DeskPro won't boot from floppy.
 

I got my hands on a few Compaq DeskPro 6000 (Pentium Pro 200)
computers. After going thru about 20 of them, I have about 6 of them
that won't boot from the floppy disk.

If I install a hard drive and set it all up with the Diagnostic
Partition and Windows 98 SE, I have no problem booting and reading
from the floppy drive. But if I just try to boot from the floppy,
with no hard drive installed, something I've done without any problems
on the other identical systems I had, i get the Non-system disk error.
Even if i press a key, it won't try to access the floppy (although
just before the error shows up, it does access the floppy).

The floppy disk is fine as it reads it fine if I boot from a hard
drive and it boots fine in another computer.

So why won't it boot from the floppy if no hard drive is present?

TIA

BIOS set to not boot from floppy on some of them ?

--
Rob Fruth - Houston, Tx
http://web2.airmail.net/rfruth

1981 Raleigh for errands & fun ____ __o
1997 Trek 2300 for real fun ! ____ _ \ | _)
2000 Civic hatchback (_)/ (_)


"Lukus" wrote in message
ers.com...
: I got my hands on a few Compaq DeskPro 6000 (Pentium Pro 200)
: computers. After going thru about 20 of them, I have about 6 of them
: that won't boot from the floppy disk.
:
: If I install a hard drive and set it all up with the Diagnostic
: Partition and Windows 98 SE, I have no problem booting and reading
: from the floppy drive. But if I just try to boot from the floppy,
: with no hard drive installed, something I've done without any problems
: on the other identical systems I had, i get the Non-system disk error.
: Even if i press a key, it won't try to access the floppy (although
: just before the error shows up, it does access the floppy).
:
: The floppy disk is fine as it reads it fine if I boot from a hard
: drive and it boots fine in another computer.
:
: So why won't it boot from the floppy if no hard drive is present?
:
: TIA
:


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.530 / Virus Database: 325 - Release Date: 10/22/2003

On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 22:48:26 GMT, "Rob Fruth"
wrote:

BIOS set to not boot from floppy on some of them ?

Then why would it boot from the floppy if a hard drive is present?

I don't recall having seen an option to select the boot priority.
These old Compaqs don't use a standard BIOS. All I saw in there was
an option to tell it what type of floppy drive it was and I had the
option of disabling it, which I left enabled.


--
Rob Fruth - Houston, Tx
http://web2.airmail.net/rfruth

1981 Raleigh for errands & fun ____ __o
1997 Trek 2300 for real fun ! ____ _ \ | _)
2000 Civic hatchback (_)/ (_)


"Lukus" wrote in message
gers.com...
: I got my hands on a few Compaq DeskPro 6000 (Pentium Pro 200)
: computers. After going thru about 20 of them, I have about 6 of them
: that won't boot from the floppy disk.
:
: If I install a hard drive and set it all up with the Diagnostic
: Partition and Windows 98 SE, I have no problem booting and reading
: from the floppy drive. But if I just try to boot from the floppy,
: with no hard drive installed, something I've done without any problems
: on the other identical systems I had, i get the Non-system disk error.
: Even if i press a key, it won't try to access the floppy (although
: just before the error shows up, it does access the floppy).
:
: The floppy disk is fine as it reads it fine if I boot from a hard
: drive and it boots fine in another computer.
:
: So why won't it boot from the floppy if no hard drive is present?
:
: TIA

I've worked on a few Deskpro 6000's must admit don't have one in front of me
nor do I have the setup options memorized but not even a boot option order ?
(thought maybe if no "C" or network boot then no floppy boot) different rom
bios versions ?

--
Rob Fruth - Houston, Tx
http://web2.airmail.net/rfruth

1981 Raleigh for errands & fun ____ __o
1997 Trek 2300 for real fun ! ____ _ \ | _)
2000 Civic hatchback (_)/ (_)


"Lukus" wrote in message
ers.com...
: On Fri, 24 Oct 2003 22:48:26 GMT, "Rob Fruth"
: wrote:
:
: BIOS set to not boot from floppy on some of them ?
:
: Then why would it boot from the floppy if a hard drive is present?
:
: I don't recall having seen an option to select the boot priority.
: These old Compaqs don't use a standard BIOS. All I saw in there was
: an option to tell it what type of floppy drive it was and I had the
: option of disabling it, which I left enabled.
:
:
: --
: Rob Fruth - Houston, Tx
: http://web2.airmail.net/rfruth
:
: 1981 Raleigh for errands & fun ____ __o
: 1997 Trek 2300 for real fun ! ____ _ \ | _)
: 2000 Civic hatchback (_)/ (_)
:
:
: "Lukus" wrote in message
: gers.com...
: : I got my hands on a few Compaq DeskPro 6000 (Pentium Pro 200)
: : computers. After going thru about 20 of them, I have about 6 of them
: : that won't boot from the floppy disk.
: :
: : If I install a hard drive and set it all up with the Diagnostic
: : Partition and Windows 98 SE, I have no problem booting and reading
: : from the floppy drive. But if I just try to boot from the floppy,
: : with no hard drive installed, something I've done without any problems
: : on the other identical systems I had, i get the Non-system disk error.
: : Even if i press a key, it won't try to access the floppy (although
: : just before the error shows up, it does access the floppy).
: :
: : The floppy disk is fine as it reads it fine if I boot from a hard
: : drive and it boots fine in another computer.
: :
: : So why won't it boot from the floppy if no hard drive is present?
: :
: : TIA
:


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.530 / Virus Database: 325 - Release Date: 10/22/2003

On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 01:13:16 GMT, "Rob F."
wrote:

I've worked on a few Deskpro 6000's must admit don't have one in front of me
nor do I have the setup options memorized but not even a boot option order ?
(thought maybe if no "C" or network boot then no floppy boot) different rom
bios versions ?

