Re: Disk Boot Failure - Suggestions?

Previously RSS <rsilverst@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
After having my system running smoothly for a year, I have twice (in the
last couple of days) got a "Disk Boot Failure" during powerup. In both
cases, if I hit the reset button, the machine boots normally. The only
recent changes I've made are as follows: Installed a new audio
interface card (Delta 1010LT) about 3 weeks ago. Have had no problems.
Installed two pieces of audio/recording software. One of these
programs is a little buggy and occasionally crashes or locks up the
machine. But those were also installed 1-2 weeks ago, and the failure
occurred for the first time 2 days ago.

I'd be interested to know a) what tests I should perform, b) what the
most likely culprit is. I am not sure if the two times that this
occurred on startup were consecutive startups, or if it was like 2 out
of 3 - so it's not clear if it's intermittent or not. I'll do some more
experimentation with that later after I've backed up some of my data.

Not easy to say. Installed software should be irrelevant, since
that only comes long after booting. However the fact that the
reset button works indicates that it is some transient failure,
that gioes away after a few seconds.

Candidates:
- The PSU. Maybe it needs to long to assert its voltages.
Since PSUs loose power over time (their capacitors loose
capacity, making them overall less efficient at peak load),
that could be it. It is also possible that your PSU is too
weak. What PSU do you have and what graphics card(s)?
The PSU also generates the power-on RESET
signal. That one could be de-asserted too soon.

Test1: Try a different PSU with more power (if possible).
If the problem goes away, then that was likely it.

Test2: If it is the PSU, the problem will get worse.
Unfortunately that test is one-way, i.e. other problems
can get worse with time as well.

- The disk. Maybe it has some mechanical or electronic
problem that leads to it needing longer to to its initial
start sequence and occasionally is not ready when the MB
BIOS does disk detection.

Test: Get a SMART tool and look at the raw values.
If you need input on the valuse, then post them here.

Arno


Thank you!!!

My system is as follows:

Athlon 2700XP

SOLTEK SL-75FRN2-RL Socket A (Socket 462) NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 ATX
AMD Motherboard

Main drive: WD-80GB Serial ATA

Backup drives: WD-80GB IDE, Maxtor-10GB IDE
.

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