I have been unable to get a working BIOS upgrade disk made. The person making it for me continues to run into errors.

I've been thinking of re-installing WIN 98 SE to see if that helps as it seems we've exhausted most other ideas. Can anyone point me to some good step by step directions.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

A reinstall? Or format and clean install? We've tried reinstalls in the past on the dos compatibility mode issue and it's doesn't appear to be corrected this way.......perhaps Larry will pipe back in on that issue as I've beckoned for his help on this issue in the past.

Here's a link for a clean install.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q221829


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

A totally clean install would be nice (wipe the drive and start over or use a different drive) but I don't think that just installing on top of what you have will make any difference.


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## RJCE Support (Oct 6, 2002)

Okay here is the issue.... I am the one helping with the problem here, I finally was able to get the BIOS disk created... it isn't a boot disk... but I got the instructions to run their FLASH utility.

This weekend I stopped by and we attemtped to flash the BIOS with the latest update, which to my best memory was approximately a 9/98 dated bios update. Still not enough to support LARGE HD's such as his 20GB HD, but may have helped elsewhere.

Well, after the BIOS update... the computer freezes after initializing the "Starting Windows 98..." and loading the CD ROM driver for the SCSI CDROM. Restarting and going into SAFE MODE works... and shows the correct HD Size. So... the question is, what did the BIOS update touch that causes the NORMAL mode to hang before it starts up?

My suspicion is that WDC's EZ BIOS is Not just software... and that it has something to do with the actual BIOS as well, and by doing the new BIOS flash it cleared a flag or something telling the system to use the EZ BIOS instead. BUT... the question remains... why does SAFE MODE work fine?

Unfortunately I am going back to Ohio today, but I just wanted to get this out there because I am going to do everything I can to avoid reinstalling completely -- until we can backup the important data. As of right now the files are there and accessible... at least in SAFE MODE.

Any ideas? =)

~Rich~
RJ Consulting Enterprises
http://rjce1.no-ip.com


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Either the 'real' bios controls the machine, or EZ Bios controls it..........the only REAL reason you need EZ Bios, is if the REAL bios does not see the hard drive for the complete size. Does the bios 'see' the entire hard drive now?

I would think that a 1998 bios should be able to 'see' a 20G hard drive without a problem. This is getting to be a long thread and forgive me for not remembering or reading back thru.....is there more than one hard drive in the machine now?

Have you tried taking EZ-Bios off the drive?

The only difference in safemode and real mode is:

Safe Mode is a troubleshooting tool for Windows, much like the command line switches were for Windows 3.X. Safe Mode allows access into Windows using only the most basic drivers. Autoexec.bat and Config.sys are not loaded. The main portion of the Registry is not loaded. In Win.ini, the load= and run= lines are not loaded. And, in System.ini, the [Boot] and [386Enh] sections are not loaded.

Cut and paste from here.......

http://www.windowsgalore.com/windows.95/safemode.htm


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## RJCE Support (Oct 6, 2002)

1) No, the main BIOS freezes on trying to auto-detect the HD, which I think is partially the cause for the HD freezing when trying NORMAL mode.

2) No, didn't remove EZ BIOS... or disable it... only because I am unsure that by disabling it I can re-enable it should that not fix it, because my goal here is not to lose any of "ronzarn"'s data/files.

I am aware of the differences between them, but the computer freezing on NORMAL boot and in BIOS upon trying to let it auto-detect the drive are too similar to suspect any problems or compatibility issues.

The question is: why would a bios flash, which only affects the hardware bios chip on the motherboard, cause the PC to only like to boot in Safe Mode? And why, does safe mode not have any trouble detecting the size of the drive or any of the data?

I think Western Digital, despite any documentation I have seen or read from them, does in fact modify or add some piece of code to the motherboard's physical bios to tell it to use EZ BIOS instead. And I suspect that has been over-written... which leads to the next question of... well... why don't they allow you to reinstall EZBIOS without reformatting/partitioning your HD?

Also... no problem... understandable about forgetting this whole thread... it has been a looooooooong one.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

How many drives are in the machine? 

