10 Jan 2003, 20:29, JEAN PARROT (1:123/140), wrote to MATT MC_CARTHY:

Hi JEAN.


 JP> I am trying to resuscitate an old P-166. It will not see the
 JP> boot disk. I changed all that I could think of in the hardware.
 JP> My question is if I BIOS it over to boot from the CD-ROM, does
 JP> it have to be able to still see the IDE-1 master ? 

No, it does NOT have to see the IDE-1 master, BUT...

If it is attempting to boot Windows, Windows itself will try to find a
read/write area for the swapfile, which it will fail to do with only the
CD, unless a lot of planning was put onto that "boot CD" prior to
burning it.

If the CD can boot you to DOS so you can run utilities or tests for the HD,
there is still a lot that has to be setup correctly before burning the CD. 


If you are attempting to boot from a "commercial" CD, it will
likely look for Windows on "C:", and thence fail.

 JP> I think that the HDD is seized. The auto HD selection in BIOS will 
 JP> not see it. I was hoping to use it from the CD-ROM that has all 
 JP> the boot stuff.

See above.

 JP> As far as hardware is concerned, at the end, I only had the HDD
 JP> connected and live. Still nothing and I do not have an ERD here.

What is that saying?  "Never leave home without it"...   :-((

Is this a laptop?  Can you get mechanical access to the HD to tap it gently
with a medium screwdriver handle at the instant of 'Power up'?


     Good luck...  M.

--- Msged/386 TE 06 (pre)