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Thread ID: 103683 2009-10-02 23:58:00 Drive A Error: System Halt Flourchild (15290) Press F1
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816219 2009-10-02 23:58:00 We had an old computer sitting in storage until the other day. We decided to bring it up and have it in the office for a secondary computer for offline purposes. When we took it down (about two years ago) everything worked fine. We plugged it in, set everything up, and suddenly when it tried booting we got a message saying

Drive A Error
System Halt

followed by beeping. We replaced the Floppy Drive, same thing. We replaced the power supply, same thing. I am currently waiting for my son to return with a new battery for the motherboard; however, I do not believe that is the problem (don't want to rule out something that easy to fix though). The BIOS is not accessible as the computer refuses to boot without the floppy drive. The computer was custom built in 2001 and I do not know all the specifications. If anyone knows anything about what could possibly be causing this, please let me know.


*Edit*
Son just returned with new battery, same result.
Flourchild (15290)
816220 2009-10-03 00:12:00 You should be able to get into the BIOS regardless of what its saying about the floppy. Since its the BIOS that lets you change the settings / and the device to boot from. That error probably means the floppy is the bootdisk in the BIOS (go into the BIOS and change the bootdisk, to the hdd). And see if there are any options to do with halt on error, in the BIOS. If there is disable it . Looks like bad memory can also cause the prob you're seeing. Make sure its in properly, or replace / remove 1 stick of ram (if there's 2 sticks in the case). Speedy Gonzales (78)
816221 2009-10-03 00:27:00 Cannot get to the option to get into the BIOS as the computer freezes before that. As for the memory, I have already removed all the memory and replaced it 1 stick at a time (we have 3 sticks in right now). When I hit the power button on the computer this is what I get:

Award BootBlock BIOS V1.0
BIOS ROM CheckSum Error
Detecting Floppy Drive A media
Drive A Error. System Halt

and then it beeps and refuses to do anything or respond to anything.
Flourchild (15290)
816222 2009-10-03 00:37:00 What keys have you tried to get into BIOS? Delete? F2? F1? Is the floppy cable connected the right way (does the led on it stay on)?? If it does, the cable is the wrong way round Speedy Gonzales (78)
816223 2009-10-03 00:46:00 Highly unlikely that the "Drive A" message comes before BIOS. Do you get anything displayed when you switch on - i.e. before the Drive A message?
You need to interrupt the boot process with Esc, Delete, F1, etc (it's guess-a-key at this stage!)
coldot (6847)
816224 2009-10-03 00:50:00 Have tried F1, F2, F8, F10, Esc, Del. There is no way to interrupt, the computer does not respond to any of these keys being pressed. And there is nothing that comes up on the screen before the message that I posted earlier. Flourchild (15290)
816225 2009-10-03 00:55:00 Try another keyboard see if it makes a diff. If the one you used is PS/2 try USB if the case has USB ports Speedy Gonzales (78)
816226 2009-10-03 00:59:00 What's the os? Would putting a win 98 recovery floppy in the drive help? the_bogan (9949)
816227 2009-10-03 01:11:00 Already swapped out keyboards. First tried a USB, was not recognized. Now using a PS/2 and it's lighting up, but not responding, the new keyboard is brand new just out of the box today. Using Win XP, do not have a floppy for it, only a disc. Flourchild (15290)
816228 2009-10-03 02:07:00 Forget keyboards, RAM etc.
The BIOS is stuffed.
You can try downloading the newest BIOS for this particular model of motherboard and flashing it, if not, then the boards dead.
pctek (84)
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