Hi everyone

[andy]

I am new here and desparetly looking for help with my PC problem.

It's a Dell Dimension 4700 running XP. My original SATA drive was small and I changed it for a larger one. After installing the new drive I kept getting the "Floppy Diskette Seek Failure; Strike F1 to continue, F2 to run set up". The PC never had a floppy drive, however. But when i pressed F1 it started up ok.

 

However, when i turned it on today, ALL i get is the message "Floppy diskette seek failure" and the cursor keeps blinking and it stops right there. Pressing any key doesnt do anything.

 

I have searched but did not find anything of that sort

 

Did i destroyed the PC? or is there anything I can try to rescue it?

 

Many thanks in advance

Andy

[maynardvdm]

Hi

 

Welcome to FPCH.

 

Can you get into the BIOS? When the pc first starts up look what key to press, should be F2 or Del. I think it will be F2 in your case.

 

In the BIOS look for something that says Floppy disk seek or any thing similar and disable it.

[Plastic Nev]

Hi, and welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help Andy,

Can you tell us a bit more about the new hard drive you fitted, and how did you install the operating system on it?

Next is did you do anything in the BIOS?

[andy]

Oh I disconnected the power cable, took out the old Maxtor drive and put in the new Hitachi drive. I then put in the reinstallation CD (came with the PC)and changed the boot sequence to CD rom and from there i formated the drive and completed the installation. During the installation and after, each time the pc restarted, i had to press F1 to continue but everything seemed to work normally. I then powered it down last night and came back from work today to find it wouldnt start. It freezes after "Floppy diskette seek failure" and pressing F1, F2 or any other keys would not do anything.

[andy]

Cant get into bios or set up now because none of the keys respond

[Plastic Nev]

OK, Andy, can you tell us exactly what it says on the label of the disk that came with your PC please.

Edit to add, I didn't catch your last reply, are you saying that the normal hitting F8 or other F key as it starts is doing nothing?

Edited March 20, 2009 by Plastic Nev

[andy]

it says:

OPERATING SYSTEM ALREADY INSTALLED ON YOUR COMPUTER

Reinstallation CD Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Including Service Pact 2

[andy]

none of the F keys do anything now except F2 key when pressed it shows "Entering set up" @ top right cornner but then after that it freezes with the same "Floppy diskette seek failure"

[Plastic Nev]

That could be the problem, that CD is normally only compatible with the original hard drive and will not install a new version of XP on a different drive, both size and make.

 

Normally at this point I would advise buying a copy of XP However, the fact that you now cannot seem to get into even the BIOS is a little worrying.

 

I can only leave this for one of our other more knowledgeable people

[andy]

But it seemed to be working for a few hours after I installed it and updated windows and others stuff i had on the old drive, except that i had to press F1 every time it restarted.

 

Many thanks for trying to help anyway

[Plastic Nev]

Hi again, the computer would have been booting and running from that disk is my thoughts, but now you have removed the disk and because it couldn't actually install the operating system on to the hard drive, without the disk in it has nothing to boot from. However a continual tapping of F8 (or other key depending on your system) as soon as you press the power button, should get you into the BIOS I would have thought.

[maynardvdm]

Sounds like your PC freezes even in the BIOS? Yes.

 

This could be a heat issue. Make sure your PC is free from dust. Check the fans if they are spinning freely. I dont think i need to say this, but the computer must be OFF when you do this :)

[andy]

The fan runs normally. Everything inside the PC looks clean and free from dust. I tried to put the original drive back and the exact same thing still happens. It freezes on start up @ the "Floppy diskette seek failure" message and the F keys would not work. Could there be something terminal or anything else I can check?

Thanks in advance

[maynardvdm]

When you switch the pc on, do you hear a beep or anything?

[andy]

yes i think it beeps twice.

the thing is when i left it for a couple of days and it started, still with the same message, but when i press F1 it works. When i tried shutting it down and re-start, sometimes it does and sometimes it doen't. When it does, it continues after i press F1. When it doesn't, there is no response after i press F1. The problem seems very intermittent. I thought it might be something loose but all connections seem ok. what else should i check?

[Match]

yes i think it beeps twice.

 

Hi Andy can you be more specific, is that a beeps twice and freezes, is that a beeps twice and asks for f1 to continue

 

Have a look at this and you'll understand the importance of why we ask, also I notice a bit about lights on the back panel, can you give us any info on the please.

[andy]

Hi,

Thanks for trying to help me out.

The latest when i tried to start the pc is now:

 

No beep at all. The Power light and Hard drive light both came on and after a short moment, the Hard drive light went off leaving only the power light steadily on green.

"Floppy diskette seek failure

Sil 0680 ATA/133 Controller BIOS Version 3.2.10

Copyright © 1997-2003 Silicon Image, Inc.

 

Press F3 to eneter Configuration Utility

Drive Number : 0 WDC WD2500JB-00GVA0 234475 MB"

 

And the cursor blinking under neath but pressing any key would not do anything at all.

 

My C drive is a new Hitachi drive which had been installed with the original CD and updated when it was working, before the problem started. A 2nd Western Digital drive is one that is shown above. Would that shed any more light?

[DirtyPolo]

Have you tried taking out and reseating all the SATA cables?, not just pushing them in to check if they're okay, take them out and put them back in.

 

You could also try swapping the two SATA cables over and seeing if that makes any difference.

[Match]

OK You Have

Floppy diskette seek failure

 

The manual has

Diskette Boot Failure

and suggests

Ensure that the drive is installed correctly in the computer and defined correctly in the system setup program. Check the interface cable at both ends

 

so after a quick scan through the thread so far I would suggest checking for bent pins on the drive and motherboard and checking the cable if you have a spare I would swop them to make sure that its not a broken wire in the cable problem.

[Dalo Harkin]

Ok - you need a PS2 keyboard - not an adapter from a USB to PS2 an actual PS2 keyboard.

when you plug it in keep pressing whichever key the BIOS tells you to enter the BIOS.

When in the BIOS, set the first boot device to HDD and disable the 2nd 3rd 4th etc.

There will also be an options for Disable floppy drive A and or B, disable those.

 

Make sure you SAVE and EXIT the BIOS -

[andy]

Thanks Dalo

First of all I didnt even know it makes a different using the PS2 and usb keyboards. Now my PC does respond to the F keys. Here is what happens now:

 

on start up I still get this message:

 

Press F3 to enter Configuration Utility

Drive Number: 0 WDC ...etc

Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run setup utility

 

and it beeps TWICE

 

I followed your advice and in BIOS, the boot sequence is now shown:

 

1. onboard SATA Hard Drive

onboard or USB CD-ROM Drive

onboard IDE Hard Drive (not present)

USB Device

WDC WD2500JB-00GVA0

onboard or USB Floppy Drive (not present)

 

 

BUT still the same message each time i restart the PC. THe good thing is now at least I can Press F1 and get the PC to work. If nothing else I can do then I can live with a little hassle like that.

[Match]

onboard or USB Floppy Drive (not present)

 

by using the arrow keys to highlight this option and pressing return can you get an option to disable it?

 

if so do so. and also do the same for the IDE Hard Drive option.

 

then I think it is f10 to save and exit