Rob Aye

First ... whats up and hello to all. Virgin post.

This is my first PC build and so far Ive fought my way through all the tech issues until ... this:

System is built and runs stable: XP SP2, all drivers..chipset.. yada yada on a single WD SATA drive.

I remove two WD IDE drives from old comp, 80g Caviars, and try to connect them up to the 1 IDE controller (DVD-RW is master on #2). Jumpers set to cable detect ... pc fails to enter BIOS.

Adjust jumpers to Master and Slave ... same.

Remove the second drive and try a single HD on cable connect ... same.

Try single HD jumpered as Master ... same.

Anytime the IDE drive(s) is disconnected, PC boots right up, enters BIOS, what ever I ask ... it does. Connect the IDE drive(s) ... notta? Am I missing something here? Anyone seen this before? Thanx for your help.

Bdog

I would try the other IDE channel and try another cable.

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Muttzcuttz

If the configuration has changed I have seen it take a while to enter the BIOS. My old board could take 5 minutes to get into the BIOS, then once changes saved and rebooted, it was happy as larry.

What happens if you leave it for 5 mins

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Rob Aye

Well...both great ideas. Sorry to say niether worked. Swapped cables too known good, same results. Let the PC try to boot for 8 mins, just sits there.

With either IDE drive attached, the comp goes to the Main MSI Diamond Bios boot screen (tab or del) and sits there. IF you wait to long, neither tab or del can be used. If you try del as soon as it comes up, to enter bios, it doesnt enter bios, but runs thru some quick IO tests ... like usb x, IDE 1 master WD, IDE 1 Slave not detected, IDE 2 Master DVD drive, Master 3 SAta drive ...but, just sits there .... this is where I let it sit for the 8 mins.

Disconnect the IDE cable and reboot, Im getting some partial msg with the following "tup ... S.M.A.R.T. yada yada bad ... F1 to continue". I do this and it boots to the SAtA drive into WinXP ... off and running.

Muttzcuttz

have you tried it with cd rom drives and flopy drives unpowered and data cables disconnected?

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