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Invalid System Disk Prompt...

S

SerialThriller

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 15, 2004
Messages
359
I am trying to put a new 20GB HP HDD in an old Compaq running at 300 Mhz. When i hook up the disk under Master 0 i get the Prompt -

Invalid System Disk
Replace the Disk, then press any key when ready

Any ideas on how to fix this problem?
 
yeah yeah...thought som1 would say that, but the thing is there doesnt seem to be a floppy in there, but i guess ill remove the whole floppy drive to make sure, since the floppy uses the button on the case to open the drive.
 
SerialThriller said:
yeah yeah...thought som1 would say that, but the thing is there doesnt seem to be a floppy in there, but i guess ill remove the whole floppy drive to make sure, since the floppy uses the button on the case to open the drive.
Click to expand...


sorry, its the first thing that comes to mind. just unplug the darn thing, someone could have stuck one of thoes mini cds in there (i have seen it before)
 
is this a brand new, nothin on it hard drive, is it showing in bios and are you booting from a cd?
 
BIOS > change Boot order

also check the jumpers

sounds like the fresh disk is higher in the boot order than the CDROM
and its stal;ling there rather than searching for additional devices
 
yep thats what i was thinking, but since i cant seem to get into the BIOS...

and the jumpers seem to be right, i have tried a few combonations.
 
SerialThriller said:
but since i cant seem to get into the BIOS...
Click to expand...

you should be able to access the BIOS with no drives
start punching F buttons (F1 F2 ect) if its not the delete
 
Ice Czar said:
you should be able to access the BIOS with no drives
start punching F buttons (F1 F2 ect) if its not the delete
Click to expand...

either that or he doesn't know the password
 
its an old Compaq.

What happens is it displays the Compaq logo for like 5 sec and then goes to the disk error, i have put the disk in another comp and the disk is fine...

the only real possiblility left is that there really is a disk in the floppy drive, but then again, i disconnected the floppy drive and still got that error...
 
yeah, when it displays that first screen, it should say at the bottom, press blabla to enter setup or something to that effect
 
hmmm,,,try a couple of different cable oreintations on that FDD
(or ID the #1 pin on the mobo header and FDD)
then try another FDD

if your lucky its the cable or the drive
if your unlucky its the mobo FDD channel
 
Ice Czar said:
hmmm,,,try a couple of different cable oreintations on that FDD
(or ID the #1 pin on the mobo header and FDD)
then try another FDD

if your lucky its the cable or the drive
if your unlucky its the mobo FDD channel
Click to expand...

yeah when you are looking at the back of the drive, the red line should be on the left

sounds like somethin farked with the floppy
 
well...might there be something in the fact that it said the disk was invalid and gives an error, even when the floppy isnt even hooked up?
 
at that point it should be assumed its looking at the new disk which I gather isnt even formatted, but even if it is still doesnt have the ntldr to bootstrap the OS
and that its higher in the boot order than the CDROM
or theat the boot order is stuck on the FDD or that disk and its not looking deeper

by removing the FDD, and making the CDROM the master on IDE0 it should be the first device scanned and be able to boot the computer
if the BIOS will let it (if the boot order is FDD > HDD0 > CDROM then it wont regardless of the native scan order)
 
hmmm ok, so if i set the CD Drive to master it should fix this? but even then i am still gonna want to put the FDD back in, and i cant seem to access the BIOS/...
 
maybe (see edit above)
you really need to access that BIOS to confirm the boot order

if its password protected there are ways around that
but if your just not able to access it at all, well a little reseach is required as to the typical proceedure for a given OEM make
 
try F10

alternately
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Hardware/Q_20603595.html

I did this on a Compaq yesterday & yes, even though Compaqs are F10 to enter the BIOS, if you have fastboot enabled, for some reason they are querky. I ended up getting it to go in by, during the Compaq screen hitting ESC & then F10...or maybe it was ESC, F1 then F10...or maybe DEL was something in there too...but try them in that order first and you should be able to get in.
Click to expand...

follow link for additional possible solutions

worse case senerio
Some of the older Compaqs have their CMOS setup program on a special hard-disk partition rather than in on-board ROM. If the machine has undegone any configuration changes which have overridden this partition, you will need to run the setup program manually from floppy or an available hard disk. GO to Compaq's web site and download the applicable software.
Click to expand...
 
hmmm i cant seem to find the boot sequence in the BIOS.

The model is a 5140 Compaq Presario...

any ideas?
 
sorry Im not familiar with that model\BIOS
just have to hunt through the submenus

alternately throw a few search queries at google
 
hmm i fixed it, not sure exatly what did the trick but it was one of two things...

either when i changed the cd rom drive to master or when i set all BIOS options to default.

anyways...it's fixed :D btw tyvm for your time everyone, especially Ice :)
 
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