Can't boot off PATA HDD

[marlinman]

I just sent the below to DFI tech support but am hoping someone here might also have a bright idea!
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Motherboard
*Model Name Infinity nF4 SLI
*Revision R.AF0
*BIOS Date Code 2006/03/01


When I try to boot the PC off a PATA HDD (Samsung sv2042h 20.4 Gb) I get a "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" message. (The PC boots fine off a SATA HDD.) I have cleared the CMOS settings so they are all at default. I have tried this with a HDD that another PC has no trouble booting off.

Next, I try to install XP Prof on another PATA HDD (IBM DJNA-370910 9.1Gb). But when XP setup tries to boot off the HDD after formatting/copying files, it fails. I also try installing Ubuntu Linux and it too fails to boot off HDD.

I have also tried using a Maxtor 6E040L0 40 Gb PATA HDD and this too fails.

The SATA HDD that the system will boot from is a WD CAVIAR SE16 250Gb.

It doesn't help to press Esc during POST and choose a PATA HDD from the Boot Menu as the boot device.

I have also tried various master/slave/ide0/ide1 combinations but nothing works.

 

[bmf2442]

Have you tried a different IDE cable? "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" That means there is no OS on the HD.

 

[marlinman]

Thanks for your reply. But as said above, the OS on the HDD loads fine on another pc, and the XP installer sees the HDD, just won't boot off it during the install process.

Update: I've managed to get a minute distance into the boot process using a hdd on which ubuntu has been installed: "GRUB Loading stage1.5Read Error" appears in place of "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER".

Stumped...

 

[stevty2889]

Disconnect the SATA drive while installing to the PATA drive, and see if that helps, I have had that cause problems for me in the past.

 

[marlinman]

thx - but tried with and without SATA HD connected

 

[marlinman]

I think the "DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER" message appears because of a dying drive. The message that appears using the Maxtor HDD (on which xp is installed, and which another PC can boot off fine) is "Error Loading Operating System". I have found the following

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326676

which may or may not be relevant. Is it possible the IDE drives I have are too small/old for this newer board too boot off?!?!