# PC won't boot from CD



## Symmetric (Oct 30, 2007)

Hi all,

I recently reinstalled WinXP (again), I was previously running a dual boot with Ubuntu using Grub as my boot loader. The install went fine - nothing out of the ordinary. However, I went to reinstall Linux the other day, and when I tried to boot from my fresh Ubuntu CD, I was faced with the interesting message: "PRESS A KEY TO REBOOT". This pops up after POST, at the point where the BIOS usually starts reading from the CD drive (the drive spins up before I get the message).

This also happens when I try and boot from my WinXP cd, so the problem is definately not the disk - I have also tried the Ubuntu cd in another box, and it is fine.

I've tried booting with my main HD's power cable unplugged, and this doesn't work. My BIOS boot order is definately correct. I'm pretty much at a loss - ASUS tech support have been pretty useless, so I'm hoping someone might be able to suggest something.

I'm considering flashing the BIOS - is this worth trying? I haven't updated it since I got the motherboard.

ASUS P4G8X Deluxe
P4 2.5Ghz
1GB RAM
ATI Radeon 9800Pro
2x DVD writers
2x Maxtor 80GB IDE HDD (one is my Windows disk)
1x Maxtor 160GB SATA
1x WD 500GB SATA

Thanks in advance,
Paul


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## mattlock (Dec 28, 2005)

Hi Paul and Welcome to TSF.

Are you seeing "Press any key to Boot from CD" or "Press any key to reboot"?

Have you tried clearing your CMOS and reloading the setup defaults?


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## Symmetric (Oct 30, 2007)

Thanks for your suggestions.

The boot process stops at the point where it would usually offer to boot from CD, with the message 'PRESS A KEY TO REBOOT'. It's definitely broken .

I just tried clearing the CMOS, but unfortunately this did not fix the problem - still won't boot from CD.

Any more ideas?

Cheers,
Paul


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

try booting from your other dvd drive
i have had problems before where i burn a disk on a drive and have to move it to the other drive before i can boot from it


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## Symmetric (Oct 30, 2007)

I've tried booting from both drives, and neither work.

I should perhaps emphasize that I have previously been able to boot from both drives without any difficulty - they seem to have stopped working for no discernible reason.

Cheers,
Paul


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## Doby (Jan 17, 2006)

My guess is one of the dvd drives went bad somehow so try removing one and see if it will boot from cd, if not try the other. If that don't work try another ide cable

With award bios you will get the "PRESS A KEY TO REBOOT" message anytime there is a error that requires a reboot. You pass post when booting to windows so the only thing that changes is the use of a optical drive when booting from cd and thats the reason for my guess


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## Symmetric (Oct 30, 2007)

Hi Doby, thanks for your suggestions.

I got a new IDE cable, and using this I have tried booting from each of my dvd drives, with the other one disconnected. No luck.

I also tried plugging my dvd drives into the Primary IDE controller on the motherboard, in case the Secondary controller was acting up. Same problem unfortunately.

It looks to me like the motherboard is the problem - is it possible that this could be a hardware fault? I've reset the CMOS, could there still be something wrong with the BIOS? Would flashing a new BIOS onto the mobo help?

Cheers,
Paul


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## Doby (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi Paul,

Sorry for the delay, it does seem as if there is some piece of hardware at fault, but I am at a bit of a lose because it will boot into windows and I really thought one of the optical drives was bad because it only does it when a bootable cd is in the drive.

I would consider a bios update but first clear the cmos this way.

1) unplug the computer
2) remove the motherboard battery
3) push the power button in and hold for 15 seconds to discharge the caps
4) use the motherboard jumper to clear the cmos, this is explained in your manual
5) Leave the computer like this for 30 minutes to ensure a good clear, this is a little extreme but do it just to make sure.

Move the jumper back to the normal operating position, reinstall the battery, plug it in, cross your fingers and try and boot from cd.

If this don't work I would try a bios update and that got me thinking will the computer boot from a floppy?


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## heyyotyson (Jan 12, 2008)

I had the same problem that Paul had and a similar hardware config:

ASUS motherboard
1.5GHz AMD
512MB RAM
1 DVD Writer
1 WD 40GB IDE HDD (this is my WinXP boot disk)
1 WD 500GB SATA

My ASUS motherboard didn't include SATA support so I had to install a PCI card for my SATA hard drive.

I found that when I unplugged my SATA hard drive this problem was fixed and I could again boot from a CD.

Hope this helps someone!


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