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Can't boot anything from anywhere
https://forum.specialattack.net/viewtopic.php?t=15072		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  [SpA]Scatterbrain [ 08 Aug 2013, 13:09 ]
Post subject:  Can't boot anything from anywhere
My setup has been Windows 7 on my SSD, using my old HDD for storage space. It had been working fine for a few months until yesterday I got the 'BOOTMGR is missing' error on boot. Here's what I've found so far:

- I've changed around the SATA cables/SATA ports enough to be sure that a faulty cable/port isn't the problem.

- My SSD is powering on but isn't being detected in BIOS or by the Windows 7 install/repair from disk environment (so I can't do anything with it, not even reinstall Windows). With only the SSD plugged in I get the 'Reboot and select proper boot device' message (which is what you'd expect if it doesn't detect anything)

- If I remember right, at first, with both my SSD and HDD plugged in I could reach BIOS and confirm that the HDD was being detected, but I would get the BOOTMGR error if I went any further. Now with my HDD in *at all* (whether by itself or alongside the SSD) I go straight to the BOOTMGR error. (It's possible that I set it as the boot priority in BIOS whilst trying to fix everything, I can try to change this if you want).

- Trying to run memtest from a USB stick on boot results in a 'Disk I/O error' message. However, with the SSD also in I can access BIOS, which recognises the USB as a bootable device.

- Booting with nothing plugged in does not give me a chance to enter BIOS but brings me straight to the 'Reboot and select proper device' message: which is very odd, because if BIOS isn't recognising the SSD then why does having the SSD plugged in mean that I can reach BIOS when I otherwise couldn't?

So I'm kind of out of ideas. Would BIOS flashing make any difference (if that's even possible at this stage)? But it sounds like it's a motherboard issue so mostly I want to know if I'm going to have to replace my drives as well as my mobo... even if my mobo is only a few months old, well treated and a pretty good Gigabyte model :63
Author:  [SpA]Dekar [ 09 Aug 2013, 08:04 ]
Post subject:  Re: Can't boot anything from anywhere
Well that sucks. :<

Your SDD probably had Winddows on it and thus the bootsectors. Without them the bootmanager doesnt know what to do (with your HDD). Installing Windows on it should fix the HDD WOULD BE MY GUESS.

SSD looks borked to me. :(
Author:  [SpA]SaintK [ 09 Aug 2013, 08:29 ]
Post subject:  Re: Can't boot anything from anywhere
What happeneds when you use "press blah to select boot device" and then select the USB key?
Author:  [SpA]Scatterbrain [ 09 Aug 2013, 14:07 ]
Post subject:  Re: Can't boot anything from anywhere
Dekar wrote:
Well that sucks. :<

Your SDD probably had Winddows on it and thus the bootsectors. Without them the bootmanager doesnt know what to do (with your HDD). Installing Windows on it should fix the HDD WOULD BE MY GUESS.

SSD looks borked to me. :(
Yep, pretty sure the SSD is bricked. There's an issue with OCZ SSD's that means they don't like being put into sleep mode - would've been nice to know about that a few months ago :20

I got Windows installed on the HDD but then... well, read below.
[SpA]SaintK wrote:
What happeneds when you use "press blah to select boot device" and then select the USB key?
With memtest I got 'Disk I/O Error'. But yesterday I tried using the OCZ SSD firmware updater (the only known way to un-brick the SSD), which is basically a Linux environment that boots from a USB stick, and it booted just fine (although it couldn't detect the SSD either, so there's no way to fix it afaik).

edit: ah, I read your question slightly wrong. I don't think I've ever had a USB in and got that message, it's either Disk I/O error or a succesful boot with the OCZ tool.

---

So after working out that my SSD was broken I managed to get Windows installed on my old HDD. Updated a bunch of drivers, did multiple reboots, no problems - it was looking good. But then I put my graphics card back in and I go straight back to the 'BOOTMGR is missing' error. At the moment I can reach BIOS, which only detects my DVD drive: HDD isn't being detected at all. I tried loads of times to boot from the Windows DVD, but it sounds like it isn't spinning properly in the DVD drive. Kept trying this whilst removing more and more hardware from the machine - nothing, even with the only the CPU, memory, PSU and DVD drive connected to the mobo. That's where I gave up last night.

Maybe it's a PSU issue if hooking up the graphics card fucked it? Maybe the Bootmgr problem was never really fixed and I just got lucky with the Windows install? I dunno what to think of it :-14

I've still got my old mobo + cpu + memory, I guess I could test everything on that and see what happens. Although if anyone's got any other ideas I'd rather try them first before taking all the new shit out of my case and putting back in the old shit.
Author:  [SpA]SaintK [ 09 Aug 2013, 22:05 ]
Post subject:  Re: Can't boot anything from anywhere
I still opt for broken memory.

Try to get memtest to work!
Author:  [SpA]SaintK [ 09 Aug 2013, 22:05 ]
Post subject:  Re: Can't boot anything from anywhere
although a broken PSU can cause some funky stuff to happen as well!
Author:  [SpA]Scatterbrain [ 09 Aug 2013, 23:41 ]
Post subject:  Re: Can't boot anything from anywhere
Possibly, although I swapped out my memory sticks and still got the same problems. I'll try memtest tomorrow anyways :5:
Author:  [SpA]Scatterbrain [ 11 Aug 2013, 22:37 ]
Post subject:  Re: Can't boot anything from anywhere
So, uhh, PC appears to be working perfectly again (minus the broken SSD). Windows disk still failed to spin up but then it just booted normally to the HDD. Couldn't get Memtest to work despite it being set as the boot priority in BIOS - no error message, just a very brief blank screen before booting to windows. I dunno what to tell you, it just... works. Let's see how long this lasts for :ugly:
Author:  [SpA]Dekar [ 12 Aug 2013, 21:44 ]
Post subject:  Re: Can't boot anything from anywhere
So its ready for highlander? :5:
Image
Author:  [SpA]AwesomeFriends [ 14 Aug 2013, 22:27 ]
Post subject:  Re: Can't boot anything from anywhere
If things keep popping up try not installing flash player. The tech guys that work for my school system discovered a virus that was bricking the computers...
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