My Wifes laptop wont boot up.. It gets a message "Operating System Not
Found"

I notice in BIOS it says:
Primary IDE Adapter [None]
Secondary IDE Adapter [CD Rom]
Legacy Floppy Drive [Enabled]
etc

Under power it says These Settings not effective under ACPI mode.

Boot Order is
CD Rom
Removable Devices
Hard Drive
Network Boot

I got Knoppix to run but Knoppix didn't see the harddrive (no file system)

Now it wont boot with Knoppix.

It happend at the same time as the main PC was infected by a (removable
drive spread) Kavo Virus...

Can anyone suggest a step forward?
Thanks a lot
John

> Primary IDE Adapter [None]

there should not be a
notation as "none" as it
is stating there is no hd.

check your options and modify
this.

--

db ·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>¸.
><)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>


..


"JohnH" <JohnH@nospam.co.nz> wrote in message news:47113110$1@clear.net.nz...
> My Wifes laptop wont boot up.. It gets a message "Operating System Not Found"
>
> I notice in BIOS it says:
> Primary IDE Adapter [None]
> Secondary IDE Adapter [CD Rom]
> Legacy Floppy Drive [Enabled]
> etc
>
> Under power it says These Settings not effective under ACPI mode.
>
> Boot Order is
> CD Rom
> Removable Devices
> Hard Drive
> Network Boot
>
> I got Knoppix to run but Knoppix didn't see the harddrive (no file system)
>
> Now it wont boot with Knoppix.
>
> It happend at the same time as the main PC was infected by a (removable drive
> spread) Kavo Virus...
>
> Can anyone suggest a step forward?
> Thanks a lot
> John

db ´¯`·.. ><)))º>` .. . wrote:
>> Primary IDE Adapter [None]
>
> there should not be a
> notation as "none" as it
> is stating there is no hd.
>
> check your options and modify
> this.
>
When I select > Primary IDE Adapter [None]
F9 gives load default configuration
Enter Gives these options:I
Type: Auto
Multi Sector Transfers [Disabled]…. Grayed
LBA Mode Control: [Disabled]…. Grayed
32 Bit I/O: [Disabled]
Transfer Mode: [Standard] ….Grayed
Ultra DMA Mode: [Disabled] …..Grayed


I have tried "load defaults" but don't seem to be able to alter the
[None] Value ???

I also set a password and now I can't remove it????

it is difficult to say if
the harddisk went out
or it is not getting any
power.

here is a link with some
useful instructions and
pictures:

http://repair4laptop.org/notebook_hard_drive.html

also, before unscrewing the
laptop, you might want to
go to the website of your
laptops manufacturer and
look up the model number.

there, you should find additional
troubleshooting tips and
options to repair the unit or
replace the harddrive or diagnose
the harddrive with a utility the
site may have.

also, while at the website
check around for the method
to reset your cmos/bios to the
default states. it entails removing
the cmos battery for several minutes.

i recall a posting where a cd drive
refused to work on a laptop and in
that particular case temporarily
removing the cmos battery enabled
the cd drive. not sure if it will work
on your hd, but won't hurt to try.

possibly, although it is a distant
possibility it might be that the
cmos battery is no longer functional.
however, the operating system would
have provided some indication of
the battery failure like an inability
to keep accurate time, unless the
faulty time keeping was ignored.

also, check out the website on
removing the password. on some
machines it simply requires shorting
a pin on the motherboard,
but yours may be different.

keep us posted with what you
discover or plan.



db ·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>¸.
><)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>


..


"JohnH" <JohnH@nospam.co.nz> wrote in message news:471148ca$1@clear.net.nz...
> db ´¯`·.. ><)))º>` .. . wrote:
>>> Primary IDE Adapter [None]
>>
>> there should not be a
>> notation as "none" as it
>> is stating there is no hd.
>>
>> check your options and modify
>> this.
>>
> When I select > Primary IDE Adapter [None]
> F9 gives load default configuration
> Enter Gives these options:I
> Type: Auto
> Multi Sector Transfers [Disabled]…. Grayed
> LBA Mode Control: [Disabled]…. Grayed
> 32 Bit I/O: [Disabled]
> Transfer Mode: [Standard] ….Grayed
> Ultra DMA Mode: [Disabled] …..Grayed
>
>
> I have tried "load defaults" but don't seem to be able to alter the [None]
> Value ???
>
> I also set a password and now I can't remove it????

