Not sure WTF is going on.

First it boots up and after a few seconds says there's a CPU fan error (spinning fine) and then it goes into BIOS / setup and automatic IDE detection has found nothing.

I had both the CD and HDD set jumpers to master, and both were connected to primary IDE port through twin leads. Then tried putting the CD IDE into the secondary one on a separate lead... Still nothing.

When I pull the ribbon out the CD drive it suddenly powers up and spins. I bet the same would happen with the HDD. What the hell am I doing wrong.

This is with my AMD64 3700 btw. Something so silly stopping me I bet.

What's the boot up priority Jason -- make sure it's not set to something you don't have - like a floppy drive.

Also if you use 1 IDE lead -- the harddrive would need to be primary(with jumpers set) and the CD secondary again jumpers set.

I would try connecting just the harddrive and see how that runs

I changed boot-up priority from floppy/CD/HDD to HDD/CD/disabled as I have no floppy. I had both connected as you say but not recognised. Have HDD set to master and CD to slave. Although I thought the master/slave thing was when you had 2 HDDs or 2 CD drives?

Still - The CPU fan error has me puzzled. Dunno where its getting that idea from? Its blowing a good'un on to the CPU.

I changed boot-up priority from floppy/CD/HDD to HDD/CD/disabled as I have no floppy. I had both connected as you say but not recognised. Have HDD set to master and CD to slave. Although I thought the master/slave thing was when you had 2 HDDs or 2 CD drives?

Still - The CPU fan error has me puzzled. Dunno where its getting that idea from? Its blowing a good'un on to the CPU.

Worth checking the fan headers on the motherboard - I know my board has 2 quite close together - 1 specifically for the CPU fan - so check that out.

As for the HDD thing - does the board have SATA capability - if so make sure the jumper settings are correct for this.

Oh, and after this I just twigged its a 3500+ not a 3700. All my PMs said 3500 too. Still one hell of a processor I reckon. Now to just find a 4000 CPU cheap.

Still no good on IDE. I re-read the IDE lead thing and realised I hadn't matched the blue connectors, so replugged it all in correctly.... blue to blue, grey to master HDD, black spare.... [Not Detected]

CD ROM is now plugged in, set to slave, in the secondary slot using a separate IDE cable, no joy - pull out the IDE lead and it powers up. Well odd. :confused:

hmm - well if they were both set to master AND they were on the same cable it won't work at any rate

As for the CPU fan - you sure it's connected to the CPU fan header and not to another fan header on the board? Some boards have a few extras for say case fans etc. Alternatively it may not have a speed detect wire and you may have to disable the fan warning if that's the case.

It is most likely your HDD rquires to be set to Cable Select - try that too for the CD drive.

ATA66 and higher tend to use the cable-select cables, you can recognise them by the finer leads in the IDE cable.

Hope this helps

OK now your happy everything is connected correctly -- try reseting the board -- either by removing the CMOS battery or by using the reset jumper (you'll have to refer to the manual) and then try again

Blue connector on the IDE66 goes on the motherboard, forgot to say.

Boot order doesn't come into this (yet)

Hmm, I get the same "unplug the IDE" thing kicks into life on the HDD too. :(

How should it be set up with each drive?

Board has a primary and secondary connector.

Are you sure you have the IDE cable in the right way round on the drive and on the motherboard?

Red wire usually goes towards the power plug on the drive and the MB manual will show where Pin 1 is on the board

Not usually possible to get it wrong but I have done it a few times.

BTW not a good idea to unplug the IDE cable while the machine is on. Knew someone a while ago who did it and knackered the drive.

Could try entering the drive manually if all else fails

Motherboard probably has two different IDE connectors on it. The blue one should be used for the HDD, which should be set as a Master. Make sure you are using a decent ribbon cable, which is rated at ATA133 (thin 80 strand). There is usually a notch in the socket on both the mobo and the HDD, which is matched up on the cable. Make sure it goes in the right way. If there is no notch, or you are not sure, look at the docs for the Mobo and HDD and find which end is Pin1. the cable will have one strand at the end in Red, this goes on pin 1.

The CD should go in the SEPARATE connector on the Mobo, usually grey or black, and should also be set as MASTER, and on a separate cable, again preferably a good quality ATA133 one (although it physically won't run at that speed).

Have you installed the OS yet? if you haven't even got that far, and you double check all connections etc., then you have a hardware problem. Try different cables, or the HDD and/or CD in a different (working) machine (but set them to slaves first). If they are detected there, but not in the new machine, then the mobo is probably suspect.

