Is my old comp borked?

[Zoid]

I´ve been fiddling around with my old comp, trying to fix it up for resale. Disconnecting and reconnecting the big (non-system) HD to move stuff to the new comp. It all went fine but after a few turns of unsuccessfully trying to use Disc Wizard to force the BIOS to acknowledge the full size of the HD (I used a boot disk before) the computer halts before the system can load. I can enter the setup so it´s not a complete freeze, the system just refuses to load. The HD´s are recognized by BIOS so it´s not that...

Any ideas folks? I´m stumped

[BlackCat]

format d:\ + format c:\

Install linux.

Sorry, that's mean, but it is christmas time

[Zoid]

Well, format only works if you can access the HD´s. Which I can´t so... You got any advice I can actually use?

[Tuberski]

Where is your boot disk you used before?

ACK!

[Zoid]

It´s in the drive. But it doesn´t do squat as the boot halts right after the memory and HD check test. All I get is the black screen with the white text that shows the amount of RAM and my connected IDE devices.

[Provost Harrison]

Are you sure all the IDE cables are inserted correctly? If you are, check again...

[Zoid]

I´ve disconnected and connected them 3 times while shifting position of the connectors and switching cables between the CD-RW and HD. The only thing left is disconnecting the system HD and just have the storage HD connected. But I´m not hopefull I´ll probably have to sell the comp in parts...

[Provost Harrison]

Perhaps you have bent a pin or something? The problem with trying to give this advice over the internet is that without seeing and playing with the system, it is very hard to diagnose...

[Zoid]

When you mention it, I have had problems with a bent pin on my system HD. I never thought to check this. It looks alright, but maybe there´s a hidden error? In that case disconnecting it should solve the problem. I´ll check it first thing tomorrow. Thanks, PH

[Provost Harrison]

That's quite alright

[Winston]

Commies should not own computers, they'll eventually ruin them just like they do everything else they get their filthy hands on.

[Provost Harrison]

Haven't you got Russian roulette to play with yourself or something?

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by Dr Zoidberg
It´s in the drive. But it doesn´t do squat as the boot halts right after the memory and HD check test. All I get is the black screen with the white text that shows the amount of RAM and my connected IDE devices.

Which means it's trying to boot from the HD, go into the BIOS and have it boot from the (a: ) drive first.

ACK!

[Zoid]

It seems the storage HD was the culprit here. The system refuses to load with it connected. It works fine with just the system HD connected. Now I just have to figure out what the hell is wrong with the big one... Damn, that´s almost half the value of the entire comp gone if I can´t get it to work...

Tuberski, my boot sequence has always been A, C, CDROM. But thanks for the effort nevertheless

[Urban Ranger]

Check the jumpers. Make sure they aren't both set to master (or slave) and don't use cable select.