need help with pc built with "spare" parts... 2

[drunkmestupid]

hello all. first of all sorry for the length, but i try to be as specific as possible.

i have put together a computer from parts i've scrounged together. here are the components:

1. antec 300w atx power supply
2. zerus z-599 motherboard
3. amd k6-3 450mhz cpu
4. 192mb ram (generic chips: 1-128mb, 1-64mb)
5. 3.26gb fujitsu hard drive
6. 24x mitsumi cdrom
7. teac 1.44mb floppy
8. generic 10/100 ethernet pci card

*note* audio, video, modem, and ethernet are all on-board. i am using the video and audio and NOT the modem nor the ethernet (i don't have the connectors). both the modem and the ethernet have been disabled via the onboard jumpers. the hard drive is master on ide 1 and the cdrom is master on ide 2


when i power on, she POSTs fine. the cpu and memory register, and i CAN get into the BIOS. i CAN also boot from a floppy. i CANNOT boot into either the cdrom or the hard drive as niether one registers with the system... as if they're not even there.

THE PROBLEM: neither the hard drive nor the cdrom will power up. the hard drive does not spin and the cdrom door will not open... thus (it seems) why they're not registering...

WHAT I HAVE DONE: used different drives, both hard drive and cdrom... all drives (including the current ones) tested in another system and DO work.

i have also used another power supply, an antec 250w atx supply. same exact results... both supplies have been used with another system and DO work.

WHAT I HAVE NOT YET DONE (what i can think of): used different ide cables


any suggestions?

 

[cyberboy]

Just trying to fully understand the following:

WHAT I HAVE DONE: used different drives, both hard drive and cdrom... all drives (including the current ones) tested in another system and DO work.
I understand from this that you have tried the current drives in another system and they do work (So it's not the drives). Does this also mean that you have tried a proven hard drive and cd rom from another system and they do work in this system?
Depending on your answer, do you see any hard drive or the CD drive in the BIOS under Standard CMOS SetUp. If they don't even show up there at all, it could be that the IDE 1 and 2 controllers, or as you suggest the cables might be the problem. Are you sure that the cable is properly seated in the controller socket and that pin 1 (Top right hand side)matches the cable correctly?
I also notice this board was rated only up to 233 Mhz K6-2, although admittedly they do also say K6-2/3. Presumably a firmware upgrade is required for a 450 Mhz K6-3.

Cyberboy
Every computer is like a snowflake. There are no two alike.

 

[drunkmestupid]

cyberboy,
thanks for your response.

yes, i have tried the current drives in another system and they do work... and yes, i have tried both a proven hard drive and cdrom from another system, but with the same results as the "originals."

in other words, both sets of drives do not work in this system, but do work in another system.

niether drive registers in setup, nor do they detect when booting. the cables are seated firmly (re-seated several times), and pin 1 is correct on both the drives and the board.

the guy i received the board from was successfully running a k6-2 500Mhz cpu. regardles though, setup registers the chip completely.

there is no bios update on the manufacturers web site that i could find...

 

[Mulga]

I would say you have a motherboard problem as cyberboy suggested. Its highly unlikely that both IDE cables would be faulty and there should not be any BIOS issues with older drives of that type. I'm afraid that only leaves the motherboard IDE controller. Help us to help you, please post back and tell us if this helped.

All things are possible except skiing through a revolving door.

 

[roamer1]

make sure the IDE controllers are enabled in CMOS- just happened to remember 'em in my AWARD bios. perhaps set CMOS to reload default.

 

[paparazi]

Hmmmm, IDE1 hard drive? IDE2 Cdrom? is this how the bios is set? I know the connectors on the motherboard say IDE1 & 2 but in the bios Primary channel is normally IDE0 and secondary IDE1, and set to boot from other devices.
The other thing is if this is an older socket 7 motherboard it won't have the 100fsb setting required for the K63 450, although it may run underclocked.
K63 450's require a "Super" Socket 7 motherboard and not just Socket 7, super stands for 100fsb capable and usually have higher clock multipliers allowing for the fastest K6 processor which was the 550mhz (I believe)
Martin Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[gargouille]

Hi dms:

Here's a link to your motherboard's manual...

http://www.zerus.com/zmachinewssupp.asp

Until and unless the BIOS recognizes the hard drive you won't have a bootable machine...if it won't auto detect and you know the size, cyl and settings you might set it to User and get the BIOS to employ the drive. (the cd is a moot issue for now, until you can get it to boot with the HD)

I'd also power down and unplug the cord and jumper the BIOS to clear it...

From what I can see there's not a problem with the components you're trying to use...provided they work.

 

[darrenrd]

THE PROBLEM: neither the hard drive nor the cdrom will power up. the hard drive does not spin and the cdrom door will not open... thus (it seems) why they're not registering.....

im not by any means a computer guru..but to the best of by knowledge the cd-rom door should open regardless of weather it is detected or not...sure your getting power to the cd and the harddrive????just a thought

 

[ceh4702]

These are 2 different problems.

Warning:
First make sure the power is disconnected before unplugging IDE ports. They are not hot pluggable. Neither are Keyboard and Mouse! Unplug the power cord that goes to the back of the case after turning off any surge protector.

1. The CDROM runs off a driver that is on the Hard Drive. Therefore, if the Hard Drive does not run the the CDROM will not work. On some newer systems you can make a CDROM boot from the startup menu if it is first on the boot order. With a win98se boot disk it might boot with an older motherboard using the CDROM support that came with the boot disk.

2. Try looking at the jumpers on the Hard Drive. You might try Cable Select or Master. If you have an IDE cable with 2 cable ends switch the cables around so you use the free one. Make sure the right part of the cable is plugged into the motherboard. The red line is usually on the Pin 1 side of the cable. So make sure pin 1 lines up on the cable both on the motherboard and the Harddrive.

3. Go into the BIOS and look at the hard drive setup. If it is on auto, change it to manual and see if it recognizes there is a drive. There may be a utility to set up the Tracks and sectors that you can use.

4. Then use a win98 boot disk with fdisk on it and boot the computer with cdrom support and run FDISK.EXE Try to view the existing partitions to see if it can recognize the hard drive. You may have to set up partitions again or some such thing.

5. If you can not get the hard drive to work try unplugging the CDROM and use only the Hard drive. Try it on both cables.

P.S. There is not IDE 2; there is only IDE 0 and IDE 1.
That just confuses people. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[gargouille]

Hi ceh:
Reading the manual I referred to would CAUSE the confusion...it lists the IDE connectors as IDE1 and IDE2 in the literature.

Otherwise, star for concise post!

 

[mainegeek]

Have you tried it with just the hard drive? Also
you might have the wrong cables for that mobo.

 

[ceh4702]

You can run into trouble possibly if the old hard drive had XP on it. If it had NTFS on it, the Hard drive can not be read with a DOS or Win98 boot disk. XP expects the ability for the CDROM to be bootable by itself. The XP install CD has the ability to reformat the hard drive from NTFS by deleting the partitions. There are also options for recovering an XP installation on the CD.

If this is the problem, I suggest going to the WinXP Forum or possible reading the information on the Microsoft XP Website. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[drunkmestupid]

hello everyone, thanks for taking the time to respond...

well, i finally had a chance to sit down with it again today and found it was the ide cables after all (both no less... go figure).

she's purring right along now... guess i should have taken a few minutes the other night to dig them out of the closet...

 

[cyberboy]

Glad you're up and running. Thanks for the feedback. It's in everyone's interest...

Cyberboy
Every computer is like a snowflake. There are no two alike.