If you have already installed OS and have simply added new hardware or whatever, it could be the IDE drivers if you have updated them. This is a not uncommon problem with nForce4 boards (often used for AMD based systems). I have had no end with my own machine (AMD64 4000+ with SLI nForce4 mobo), but thats another story... If this is the case, try a BIOS update first, but if you can't boot the machine, you will need to download the BIOS update elsewhere and copy it to floppy, and then buy a floppy drive for your machine

If none of ths works (and BIOS updates cn get a bit hairy, I would suggest a new mobo. you can pick up a VIA chipset one suitable for a 3500+ for less than £40 or so on www.ebuyer.com

Cheers

Dook

Urm - cable select should be used with ATA66 cables, although they MAY work on Master there is absolutely no guarantee it will

Shall try some combinations tonight. Got no further than BIOS setup as the CD ROM hasn't come alive yet with the IDE lead in to get the CD in it.

I know about the notch which only allows the IDE cable to go into the board/hardware in one way. No worries there. So really I need one ribbon from primary to HDD (set to master) and secondary lead to the CD ROM (set to ?)

Shall try some combinations tonight. Got no further than BIOS setup as the CD ROM hasn't come alive yet with the IDE lead in to get the CD in it.

I know about the notch which only allows the IDE cable to go into the board/hardware in one way. No worries there. So really I need one ribbon from primary to HDD (set to master) and secondary lead to the CD ROM (set to ?)

Primary IDE cable / slot - blue - should go to the HDD - set to Master.

Secondary IDE cable / slot -grey/black) should go to CD - set to Master.

Then click auto-detect / Load optimal settings...

Hope this helps.

Hmm, I think I've already given that combo a shot once. Shall try again and check though. Might be the ribbons though, although the ASUS board came with one set of the ribbons I'm using.

Hmm, I think I've already given that combo a shot once. Shall try again and check though. Might be the ribbons though, although the ASUS board came with one set of the ribbons I'm using.

I fitted a new ASUS board for my mate yesterday, with MONSTER graphics card and AMD 64 4000+ processor (over

OK, its detecting now. Suffice to say I f***ed up the board installation big time, and ended up doing a complete removal and refit, But now its recognising the CD and HDD, but saying both my XP Pro disk and Windows 98 disk are invalid.... :grumpy:

One thing after another. I thought it would the ROM would just start the windows installation process.

Set the boot sequence so the CDROM is first, and go for the XP install. Assuming its an original CD, its bootable and should boot. Only some win98 cd's are bootable.

How did you not install the mobo right J? Surely you didn't put it in upside down or anything! :rofl:

A normal copy of XP is licensed to one PC. Microsoft think a PC is a motherboard, and XP is registered using the ROM code or similar, and will only work on the one PC.

Its a *******, but its true. Bill didn't become the richest man in the world by being generous.

Cheers Josh for the link!

READ HERE

Yup - set boot sequence to go CD/HDD/disabled, as I have no floppy drive. Never had a problem with knock-off windows CDs booting before. Wonder if this machine has some device in it to check if its an original? Its only a really old 32x CD ROM, so wondering if thats to blame.

Hmmmm.

Tom1 If you must know my f**ing board manual made no mention of spacers! I Quote" place board over screw holes" so I did! The case must have been stopping the IDE connectors underneath from working right.... Rookie mistake.

Might try and get a new ROM drive though.

Your pc will be no different, and unless you have an XP CDrom that has something like "for sale only with a Dell PC" then you should be able to at least boot it. If anything it will graunch during the setup process.

GET ON! plugged in a CD/RW drive and now its booting up - Gonna smash up this 32x ROM now!!!! :grumpy:

OK, so this copy looks to be a bit dodgy and its failing at a certain line on D:

FLUFF!? Your newest employee has sent you a PM.

Bloomin Eck Jason, I'll have my folding rig running before yours - and I haven't got the bits yet

Seriously tho -- good on yer for trying, I get people in work telling me that they "Could not build a computer" and yet one in particular can replace an A4 clutch in less than 3 hours -- nearly half the appointed time.

You could be right, Dave.

I've had the bits for a long time too before I even took the plunge.

Still, forgetting the spacers? Something I'll never forget now.... and I was wondering why the board was bending a bit when screwing in - glad I left them all not done up much at all.... :eek:

You could be right' date=' Dave.

I've had the bits for a long time too before I even took the plunge.

Still, forgetting the spacers? Something I'll never forget now.... and I was wondering why the board was bending a bit when screwing in - glad I left them all not done up much at all.... :eek:[/quote']

Actually mounting the motherboard is my least favourite part of building a PC - still you just get used to it I suppose.