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: 417

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