Ugh-- more computer problems: hangs at booting

Factual Questions
1

So, after working out a jury-rigged solution to an unrelated problem on this same machine earlier tonight, I decided that my final task would be to reformat the hard disk and install a slipstreamed XP with SP2 included, then install some spyware prevention programs and set up firewalls and such. With a now-functioning CD-RW drive, I downloaded SP2 from Microsoft and slipstreamed it into the existing XP setup files, then burned a setup CD. I followed all of the instructions provided by this website (which were identical to those provided by other sites), burned a boot CD, and rebooted.

On reboot, I noticed that the computer didn’t/wouldn’t boot from a CD, despite my specifically choosing it. I tried the CD in both the DVD-ROM and CD-RW drives, but it was a no go. Okay, so I rebooted once more, and got anUNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME error. A quick search told me that this was probably due to an incorrect shutdown (not improbable, considering I’d rebooted the machine several times in a few minutes without letting Windows load completely), and I could solve it by booting from the XP CD and chkdsk’ing. So, I rebooted once more.

This time, I didn’t get past the initial BIOS check. RAM check… fine. Found the drives fine. Then it hangs. The disk activity light is off, it just freezes at the BIOS screen, after completing the checks. I tried to reboot again and enter the BIOS setup, but it hangs there, too. I turned the machine off and did some net searching, then removed the RAM and reseated it, as per a suggestion from a website. I also popped off the CMOS battery and left it out for 5-10 minutes before putting it back in. Tried to turn the machine on, same problem. It hangs after the BIOS load screen. I’d flash the BIOS to a newer version, but I can’t boot from a floppy until after this screen usually disappears.

Tips? Ideas? My initial thought is bad RAM-- the machine has 158 (a 128 MB stick and a 32 MB stick (I think – it isn’t labeled), but only registers 158 in the BIOS check and in XP) MB of RAM, but the same problem happens if I leave in just the 128 MB stick. For reference, here’s the BIOS information, as it appears during boot up and hangs:



PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0.A
Copyright 1985-2000 Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
All Rights Reserved

Copyright 2000 by Hewlett Packard, Inc
  Rev. 2.10
CPU = Intel(R) Pentium(R) III process  1000B MHz
640K System RAM Passed
158M Extended RAM Passed
256K Cache SRAM Passed
System BIOS shadowed
Video BIOS shadowed
UMB upper limit segment address: E77B
Mouse initialized
Fixed Disk 0: ST340823A
ATAPI CD-ROM: SAMSUNG DVD-ROM SD-612
ATAPI CD-ROM: R/RW 8x4x32

Press <F1> to enter SETUP

I’d really appreciate any help any resident computer geeks could offer. Thanks!

2

Try disconnecting the drives and removing all add-in cards except the video card. Then go into the BIOS and set everything up. Then add them in one by one.

3

Just noticed that it doesn’t “hang,” per se-- after about 5 minutes, it continues. The difference, I noticed in Setup, is that the optical drives are listed as Secondary Masters and Secondary Slaves now; if I set both categories back to “none,” then I can continue. I used XP boot CDs to begin the setup process, since I can’t boot from the CD for some reason.

Will setting the drives as “none” instead of secondary master and slave in the BIOS create a problem later?

4

It sounds like one of the optical drives is causing a problem…or it may be the secondary controller…

first thing to check, swap the primary and secondary controllers (Where the IDE ribbon cables connect to the motherboard, swap them) – clear the NVRAM and reboot the system…see what happens.

If the same issue occurs, then try it with only one of the optical drives attached, then the other. See if one of them causes the hanging during boot. That may pin down a bad drive.

Also, if the drives are set to cable select, I’d change one to master, one to slave.

5

Thanks for the help! I just disabled the Secondary Master/Secondary Slave option in the BIOS for the drives; now it boots fine, and Windows recognizes both still. Originally, they were set to Cable Select, but the DVD-ROM drive wasn’t being recognized; now it’s the master, and the CD-RW is the slave.

I guess this solved it…? As long as they both work, that’s fine with me. :smiley:

6

When my systems isn’t shut down “properly” (i.e. re-booting from a crash) I think XP goes into the “checking for disk corruption” mode. With a 40 Gig hard drive this procedure takes a few minutes. I usually get impatient, shut the system down properly, then re-boot, that seems to help. YMMV.