This is a Sony PCG 9A4N. It's a Japanese key board model (My wife is
Japanese).
I took the cmos battery out but not for more than a few minutes and it
didn't loose its date... It could have been 5 minutes or so???
I have to wait until she comes home before I attack it further.
When it attempts to find the operating system I hear "tap, tap tap tap tap"

John wrote:
> This is a Sony PCG 9A4N. It's a Japanese key board model (My wife is
> Japanese).
> I took the cmos battery out but not for more than a few minutes and it
> didn't loose its date... It could have been 5 minutes or so???
> I have to wait until she comes home before I attack it further.
> When it attempts to find the operating system I hear "tap, tap tap tap tap"

Taking out the CMOS battery will not help. Either your hard drive has
died and/or your motherboard IDE controller has died. The fact that
Knoppix and the BIOS don't see it confirms that. The tapping sounds
usually mean the hard drive is the faulty component. To further check if
it is just the hard drive, you can remove it and put it in a usb drive
enclosure or use a notebook-to-desktop IDE converter. Attach the drive
to another computer and see if it is recognized. If not (and I suspect
it will not be seen), replace the hard drive. If you want to be sure the
notebook motherboard IDE controller is good (it probably is) you can
attach another notebook hard drive if you have one. You don't need to
boot into an operating system - just check to see if the drive is found
in the BIOS.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

i would have taken the
battery out from the
cmos and ensure the
regular power pack is
out too.

i think that 20 or so minutes
is the ideal time for the cmos
to loose it's energy. however,
i think the sony website has
specific information about this
method.

but this suggestion is only
a worthwhile try because i have
seen some predictaments resolved
with unusual methods.

while inside your computer
you might want to unseat
the harddrive and re-seat it
and see if this might help
the bios/cmos to recognize
the device attached to the
motherboard again.

if not, then see what sony
recommends.

it might be a good idea and
proceed to order / buy a
replacement. it will likely
make your laptop functional
however, the replacement will
also likely be blank of all software,
unless it is preloaded.

if the replacement works then
clearly the old hd was faulty.

if the old hd has vital data, documents,
pics, etc,... you should send it into
one of those data recovery companies
to extract the data for you.
--

db ·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>¸.
><)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>


..


"John" <John@falseaddress.com> wrote in message news:471191ea$1@clear.net.nz...
> This is a Sony PCG 9A4N. It's a Japanese key board model (My wife is
> Japanese).
> I took the cmos battery out but not for more than a few minutes and it didn't
> loose its date... It could have been 5 minutes or so???
> I have to wait until she comes home before I attack it further.
> When it attempts to find the operating system I hear "tap, tap tap tap tap"

"John" <John@falseaddress.com> wrote in message
news:471191ea$1@clear.net.nz...
> This is a Sony PCG 9A4N. It's a Japanese key board model (My wife is
> Japanese).
> I took the cmos battery out but not for more than a few minutes and it
> didn't loose its date... It could have been 5 minutes or so???
> I have to wait until she comes home before I attack it further.
> When it attempts to find the operating system I hear "tap, tap tap tap
> tap"
You are hearing the sound of a dead drive.
Jim

"Jim" <j.n@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:SPqQi.12878$JD.7733@newssvr21.news.prodigy.ne t...
>
> "John" <John@falseaddress.com> wrote in message
> news:471191ea$1@clear.net.nz...
> > This is a Sony PCG 9A4N. It's a Japanese key board model (My wife is
> > Japanese).
> > I took the cmos battery out but not for more than a few minutes and it
> > didn't loose its date... It could have been 5 minutes or so???
> > I have to wait until she comes home before I attack it further.
> > When it attempts to find the operating system I hear "tap, tap tap tap
> > tap"
> You are hearing the sound of a dead drive.
> Jim

A-yup. Happened to me last month on one of two
60G IBM's in a RAID-0 array.

I got lucky - let the system set for a day, deleted and
recreated the RAID array in the BIOS, and was able
to access it long enough to scrape the data off of it
before replacing it.

>
>

db ´¯`·.. ><)))º>` .. . wrote:
> i would have taken the
> battery out from the
> cmos and ensure the
> regular power pack is
> out too.

This will do nothing to help a dead hard drive or a bad motherboard
controller. All taking out the CMOS battery does (which btw is often
quite difficult to do on a laptop, depends on the model) is reset BIOS
settings to default. It won't magically make the machine see a dead hard
drive.


