# Scanning for Option Roms



## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

Does anyone know how to get aroung this screen? When I boot my Win95 machine, it stops responding at this screen. saying Scanning for Option Roms. The machine is a Packard Bell, 200MHz, with a pentium 166. Thanks in advance. . .


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## Triple6 (Dec 26, 2002)

It sounds like the computer isn't finding the hard drive and is looking for other bootable media. Few things to check: in the BIOS setup make sure that the hard drive is detecte and that it is in the boot sequence, prior to other devices. Also make sure that the connectors to the drive have not come loose and that the hard drive is spinning - hopefully it has not died.


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## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

The hard drive is functioning, and I reseated all cards and connectors. I don't have any way to get at the BIOS, though, because it stops responding before I can into anything. I have tried to use the system restore disks, but, like I said the thing won't let me in.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Tap the key to access bios as soon as you hear the first beep, if not before.


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## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

I'm assuming that if I hear no beeps, that's bad. . .

I can get to the screen that shows mouse and keyboard detected, hit f1 for setup, and mmx technology detected, but from there it stops, with no beeps. Thanks


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Hitting F 1 doesn't take you into the setup?


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## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

No, it goes directly to the "Scanning for Option Rom's" message


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Well, then I think I'd disconnect the cdrom, access bios setup and take the cdrom out of the boot search order, if that is an option, if not, put it last.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

By the way, there isn't a disk in the cdrom right now is there?


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## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

I tried to boot it with only the hard drive connected, and still got the same result. I am not very familiar with Windows 95, so what, exactly, is it doing scanning for option roms? Do all OS's do this or is it just 95? Thanks for you patience!


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## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

No. no disks in cd-rom or 3.5


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Is this a new happening then? Was the machine working properly prior?

And it's a bios thing, not a Windows thing. You do know that machine is pretty ancient


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## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

Yes, the machine was functioning properly until I was trouble shooting my cdrw. It wasn't functioning in my Win98 machine, so I stuck it in this one. It is compatible with Win95, but after Installing it, the cd rom drive letter disappeared, and the cdrw never showed up. Neither of the two drives showed up in the device manager. After installing the cdrw, the machine booted once, and then this started. Right now, everything is unhooked except for the hard drive.


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## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

lol, I know its old, but believe it or not, it's my first experience with Win95. I am really glad its my son's computer and not mine


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Silly question, but is the hard drive connected correctly? Try disconnecting it to see if you can get to bios.


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## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

Not silly, I did try that. It still wouldn't let me into the bios. My turn for a silly question: If I unplug the ribbon from it, the computer can't see it, right?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Right.

Let's go into another area. Ram. Reseat the chips, I'm assuming on this there are more than one.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Also, look for a cmos reset jumper on the board. Can the battery be taken out or is it soldered?


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## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

will check. . .


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## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

I reseated the Ram, and removed the battery, it wasn't soldered. Left the battery out for about 5 Min, same result. Should I be able to enter bios with the hard drive unplugged?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

Yes, and even with the floppy unplugged.

Did you look for a cmos jumper pin? Do you have the user's manual or do we need to attempt to scour the internet for one. They are pretty hard to find for some models. What model is it by the way?


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## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

OK with everything unhooked, I finally got into bios, now do I just use the defaults, or is there something else I should look at?

I did not see a cmos jumper pin, but I haven't looked for one before, so I'm not sure what to look for.

It is a Legacy series 1710

And I do have the manual for it, thankfully.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

So, what made the difference? The floppy?????

Set boot order to hard drive first for now, leave floppy and cdrom disconnected and see what happens.

You may have to reset time and date, and have the hard drive re-recognized if it doesn't appear. I forget what those old PB bios pages look like


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## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

It will not boot with the hard drive connected, same old problem. If I unhook it, I can get in to the bios. I disabled the cd rom and the floppy, but it still wouldn't come up. What does the cmos jumper look like? I think I should check that next, maybe?


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

If the hard drive is appearing in the bios setup, and it won't boot with the hard drive connected, the hard drive is shot.


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## wcat68 (Feb 29, 2004)

Bad News. Well if by some miracle, I get it going, I'll update. I appreciate your help very much, Thank You.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

No problem. Like I said, the bios MUST see it. On those older systems you may have to use the heads/cylinders/sector numbers from the top of the drive. Be sure to save changes coming out of the bios setup. You might also try these settings if the ones from the top of the drive don't work:

Disable LBA there (if that is an option) and put USER defined and 1023/16/63.


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## ~Candy~ (Jan 27, 2001)

And be sure the little jumper on the back of the drive is set correctly, although I don't imagine anything changed on it.


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