I haven't used WD's software, but I'm very familiar with Maxtor's. You can boot with Maxtor's floppy and go to advanced settings and choose NOT to have the drive controlled by EZ-Bios. It does NOTHING to the hard drive itself....the EZ-Bios will still scroll by, you'll see a notation about no drives being controlled by EZ-Bios, and EZ-Bios will unload.

The reason I keep asking how many drives are in the machine, is, if 1 drive is controlled by EZ-Bios, they ALL have to be controlled by EZ-Bios.

I still think the machine loading in safemode has nothing to do with the hard drive or the overlay.

In safemode, can you go to 

start, run, then type msconfig and hit ok...go to startups, uncheck everything except for the two load power profiles, the scanregistry and the systemtray.....save, and reboot.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

EZ Bios (which is NOT made by WD, by the way) has absolutely NOTHING to do with hardware.

It is a piece of software written to the boot sector of the hard drive. If you have any doubts about this just disconnect the drive and boot - you will find that there is no sign of it at all. That is because it is 100% on the hard drive.

You can disable at any time without any danger to drive data, because you can boot from floppy and turn it back on. Uninstalling it is a different matter - but just disabling it is safe.

If BIOS freezes when trying to auto detect the drive then you need EZ Bios. However, as I mentioned a while back, you may want to check into the alternate jumper settings for the hard drive. They will allow BIOS to not lock up (though it will detect the drive as being smaller than it is) and then EZ Bios will take over.

The most likely reason for the BIOS flash causing a lock up is that something in the code changed and Windows isn't sure what happened. Safe Mode doesn't care about changes so it works fine. I would suggest going into Device Manager and removing everything under System, everything under Floppy Contoller and as much as possible under IDE controllers - reboot and let Windows redect all these things.


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## RJCE Support (Oct 6, 2002)

After playing with this thing most of the afternoon, we have decided there is probably not any alternative to just wiping clean and starting from scratch. While this was the obvious answer was to do this, and I said it too from the beginning -- it was not the preferred "fix".

We tried the last several suggestions also... to try the jumper setting, that didn't help. I also attempted to rewrite track 0 (EZ Bios has this option in the advanced setup) to attempt to put back whatever it needs to start Windows 98. It went through a bit faster, and got to a blank screen with blinking cursor... but still hung up there and didn't continue booting. This was all also after removing the IDE, SYSTEM, and FLOPPY controllers.

I am currently attempting as a last ditch effort to disable EZBIOS and then re-enable it, because even after the BIOS update the SYSTEM BIOS doesn't seem to like the size of that drive.

In a nut shell... we'd like to thank everyone for their help and suggestions in trying to get this to work -- however it seems the only alternative at this point is to just wipe clean, reinstall, and pray that this time the drives are all detected properly and function as they should. If anyone has any other comments or suggestions, feel free to post -- we'll check back once everything is back up and running (I am currently using my laptop).


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

I just went back to page 1......there is a C drive and a D drive.........PLEASE, disconnect the D drive and try to boot to the C: drive only..............

GenuineIntel Pentium(r) Processor 
48MB RAM
66% system resources free
Windows-managed swap file on drive C (13903MB free)
Available space on drive C: 13903MB of 19553MB (FAT32)
Available space on drive D: 1280MB of 1546MB (FAT32)

EDIT!

Also, disconnect the cdrom, and that SCSI drive too!


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## RJCE Support (Oct 6, 2002)

New issue....

Windows 98 has been reloaded, with EZBIOS, and cleanly. The problem is the SCSI CD Drive and the CD-RW drive...they won't work simultaneously.

Appearently, the problem with the CDRW drive not working was because of the driver loaded in the AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS for the SCSI Future Controller... once that loaded it must have been locking out the CDRW drive from Windows accessing it.

Now if you leave the driver out of startup files, or add in a second driver in startup (ATAPI) for the CDRW, whether it detects both or not it will only show the CDRW in Windows for some reason.

So now it appears that the problem with the CDRW was not just some weird issue with Windows or with the BIOS itself... it is just that appearently both the SCSI and CDRW can't be run at the same time.


