Oh crap...computer issues

[ParadigmDawg]

I am sure you guys are getting sick of my computer issues and lack of knowledge around computers but...

I pulled out my Ipod the other day so I could listen to what I want in the gym. Last night I decided I wanted to change the music but didn't want to download Itunes so I did a search on google for a way around this.

I found a program (no idea what the name is) that let me just drag music files over to it and it synced with my Ipod. Worked like a charm and did exactly what I wanted.

Today Firefox said it needed to restart my computer for an update. I let it restart and now my computer wont do anything.

I turned it off manually and the only thing that will come up is a black screen that states:

NO BOOT DEVICE AVAILABLE
SATA 0: INSTALLED

SATA 1: INSTALLED

SATA 2: NONE

SATA 3: NONE


Help!!! What do I do?

 

[Matt34]

I am sure you guys are getting sick of my computer issues and lack of knowledge around computers but...

I pulled out my Ipod the other day so I could listen to what I want in the gym. Last night I decided I wanted to change the music but didn't want to download Itunes so I did a search on google for a way around this.

I found a program (no idea what the name is) that let me just drag music files over to it and it synced with my Ipod. Worked like a charm and did exactly what I wanted.

Today Firefox said it needed to restart my computer for an update. I let it restart and now my computer wont do anything.

I turned it off manually and the only thing that will come up is a black screen that states:

NO BOOT DEVICE AVAILABLE
SATA 0: INSTALLED

SATA 1: INSTALLED

SATA 2: NONE

SATA 3: NONE


Help!!! What do I do?

Was your Ipod connected when you restarted? Disconected it if it is. If that doesn't fix it your going to have to go into your BIOS and assign the boot drive again.

 

[sholling]

It really depends on how your system is configured. Just based on that error message it sounds like either your boot drive has died (usually SATA 0) or the boot sector has been corrupted. You can try booting off of the Window (?) install disc and see if it can recover the installation. If not then I suspect that you'll be spending a long weekend replacing the drive and reloading the OS and applications.

EDIT: Matt may be on to something. Sometimes a PC will try to boot off of an attached USB drive - like your iPod.

 

[T2T]

EDIT: Matt may be on to something. Sometimes a PC will try to boot off of an attached USB drive - like your iPod.

That's correct. I've experienced the same issue with my daughter's iPod in the past. My computer wouldn't fully boot with the device plugged into the computer.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

It was connected when I first rebooted but now it's not and still have the same prompt when I turn it back on.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

How to I go into bios and assign the boot drive?

Was your Ipod connected when you restarted? Disconected it if it is. If that doesn't fix it your going to have to go into your BIOS and assign the boot drive again.

 

[Matt34]

How to I go into bios and assign the boot drive?

When it's booting up it should say which key to press to get into setup or BIOS. Mine it's the F2 key(I think F12 will take you straight to the "Boot Device Menu") , go to setup and in there somewhere is a tab for harddrives. If the assignment doesn't take your HD is probably toast. Then you'll have to change the boot sequence to have the CD take priority over the HD.
Boot to windows cd and do a fresh installation once you get a new HD.

 

[njedpx3]

That's correct. I've experienced the same issue with my daughter's iPod in the past. My computer wouldn't fully boot with the device plugged into the computer.

Youcan prevent that in the future by changing the order of the boot-up devices. It sound like you have the USB port the Pod is plug in as your first boot-up device. Re-order so it doesn't try to boot-up their first. A beeter order is to put you CD drive frst, then Sata 0 second. The reason to put the CD drive first is in case you Sata 0 drive ever does really become corrupted then you can recover your PC from a boot-up on a CD. After reordering , leaving the iPod plugged in won't matter.

Normally you reorder by going into setup, interupting Bios when you first start with a immediate depression of the setup function key, usually F2 sometimes F8

Peace and Good PCing,

Forest Man


EDIT : sorry I ddn't read down far enough in the thread, Matt34 already answered correctly mea culpa

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I reassigned the boot sequence to have the CD take priority over the HD but it says that it can't find drivers no matter what I do.

Is it toast?

Did the ipod download program I downloaded cause this?

 

[adwilk]

I reassigned the boot sequence to have the CD take priority over the HD but it says that it can't find drivers no matter what I do.

Is it toast?

Did the ipod download program I downloaded cause this?

What happened when you asked it to boot to the HD first?

Its hard to imagine that the program you downloaded altered MBR...

 

[Matt34]

I reassigned the boot sequence to have the CD take priority over the HD but it says that it can't find drivers no matter what I do.

Is it toast?

Did the ipod download program I downloaded cause this?

I wouldn't think so. You'll have to ask one of the computer wizards for further troubleshooting, that's about as far as I can take ya.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

It doesn't really do anything. It's like it can't read the disc.

What happened when you asked it to boot to the HD first?

Its hard to imagine that the program you downloaded altered MBR...

 

[adwilk]

Put in the windows CD, boot from CD first? Didn't do anything there either?

 

[pzaur]

Make one of these (Linux Ultimate Boot CD), too. It's very handy to have. I've used it before. Lots of good diagnostic tools.

-pat

 

[pzaur]

Whatever you do, do NOT format or re-format your drive or re-install your OS. I'm gonna assume that you don't have a partition on your boot drive and there are files stored there. If you reinstall the OS, you're gonna lose all that info unless your OS is on a separate partition or drive from your files.

-pat

 

[ParadigmDawg]

No, I can't get it to boot at all.

Put in the windows CD, boot from CD first? Didn't do anything there either?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

About everything I need is on an external HD. I am ok if I lose everything off the CPU.

Whatever you do, do NOT format or re-format your drive or re-install your OS. I'm gonna assume that you don't have a partition on your boot drive and there are files stored there. If you reinstall the OS, you're gonna lose all that info unless your OS is on a separate partition or drive from your files.

-pat

 

[sholling]

Set it to boot off of SATA0 and see what happens. If that doesn't work turn everything off and check the cables and try one more time. Then and only then set it to bot from the Windows CD and see if it finds SATA0. If it does then great. If not it's time to go drive shopping.

BTW if you have static electricity issues then be sure to ground yourself to the computer's case before touching the innards.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

When I put the disc in and reboot. It says:

SATA 0-NONE
SATA 1-TSSTCORP DVD+/-RW TS-H653B D200
SATA 2 NONE
SATA3 NONE
Diskette drive 0 seek failure

Put in the windows CD, boot from CD first? Didn't do anything there either?

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I am not sure I understand how to do that.

Drive shopping will likely consist of me going to the store and getting a new computer.

Set it to boot off of SATA0 and see what happens. If that doesn't work turn everything off and check the cables and try one more time. Then and only then set it to bot from the Windows CD and see if it finds SATA0. If it does then great. If not it's time to go drive shopping.

BTW if you have static electricity issues then be sure to ground yourself to the computer's case before touching the innards.