Cannot boot from CD
Results 1 to 8 of 8

Thread: Cannot boot from CD

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    490

    Cannot boot from CD

    Motherboard is a 2-month old Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 (rev. 5).

    In the BIOS, 1st boot device is set to CD.
    I was able to boot from CD before ... I clean installed the Win 7 via CD.
    Now it can't anymore.
    CD drive is definitely working.
    I've tried the following:

    Reset CMOS (pull battery)
    Plug CD drive in all different SATA ports
    Use different CD's including a "Win 7 Repair Disc", a "Win 7 Pro Setup disc" and a "Win 7 Home Premium disc". (All are know good disc.)

    Any idea what else can I try?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2000
    Location
    Hyde Park, NY
    Posts
    2,047
    Try using a CD cleaning disk. They're available at computer stores or stores that sell CD's/DVD's. They have tiny brushes on them that clean the Laser.
    Biostar TA790GX A2+ 6.0
    AMD Phenom X4 9750 CPU.
    4 Gig DDR2 Memory.
    ATI HD 5450 PCIe Video
    ATI HD 5450 PCIe Video
    500 Watt P.S.
    LG W2241T Widescreen 22" LCD
    ViewSonic VA721 17" LCD
    Envision 17" LCD
    2 LG DVD Drives
    Floppy Disk Drive
    Maxtor 120 Gig Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
    Gateway NV5378-U Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit
    Acer Aspire V3-731 Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2000
    Location
    Sheboygan, WI
    Posts
    53,392
    Had to clean 3 out of 4 new cd/dvd burns I have installed new.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    490
    The drive is good but I just cleaned it as suggested anyway. It still won't do. CD drive is fully functional in Windows.

    The mobo has the latest BIOS already.

    Any other suggestion.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    490

    New Information

    New Information:

    If I unplug the HDD, then it WILL boot from the CD drive!
    This probably I didn't have trouble installing Win 7 from CD the first time around b/c back then the HDD was blank w/o an OS.
    But this is so strange though.
    I even suspected that maybe I just missed the "Press any key to boot from CD" message, so I've tried just keep tapping the "P" key continuously from the moment I power on the computer but still no luck.
    This is messed up!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    490
    More Info still:

    There is a F12 Boot Menu function, so I try that. It is a menu to set the first boot device. Curiously, it indicates the HDD is the first boot device even though I have already set in CMOS the CD drive to be the 1st. So I select the CD drive in this boot menu. But still it won't go and the next time I go back to this F12 Boot Menu, sure enough, the HDD is still list as the first. Sounds like a bug in the BIOS!

    One response from Gigabyte:

    Searching the web, I come upon another user having the same problem (w/ a different Gigabyte mobo though) and he asked Gigabyte and Gigabyte said, to unplug the HDD, wait to confirm it has been booted from the CD, then, plug in the HDD!!

    My question is this: I know SATA drive is supposed to be hot-pluggable, but are they really? I mean, with power already on, you then plug the drive in? Will it hurt the drive? Anyone has any experience on this?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2002
    Posts
    490

    Solved

    Ok, here is how I get it to boot from CD drive:

    There are a total of 6 SATA ports in 2 groups.
    Port 0, 1, 2, 3 in one group (let's call it Group 1) and Port 4, 5 in the other (Group 2).
    For Group 1, the choices are IDE, RAID and AHCI.
    For Group 2, the choices are IDE, SATA.

    Originally I have Group 1 set as AHCI and Group 2 as SATA.
    I plug both my SATA HDD and CDD in Group 1 (Port 0, 1 respectively.)
    Won't boot from the CDD.
    Then I move the CDD in Port 4 (Group 2).
    Still won't boot from the CDD.
    Then I set Group 2 to IDE.
    Wham, it now boot from the CDD.

    My theory:
    Remember my other thread here: Confused BIOS?
    In that thread we discuss about how both my HDD and CDD are not listed during P.O.S.T. nor are they listed in the BIOS. And my conclusion after some researching is that b/c I have set those SATA ports (0, 1, 2, 3) as AHCI, they are being handled by a separate AHCI BIOS rather than the "regular" BIOS, see Post #21 in that thread.

    I think that's why even I set the CDD as the 1st device in the "regular" BIOS, it won't take. Now I set the port (4, 5) as IDE and they are now being handled by the "regular" BIOS and therefore setting the CDD as the 1st device is now working as expected.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2000
    Location
    Idaho Falls, Idaho, USA
    Posts
    18,063
    That sounds like a logical explanation. Thanks for posting the update.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •