[Emc-users] Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk and Press Enter

[Jim F. - C. S. <ji...@cn...>]

Hi Rafael,

Thank you for the reply.

Setting the BIOS to Auto was tried and did not resolve the problem.  The computer will still boot from the DBAN floppy.  DBAN is Darik's Boot and Nuke (http://www.dban.org/) for cleaning hard drives.  Everything about the computer should be working well.  Prior to trying to update the computer was running the previous version of Ubuntu with EMC just fine.  It also would boot from the CD drive with the 8.04 Ubuntu with EMC CD.  I remembered erasing the hard drive before installing the previous version of EMC.  Since this worked the last time I repeated the process.  This computer is very clean.  Looks nearly brand new.  Examination of the CD drive (I removed it and took the cover off) revealed one very small dust ball which I removed carefully with a paint brush.  After reinstallation, same problem.  No obvious problems with caps on the motherboard.

I'd be willing to try more things.  What should be done next?

Jim


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Rafael Skodlar" <ra...@li...>
To: "Enhanced Machine Controller (EMC)" <emc...@li...>
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 12:33 PM
Subject: Re: [Emc-users] What's coming in manufacturing


> Jim Fleig - CNC Services wrote:
>> Hi Steve,
>> 
>> Thank you for reading my long email.  I didn't know how to convey the information with fewer words.  It looks like you had the same challenge below.  :-)  
> ......
>> Jim Fleig
>> 
>> PS (My attempt to replace a previous version of Ubuntu with 8.04 has
>> resulted in the following error message: Disk Boot Failure, Insert
>> System Disk and Press Enter. Prior to installing the 8.04 version the
>> hard drive was scrubbed with DBAN. I have tried several things that I
> 
> I don't know what DBAN is nor is it important. It is possible, but I
> haven't seen it yet, that there is a program that would interact with
> disk drive microcontroller and mess with low level data on the drive
> (ZBR info for example) or the firmware itself to make it unusable for
> security reasons. I doubt that's worthwhile as a simple hammer will do it.
> 
> Erased disk drives or not, installation program will simply write new
> data after you tell it to do so. It doesn't matter what you used to
> delete previous information.
> 
>> found on the internet (more than a few people have had the same problem)
>> but have yet to solve the problem. It seems that the hard drive needs to
> 
> You are confusing two types of formatting, high and low level. Note that
> low level formating is no longer needed in modern drives.
> 
>> be formatted. I have tried to find a format utility that will fit on a
>> floppy. The computer will still boot from the floppy. I haven't been
>> able to find that utility yet. This is where I so often find myself. The
> 
> Either you have a 20 years old drive, have a bad drive, or are doing
> something that's completely unnecessary.
> 
> It is possible you have hard drive configured as a slave instead of
> master which could cause boot up problems. Make sure:
> - your BIOS is configured correctly (auto),
> - that the battery for BIOS data is good to keep the config between
> power cycles,
> - that cable connectors are inserted properly in correct IDE port and no
> pins are bent,
> - check power supply (voltage)
> - say a prayer
> - whatever else I forgot
> 
> Forget about floppies. They should die 10 years ago since the industry
> failed to accept 120MB and 256MB upgraded ones.
> 
>> computer will not work and I spend hours wrestling with the computer
>> instead of doing whatever it was I wanted to do with the computer. This
>> is where I need tech support.)
> 
> I can only support in SF Bay Area unless you buy me a ticket to fly "out
> there" :-)  I think it would be less expensive to buy a new drive and
> MOBO if that's a problem.
> 
> Note that some new motherboards come with bad caps. Caps let the smoke
> out in a year or two and the PC behaves weird, keeps rebooting. Bad caps
> are easy to detect, they are not flat on top. Unfortunately you can't
> tell that before they go bad.
> 
> Jim, your email needs to wrap at about 75 characters so that we can
> comment your messages appropriately.
> 
> Not sure what this has to do with the subject line in the first place.
> Folks, it's very difficult to search for subject in messages when the
> subject line and thread number have nothing to do with it. Don't simply
> hit a reply to some message and then change everything to start a new
> subject.
> 
> Good luck,
> -- 
> Rafael
> 
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