*CURRENT System configuration:*

20GB WDC HD Running EZ-Bios (Primary master)
1.6GB WDC HD (Primary Slave)

CDRW Drive (Secondary Master)
SCSI 40x CDROM (Future SCSI ISA Controller card)



My current thoughts are to create a Start-up menu that will run two seperate start-ups, which will load either the driver for the SCSI CDROM or the CDRW.... however this kinda defeats the purpose of having both in the system to begin with.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone knows how the "Find-CD.sys" device driver could be used to find BOTH, might be of some help. I am getting fairly confident that both are not going to work at same time though... But at least we now know why. Oh... and BIOS still doesn't actually detect the CDRW drive, which it should since it is ATAPI IDE, but that may be part of the reason why the system can only see one or the other.


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## LarryCore (Aug 26, 1999)

Many older BIOSs don't see CD drives, only hard drives, so that's not a big surprise.

You should not be running any drivers in CONFIG or AUTOEXEC for your SCSI devices - they are 16 bit drivers and will mess up Windows, which is why you can't get both working at once.

You need to install the 32 bit drivers for your SCSI controller - they should work just fine with your IDE drives.

What is the full model number of the Future Domain controller you are using? Actually you may be better off replacing that old SCSI card with a newer PCI card... but getting the right drivers would be cheaper.


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## RJCE Support (Oct 6, 2002)

*Future Domain TMC-1610MEX ISA SCSI Adapter (For Plextor) * is what it is from the original invoice from manufacutrer of PC (Micron).

*Future Domain TMC-1650/1660/1670/1680 SCSI Host Adapter*
is what Windows detects it as in Device Manager. It is currently disabled (red x) and for whatever reason can't be enabled even though I disabled the COM2 which is what was conflicting... because appearenty it is using a same IRQ 3 as COM2.

Normally I wouldn't disable COM3 but there were no other available resources... so, that's what I did. Unfortunatly it didn't like it and won't update the driver.

If you have any ideas where to find a 32-bit driver that should help. However, Windows 98 DOES look at the autoexec.bat and config.sys upon startup -- which is why once I loaded that driver in there it actually found it. I don't think the controller is PnP compatible, so thus needed something to tell Windows98 "Hey, there is a device here". I put it in because it was in there upon startup before wiping the drive -- which given the latest findings that one or the other works depending on what is put in startup, may have been the problem all along rather than BIOS or a Windows problem like originally thought by us all.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Can I ask a crazy question here? Why does he need the SCSI cdrom to begin with? Since he has a burner?

It appears from Adaptec's site that they've stopped supporting that adapter card.........

http://www.adaptec.com/worldwide/support/suppdetail.html?cat=/Product/TMC-1650&prodkey=TMC-1650

Another thought, a few months ago, I picked up an Adaptec SCSI controller card for $3 at the flea market......(they initially wanted $5    ) Perhaps a used computer store would have something reasonable.......


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## RJCE Support (Oct 6, 2002)

The same reason many people don't just have the CDRW as a drive in the computer, most put in a regular CDROM or DVD drive so that they can easily copy from CD to CD rather than from CD to HD, then to the CD again 

I hear ya about the flea market or used parts store... it may be the best bet. The ultimate decision here may be building a new PC and thus purchasing a new controller card and that would probably solve the problem entirely.

Thanks for the input


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Ya, I hear you, I guess I'm just using my experience....I have just a burner, and I don't have to copy to the hard drive first......I just put the cd in I want to copy, using Adaptec software, it does its thing, then it asks me to insert a blank disc and it finishes..........so, maybe it IS copying to the hard drive first....but it seems to go pretty fast for doing that...........


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

I've created a new thread for this issue titled "SCSI CD and IDE CD R/W CONFLICT" using an earlier post from RJ as the basic information.

Thanks for all your help with this issue, and please contribute to the new one.....


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## evadiaz (Jan 23, 2003)

Change the flat cable for one flat cable with two out only. Do not put the old flat cable with another out.
Good Luck


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## evadiaz (Jan 23, 2003)

Change the flat cable to one to one flat cable, changing the old flat cable with more than two outlet.
Good Look
Eva


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## zarniro (Sep 18, 2002)

Thanks for the suggestion. However, the problem was ultimately fixed by reloading Windows. But again, Thanks.


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