replaced motherboard, now "inaccessible boot device"

jbclem · Joined: Apr 16, 2008 Posts: 14

From what I have read, this "inaccessible boot device" message means that my replacement motherboard is not matching up with the Win2000 IDE drivers that were used for the previous motherboard. Replacement board is an Asus P4PE with a P4 cpu. Older board was an Asus P2B converted to run a P3 1000mHz cpu.

I've read a good article on different ways to fix this problem, one of which is to use the Win2000 CD and early during Setup to hit F6 then S which gives me the chance to specify the correct IDE driver(s) for the P4PE motherboard. The problem is that I don't have these drivers. They don't seem to be on the P4PE installation CD (or I don't recognize them, anyways) and no sign of them on the Asus web site.

So, would anyone be able to help me identify(name) and locate the IDE controller drivers that would work with my Asus P4PE motherboard.

John

jbclem · Joined: Apr 16, 2008 Posts: 14

Forgot to mention, my replacement motherboard is working...I can boot up in Dos, and run Hirens CD; and have run Partition Magic, and some file managers, so I know that the hard drives(3) are there and accessible via Dos.

John

BudDurland · Joined: Dec 05, 2002 Posts: 522

Does it boot in safe mode?

"The inaccessible boot device" messamight also mean that the boot.ini file points to something other than device 0. Usually, the first couple lines in boot.ini look like so:

jbclem · Joined: Apr 16, 2008 Posts: 14

Following the suggestion, I'm checking my boot.ini. This is it:

default=multi(0)disk(0),rdisk(2)partition(1)\WinNT= ...etc
[operating systems]

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(1)\WinNT= ....etc
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(2)partition(2)\WinNT= ....etc
signature(8919C4C5)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WinNT= ....etc

C:\"Microsoft Windows"

========
I've always had two diff copies of the OS, Win2000, on different partitions so if one was corrupted I could always boot up in the other. That's what this boot.ini should reflect. I don't know what the 3rd line is, beginning with the word "signature".

Does this mean anything, do it look normal?

I also tried going into the Recovery Console, ran LISTSVC and got a list of all the device drivers. I disabled the one called atapi, it was listed as a boot driver for the standard IDE/ESDI hard disk controller. The idea was that with this disabled, Win2000 would load the correct one for this P4PE motherboard. Whatever happened, I still have the same problem, blue screen with "inaccessible boot device".

Tried booting into Safe Mode, same problem. Also tried Safe Mode with boot logging, but can't find the new log file. I think it should be under C:\ , and there is an older bootlog.txt (i think that was the name) there, but nothing from today.

I'm still looking for a source for the hard drive controller driver(s) for this motherboard (Asus P4PE).

John

goretsky

Hello,

It sounds like the new Asus P4PE motherboard uses an Intel i845 chipset, which I presume is a different chipset than the previous Asus P2B-series motherboard, so it is rather likely that the various device drivers which load at startup with Microsoft Windows 2000 need to be updated. In addition to the ATA device drivers, this would include the motherboard's chipset device drivers, and the device drivers for any integrated peripherals.

From looking at the manual, it apears you are going to need Intel i845 chipset drivers, SoundMax audio drivers, Broadcom network interface card drivers, Promise RAID drivers, and supplemental USB drivers from Intel.

The WindowsReinstall web site has an a page here on their web site explaining how to reinstall Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional on a computer. Have you tried following the instructions there, and then installing the various device drivers mentioned above once the system is operational?

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

jbclem · Joined: Apr 16, 2008 Posts: 14

I've been working my way through the WindowsReinstall ideas, but the one thing that would make it quick and easy would be for me to find the IDE Controller drivers for my P4PE motherboard. They don't seem to be available on the Asus web site, or anywhere on the web so far. And not on the P4PE installation CD.

I'm not worried about the other device drivers, right now I just want to get access to the OS, Win2000, and have the computer running. From the lack of mention of P4PE IDE controller drivers, I'm beginning to think they must only be on the Win2000 installation CD. But how to retrieve them from there?

John

Mudd · Joined: Mar 02, 2010 Posts: 3

You replaced the MB and your trying to boot off the old hard drive that has the OS on it?

I don't think Microsoft lets you make those drastic hardware changes like it did before with 98 as you think it would with recent OS's.

Here is something you can try.

Reportedly, Windows 2000 and XP can be tricked into doing this stuff for you. The procedure is this: Shut down, install your new hardware, power on, and enter your system BIOS. Make sure your First Boot Device is set to CDROM. Insert the Windows 2000/XP setup CD and boot from this disk. (You may have to "press a key to boot from CD" as the prompt says.) Skip the initial prompt asking to repair your existing installation. Then proceed to the screen where you select a partition, and choose your existing Windows partition. Setup will detect your existing installation and ask you to repair. Say yes. When Windows Setup is complete, you should have a fully working installation with all your old user and application profiles. Everything should be intact, except your hardware and driver settings, leaving it fresh for your new motherboard.

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2747

Mudd, read the date. This is from May 2008. I'm sure the poster has found a solution in almost two years.

Mudd · Joined: Mar 02, 2010 Posts: 3

Yeah I feel pretty dumb,

So we don't actaully know if this person had a solution to his problem or not then?

Posts like these should be flushed out, they don't really server a purpose.

olamoree · Joined: Jul 08, 2003 Posts: 5

Hey Mudd, don''t worry, you post IS significant! I have had a recent experience very similar to the original poster... in this case, putting in the old HDD into a new rebuild with M/B, memory, PSU, CPU, etc. and yes, it CAN be a problem. The box posts... mostly.... running XP SP3 the post gets to running the blue streamers about 5 times.... then restarts! Won't open in Safe Mode, can access BIOS and set for CD boot, but won't boot off of ANY CD that I have tried (drivers?). I have researched this somewhat and found an unusual situation.... the poster that I found says that if you rebuild an Intel CPU box and put in an AMD CPU and M/B, etc., it won't ever start using the old HDD with the OS install...and requires a reinstall of the OS...fine, I tried a Repair Reinstall, a Parallel Install, and New Partition Install, and NONE will get as far as the desktop.... the blue streamers go about 5 times and the box restarts.... I can't wipe and reinstall because the box failed and the guy has no backup of his "important" data.... anything you care to comment on about this will be appreciated. Thanks.

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 2240 Location: Central FL, USA

Any hard drive that won't boot a system, but has important data on it, can be installed on a working computer as a SLAVE drive and the data can then be accessed by Windows Explorer, from the running OS.
It's then no different than reading data off of a floppy disk, flash drive or CD.

For permanent storage, the data can then be burned to a CD or DVD's or
even transferred to some other removable media like a flash drive or USB External Hard Drive.

I do this all the time for my customers who have blown out motherboards.

Once all the pertinent data is retrieved from the old HD, it can be FIXED for a new OS install by simply renaming or just deleting the Windows folder.
Re-Formatting the entire drive is a further option. I've done both.

Cheers mates and welcome to an OLD thread.

The Doctor Cool