Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk and Press Enter

jamface202 · 21 Aug 2012 at 23:04

Hi Guys,

It's been a while since I've been on here but I can't seem to solve this one... My computer used to randomly not be able to detect one of the hard drives (there's 5 in total) but usually giving the SATA connector a wobble would get it working again. One day the computer seized up so I restarted it but it wouldn't boot anymore.

I've tried disconnecting as much as possible to get it working and boot up a MythBuntu LiveCD but it always says "Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk and Press Enter", even when trying to use the CD drive as the boot drive.

I've also tried replacing the CMOS battery as I read somewhere that might help (didn't seem to change anything)

Here's my spec (currently connected, any PCI boards and spare HDD's are removed currently):
motherboard: Gigabyte 965P-DS3
CPU: Q6600
RAM: 2 x 2GB Corsair XMS2
Graphics: HD4870
PSU: OCZ 700W
HDD: Samsung 250GB
IDE DVD Drive
Also connected is a USB wireless keyboard

Anyone have any ideas what I could try as I have no clue??

subaru_swift · 22 Aug 2012 at 00:00

check your hd boot order, as i have 4 drives & i need to put them in the right order then again i have a duel boot system.

jamface202 · 22 Aug 2012 at 18:24

Thanks, will try changing the order of the drive although currently I only have the 1 connected

jamface202 · 22 Aug 2012 at 21:21

Tried to change the hdd boot order but the only thing on the list was "bootable add in cards". Very strange, checked the sata cable and tried in a different port on the mobo with the same result.

Beginning to wonder if the problem could be with the sata ports on the mobo. Is there a reliable way tp test these?

OliverDavis · 23 Aug 2012 at 08:58

Use another PC to make a bootable USB for Ubuntu or even Windows 7, I did when I installed W7, then just use your activation key when installed.

Most modern PC's can boot from USB, 4Gb is enough for any OS. Installing W7 from USB seemed a lot easier in my experience

OliverDavis · 23 Aug 2012 at 09:00

Boot into Ubuntu Live USB and see if it detects your HDD. If not test the HDD by getting an External HDD USB Bay. Could be some faulty SATA Ports

jamface202 · 23 Aug 2012 at 10:02

Thanks, I have a SATA to USB connector which I've used to connect the HDD to my laptop and it detects it fine (used the laptop to format the drive with the thought of re-installing OS from scratch).

This evening I'll try connecting the CD drive by IDE to USB converter to the PC's USB port and boot from that (cos I'm lazy and I have a live CD already but not a Live USB). If that doesn't work then I'll make a Live USB and give that a go.

jamface202 · 31 Aug 2012 at 15:58

Just to give an update on this in case anyone stumbles across this post with a similar problem.

I disconnected all the hard drives and connected the CD drive by IDE to USB converter to the PC's USB port and booted a Ubuntu Live CD. This worked so I connected one of the SATA hard drives (one I knew worked, having previously connected it to a laptop). Then looked for connected hard drives in Ubuntu and saw none so concluded that the SATA ports on the motherboard were probably broken.

So I bought a PCI SATA board, plugged it in and connected my hard drives up to that. After correcting the boot order of the hard drives in the BIOS it's working fine again now.