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

there are several
methods to ultimately
conclude / prove the hard drive
has failed. and eliminating
cmos faults would be a
logical one to take. you
know what a cmos virus
can do.

so simply because there is
a funny noise is not a
100% guarantee that it
is coming from the hd.

if the o.p. was a technician,
then he would have recognize
without a doubt what the noise
is, where its coming from and
then knew already what is required
of him in order to resolve the issue,
rather than asking us.

further, making these
little attempts to validate
a mal function, might even
overcome a situation briefly,
like VGreen's mentioned as
a courtesy.

so i have my methods and
provide them as a courtesy.

also i recall you have yours and
can provide them in your own
sub thread.

--

db ·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·..><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>¸.
><)))º>·´¯`·.¸. , . .·´¯`·.. ><)))º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><)))º>


..


"Malke" <notreally@invalid.invalid> wrote in message
news:uDArPToDIHA.3848@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> db ´¯`·.. ><)))º>` .. . wrote:
>> i would have taken the
>> battery out from the
>> cmos and ensure the
>> regular power pack is
>> out too.
>
> This will do nothing to help a dead hard drive or a bad motherboard
> controller. All taking out the CMOS battery does (which btw is often quite
> difficult to do on a laptop, depends on the model) is reset BIOS settings to
> default. It won't magically make the machine see a dead hard drive.
>
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

V Green wrote:
> "Jim" <j.n@nospam.com> wrote in message
> news:SPqQi.12878$JD.7733@newssvr21.news.prodigy.ne t...
>> "John" <John@falseaddress.com> wrote in message
>> news:471191ea$1@clear.net.nz...
>>> This is a Sony PCG 9A4N. It's a Japanese key board model (My wife is
>>> Japanese).
>>> I took the cmos battery out but not for more than a few minutes and it
>>> didn't loose its date... It could have been 5 minutes or so???
>>> I have to wait until she comes home before I attack it further.
>>> When it attempts to find the operating system I hear "tap, tap tap tap
>>> tap"
>> You are hearing the sound of a dead drive.
>> Jim
>
> A-yup. Happened to me last month on one of two
> 60G IBM's in a RAID-0 array.
>
> I got lucky - let the system set for a day, deleted and
> recreated the RAID array in the BIOS, and was able
> to access it long enough to scrape the data off of it
> before replacing it.
>
>>
>
>
I forgot to take the main battery out when I removed the CMOS battery,
so I'm trying it again. How do you delete and recreat the RAID????

The laptop booted on Knoppix and then wouldn't, meanwhile it would start
on the Rescue Disk but not boot (ie if it can do that the Knoppix CD
should boot up)?????????????
At this point in time my wife is going to get one of her friends to
take the hard-disk out and test it.

"John" <John@falseaddress.com> wrote in message news:4712edd5$1@clear.net.nz...
> V Green wrote:
> > "Jim" <j.n@nospam.com> wrote in message
> > news:SPqQi.12878$JD.7733@newssvr21.news.prodigy.ne t...
> >> "John" <John@falseaddress.com> wrote in message
> >> news:471191ea$1@clear.net.nz...
> >>> This is a Sony PCG 9A4N. It's a Japanese key board model (My wife is
> >>> Japanese).
> >>> I took the cmos battery out but not for more than a few minutes and it
> >>> didn't loose its date... It could have been 5 minutes or so???
> >>> I have to wait until she comes home before I attack it further.
> >>> When it attempts to find the operating system I hear "tap, tap tap tap
> >>> tap"
> >> You are hearing the sound of a dead drive.
> >> Jim
> >
> > A-yup. Happened to me last month on one of two
> > 60G IBM's in a RAID-0 array.
> >
> > I got lucky - let the system set for a day, deleted and
> > recreated the RAID array in the BIOS, and was able
> > to access it long enough to scrape the data off of it
> > before replacing it.
> >
> >>
> >
> >
> I forgot to take the main battery out when I removed the CMOS battery,
> so I'm trying it again. How do you delete and recreat the RAID????

You probably don't need to. That story was specific
to my hardware and was just given as an example.

Didn't mean to mislead you.

>
> The laptop booted on Knoppix and then wouldn't, meanwhile it would start
> on the Rescue Disk but not boot (ie if it can do that the Knoppix CD
> should boot up)?????????????
> At this point in time my wife is going to get one of her friends to
> take the hard-disk out and test it.