Even with a bootable hard drive in there, it would boot from the
floppy drive if I had a boot disk in there. Remove the hard drive,
and it now won't boot from the floppy drive, although it tries to.

"Lukus" wrote in message
ers.com...
| On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 01:13:16 GMT, "Rob F."
| wrote:
|
| I've worked on a few Deskpro 6000's must admit don't have one in front of
me
| nor do I have the setup options memorized but not even a boot option
order ?
| (thought maybe if no "C" or network boot then no floppy boot) different
rom
| bios versions ?
|
| Even with a bootable hard drive in there, it would boot from the
| floppy drive if I had a boot disk in there. Remove the hard drive,
| and it now won't boot from the floppy drive, although it tries to.
|

OK, this is a long shot...

Have you tried switching the floppy drives?
Mabye the ones that won't boot from just a floppy drive, don't have the
original Compaq floppy drive. If I remember correctly, the Deskpro 6000
still had the 3-mode floppy drives (720-KB, 1.44-MB, and the Japanese
1.2-MB). Possibly the non-original floppy drive is not recognized as a
bootable devices, unless a hard drive is there. The hard drive could contain
the necessary files for the non-Compaq drive...

Like I said: it's a long shot...


SB

On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 20:58:12 GMT, "Spam Buster"
wrote:

"Lukus" wrote in message
gers.com...
| On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 01:13:16 GMT, "Rob F."
| wrote:
|
| I've worked on a few Deskpro 6000's must admit don't have one in front of
me
| nor do I have the setup options memorized but not even a boot option
order ?
| (thought maybe if no "C" or network boot then no floppy boot) different
rom
| bios versions ?
|
| Even with a bootable hard drive in there, it would boot from the
| floppy drive if I had a boot disk in there. Remove the hard drive,
| and it now won't boot from the floppy drive, although it tries to.
|

OK, this is a long shot...

Have you tried switching the floppy drives?
Yes, I've tried a different floppy drive... same thing.

Mabye the ones that won't boot from just a floppy drive, don't have the
original Compaq floppy drive. If I remember correctly, the Deskpro 6000
still had the 3-mode floppy drives (720-KB, 1.44-MB, and the Japanese
1.2-MB). Possibly the non-original floppy drive is not recognized as a
bootable devices, unless a hard drive is there. The hard drive could contain
the necessary files for the non-Compaq drive...
The floppy drive is an original drive. It is set to 1.44 meg when the
hard drive is in there. My understanding is that the "CMOS" holds the
information on-board; the hard drive contains the program to access
the "CMOS" and doesn't actually hold the CMOS info. I could be wrong
here of course.

What puzzles me is that it will boot fine from the floppy if a hard
drive installed (with the Diagnostic Partition installed). This
excludes the possibility that either the floppy drive or floppy cable
being defective.

Like I said: it's a long shot...


SB

"Lukus" wrote in message
rs.com...
[...]
| The floppy drive is an original drive. It is set to 1.44 meg when the
| hard drive is in there. My understanding is that the "CMOS" holds the
| information on-board; the hard drive contains the program to access
| the "CMOS" and doesn't actually hold the CMOS info. I could be wrong
| here of course.
|

No, sorry, you're wrong. In that generation of Compaq, the actual CMOS
settings were contained in the Setup Partition (what you call Diagnostics
Partition).


SB

On Sun, 26 Oct 2003 01:56:13 GMT, "Spam Buster"
wrote:

"Lukus" wrote in message
ers.com...
[...]
| The floppy drive is an original drive. It is set to 1.44 meg when the
| hard drive is in there. My understanding is that the "CMOS" holds the
| information on-board; the hard drive contains the program to access
| the "CMOS" and doesn't actually hold the CMOS info. I could be wrong
| here of course.
|

No, sorry, you're wrong. In that generation of Compaq, the actual CMOS
settings were contained in the Setup Partition (what you call Diagnostics
Partition).


SB



No, sorry, you're wrong. The CMOS settings were never kept in the
Setup Partition on any machine of ANY generation. You could run the
software that resided in the Setup Partition from diskettes without a
hard drive in the machine or without a Setup Partition on the hard
drive and it would save the information in CMOS just the same.

Lukus wrote:

On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 01:13:16 GMT, "Rob F."
wrote:

I've worked on a few Deskpro 6000's must admit don't have one in front of me
nor do I have the setup options memorized but not even a boot option order ?
(thought maybe if no "C" or network boot then no floppy boot) different rom
bios versions ?

Even with a bootable hard drive in there, it would boot from the
floppy drive if I had a boot disk in there. Remove the hard drive,
and it now won't boot from the floppy drive, although it tries to.

A "normal" BIOS has a boot sequence option. Older BIOS'es were limited
to changing that setting from C: - A: to A: - C:, affecting where the
BIOS looked for a boot drive first. If the Compaq BIOS has that option
it could be the source of the disparity between the machines that will
boot from floppy without a hard drive installed and those that won't,
looking for a C: drive that doesn't exist.