No hard drive boot when restoring Presario 633 (486SX system)

I'm trying to restore a Presario 486 SX-33 system. I added a 250 MB Conner
CP30251 hard drive and reformatted it to FAT16 using this machine. Then I
booted to my Win98 master boot disk to get the system going. The hard drive
was automagically recognized as a Type 1 disc and I began to install DOS
6.2. The install went fine. When I rebooted, I got a "non system or disk
error" message. I inserted my boot diskette, pressed the ANY key :-) and
all was well. I decided to try and run Win 3.1 install and, again,
everything installed without a hitch. I rebooted and once again got the
"non system or disk error" message.

I checked the BIOS/setup - diskette boot was enabled, obviously. I wondered
if maybe a system this old didn't have the option of defaulting to C: if
there was no diskette, so I disabled the diskette book and rebooted. I got
a flashing cursor for 8-10 seconds, then the "non system or disk error"
message yet again.

When I boot to my floppy and do dir c:, I see command.com, autoexec.bat,
config.sys, a DOS directory - everything I would expect to find. The hard
drive is setup correctly both in setup and as drive C: when I boot
successfully via floppy.

This has got me bumfuzzled. It's not the end of the world, but I was trying
to get this system set up as a machine to play old DOS and Windows games.
Any pointers or ideas would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks in advance.

JEFF

Some of the old Presarios get flakey if the hard disk is not jumpered for
cable select if the original HD cable is used.

HH


"SV" wrote in message
...
I'm trying to restore a Presario 486 SX-33 system. I added a 250 MB
Conner
CP30251 hard drive and reformatted it to FAT16 using this machine. Then I
booted to my Win98 master boot disk to get the system going. The hard
drive
was automagically recognized as a Type 1 disc and I began to install DOS
6.2. The install went fine. When I rebooted, I got a "non system or disk
error" message. I inserted my boot diskette, pressed the ANY key :-) and
all was well. I decided to try and run Win 3.1 install and, again,
everything installed without a hitch. I rebooted and once again got the
"non system or disk error" message.

I checked the BIOS/setup - diskette boot was enabled, obviously. I
wondered
if maybe a system this old didn't have the option of defaulting to C: if
there was no diskette, so I disabled the diskette book and rebooted. I
got
a flashing cursor for 8-10 seconds, then the "non system or disk error"
message yet again.

When I boot to my floppy and do dir c:, I see command.com, autoexec.bat,
config.sys, a DOS directory - everything I would expect to find. The hard
drive is setup correctly both in setup and as drive C: when I boot
successfully via floppy.

This has got me bumfuzzled. It's not the end of the world, but I was
trying
to get this system set up as a machine to play old DOS and Windows games.
Any pointers or ideas would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks in advance.

JEFF

In article , SV
writes
I'm trying to restore a Presario 486 SX-33 system. I added a 250 MB Conner
CP30251 hard drive and reformatted it to FAT16 using this machine. Then I
booted to my Win98 master boot disk to get the system going. The hard drive
was automagically recognized as a Type 1 disc and I began to install DOS
6.2. The install went fine. When I rebooted, I got a "non system or disk
error" message. I inserted my boot diskette, pressed the ANY key :-) and
all was well. I decided to try and run Win 3.1 install and, again,
everything installed without a hitch. I rebooted and once again got the
"non system or disk error" message.

I checked the BIOS/setup - diskette boot was enabled, obviously. I wondered
if maybe a system this old didn't have the option of defaulting to C: if
there was no diskette, so I disabled the diskette book and rebooted. I got
a flashing cursor for 8-10 seconds, then the "non system or disk error"
message yet again.

When I boot to my floppy and do dir c:, I see command.com, autoexec.bat,
config.sys, a DOS directory - everything I would expect to find. The hard
drive is setup correctly both in setup and as drive C: when I boot
successfully via floppy.

This has got me bumfuzzled. It's not the end of the world, but I was trying
to get this system set up as a machine to play old DOS and Windows games.
Any pointers or ideas would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks in advance.

JEFF



You do not want to use a Windows 98 disk to install DOS 6.2, it really
will cause problems.

However from where you are you could try the following. DOS 6.2 came on
a 3 disk floppy set (some versions may have been 2 disk, mine at least
is 3 disks). The first disk is bootable.

Insert the first disk of the set in the floppy drive (having ensured
that the PC will boot from A: before C and boot from the floppy.

You will get a blue screen offering to install DOS 6.2. Press F3 and
then confirm that you do not want to install DOS. You should then be at
a DOS prompt.

Key SYS C:

This should make your C: drive bootable and copy the DOS 6.2 system
files to the c: drive. If this works you are in business. Remove the
floppy and boot from the C: drive.

If this still does not work, you will need to start from scratch.

Insert the first disk of the set in the floppy drive (having ensured
that the PC will boot from A: before C and boot from the floppy.

You will get a blue screen offering to install DOS 6.2. Press F3 and
then confirm that you do not want to install DOS. You should then be at
a DOS prompt.

Key FDISK and enter. This is to delete all partitions and create a new
DOS partition.

I cannot remember the FDISK option numbers now. You will need to work
it out.

Check what partitions are present (some may be seen as non-DOS
partitions). Delete all partitions.

Having deleted all the partitions create a new Primary DOS partition and
make this active. This I remember as being option 1 and can be done in
one action.

When this is complete, exit from FDISK and switch off the computer.
Very important this switching off.

Re-boot from the A: drive and again exit the install program.

Key FORMAT C:

Confirm that you intend to format a hard drive and let this complete.

From the A: DOS prompt, key SETUP and enter to install DOS.
--
Nicholas David Richards -

"Où sont les neiges d'antan?"

Some of the old Presarios get flakey if the hard disk is not jumpered for
cable select if the original HD cable is used.

Thanks for the idea HH. My guess is that was it. I looked all over the
drive and all over the web for the CS setting for the 240MB Conner drive I
was using - all to no avail. The I remembered having what I thought was a
good 540MB WD drive - I found it in my 'to be recycled' pile. On a whim, I
tried it - it was recognized by BIOS w/ the CS setting, and DOS installed
just like before. When I rebooted at the end of the install, it booted to
the C: prompt and I was able to install Windows and boot to it without
problem.

Thanks again!




"SV" wrote in message
...
I'm trying to restore a Presario 486 SX-33 system. I added a 250 MB
Conner
CP30251 hard drive and reformatted it to FAT16 using this machine. Then
I
booted to my Win98 master boot disk to get the system going. The hard
drive
was automagically recognized as a Type 1 disc and I began to install DOS
6.2. The install went fine. When I rebooted, I got a "non system or
disk
error" message. I inserted my boot diskette, pressed the ANY key :-)
and
all was well. I decided to try and run Win 3.1 install and, again,
everything installed without a hitch. I rebooted and once again got the
"non system or disk error" message.

I checked the BIOS/setup - diskette boot was enabled, obviously. I
wondered
if maybe a system this old didn't have the option of defaulting to C: if
there was no diskette, so I disabled the diskette book and rebooted. I
got
a flashing cursor for 8-10 seconds, then the "non system or disk error"
message yet again.

When I boot to my floppy and do dir c:, I see command.com,
autoexec.bat,
config.sys, a DOS directory - everything I would expect to find. The
hard
drive is setup correctly both in setup and as drive C: when I boot
successfully via floppy.

This has got me bumfuzzled. It's not the end of the world, but I was
trying
to get this system set up as a machine to play old DOS and Windows
games.
Any pointers or ideas would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks in
advance.

JEFF

Glad you got it running. Those old 400/600/800 Presarios were actually
Prolineas (the 2nd tier commercial units below Deskpros) with the Presario
name stuck on and were darned near bullet-proof.
HH

"SV" wrote in message
...
Some of the old Presarios get flakey if the hard disk is not jumpered for
cable select if the original HD cable is used.

Thanks for the idea HH. My guess is that was it. I looked all over the
drive and all over the web for the CS setting for the 240MB Conner drive I
was using - all to no avail. The I remembered having what I thought was a
good 540MB WD drive - I found it in my 'to be recycled' pile. On a whim,
I
tried it - it was recognized by BIOS w/ the CS setting, and DOS installed
just like before. When I rebooted at the end of the install, it booted to
the C: prompt and I was able to install Windows and boot to it without
problem.

Thanks again!




"SV" wrote in message
...
I'm trying to restore a Presario 486 SX-33 system. I added a 250 MB
Conner
CP30251 hard drive and reformatted it to FAT16 using this machine.
Then
I
booted to my Win98 master boot disk to get the system going. The hard
drive
was automagically recognized as a Type 1 disc and I began to install
DOS
6.2. The install went fine. When I rebooted, I got a "non system or
disk
error" message. I inserted my boot diskette, pressed the ANY key :-)
and
all was well. I decided to try and run Win 3.1 install and, again,
everything installed without a hitch. I rebooted and once again got
the
"non system or disk error" message.

I checked the BIOS/setup - diskette boot was enabled, obviously. I
wondered
if maybe a system this old didn't have the option of defaulting to C:
if
there was no diskette, so I disabled the diskette book and rebooted. I
got
a flashing cursor for 8-10 seconds, then the "non system or disk error"
message yet again.

When I boot to my floppy and do dir c:, I see command.com,
autoexec.bat,
config.sys, a DOS directory - everything I would expect to find. The
hard
drive is setup correctly both in setup and as drive C: when I boot
successfully via floppy.

This has got me bumfuzzled. It's not the end of the world, but I was
trying
to get this system set up as a machine to play old DOS and Windows
games.
Any pointers or ideas would be gratefully appreciated. Thanks in
advance.

JEFF