Dell complaints

basketcase · Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 2:43 am Post subject: no bootable devices found

I have 2 dell d600 laptops with identical specs, 1 of them gave me the no bootable devices message, and won't start up.. i thought the hard drive had failed, so i tried using the other units hard drive, but still get the same error< any ideas? Confused

Rocke_T_Sinetist · Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 10:39 am Post subject:

Check that F2 setup specifies drive 0 as 'auto'. It may have gotten inadvertantly switched. Setup should also identify the drive by brand and model.

If it IS set to auto, and a known-good drive/image will not work in it, there's only the socket and drive controller left, which are permanent parts of the motherboard.
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FallenAngel · Super Hater Joined: 21 Feb 2006 Posts: 1483

If a known good drive also fails, clear NVRAM/reset BIOS and if you still have the same error then I agree that the faulty part could only be a motherboard.

At least you know it isn't your hard drive that crashed. You can take some small comfort in that I suppose.

madterps · Regular Hater Joined: 29 Jan 2008 Posts: 31

Do you have a CD or a DVD in the DVD-ROM? Or any USB devices like a flash drive hooked up? It sound stupid but they could be somehow booting first, if not then definitely try to turn off the CD-ROM in the boot sequence and only leaves the HDD in the boot in the BIOS. Try to boot from another HDD and if that doesn't work either you know that the MB is messed up.

LayedOff2008 · Posted: Sat Jun 07, 2008 7:38 pm Post subject:

I agree with madterps I had a similar issue before and silly me forgot that I had a cd in the drive so each time the system would reboot it would try to access the opt drive first. I forgot it was in there for a few weeks. Ahh the joys of www.pandora.com which i rarely have to use cd's for music now. Its such a good site!!! If the drive is clicking it could still be HD though.
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basketcase · Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:25 pm Post subject:

just got some time to mess with this pos again and have figured out that with the new drive, it still will not boot, BUT if i select internal hdd from the boot menu, it starts fine???? wtf?

Rocke_T_Sinetist · Posted: Fri Jun 13, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject:

WTF indeed! Internal harddrive should be the FIRST place it looks, when others are empty. Not sure what's going on. But inspect F2 setup for issues such as these. And note that certain USB devices can mimic bootable status, when they are definitely not.
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basketcase · Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 7:33 am Post subject:

hate to sound clueless, but i am, what am i looking for when inspecting f2 setup? messed with the boot order a little last night, made the hdd first, but still the sos, only starts when you do it from the boot menu

Rocke_T_Sinetist · Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 11:06 am Post subject:

I haven't worked on laughtops since 2001, so I don't know the terms and choices F2 offers. But you have a working machine to go by. Without changing anything, look at the settings on the machine that works, and check that they are the same on the one that doesn't. If there is no difference, I don't know what to suggest next.

Boot order shouldn't matter, as long as other drives do not have media in them they will be skipped. One thing that can confuse boot is certain USB devices, eliminate those and see if it still happens.

Ah, something just came to me. Under some power save settings, the drive may not be starting in time to be identified when boot is normally looking for it. Manually selecting it would then start it. So check that power save settings are identical to those in the system that works. Power save is much more complex in laughtops than desktops, they can turn off just about anything, even parts of the chipset. They 'shouldn't' be turning HDD off during startup, but anything's possible.
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FallenAngel · Super Hater Joined: 21 Feb 2006 Posts: 1483

I'm wondering if the BIOS battery is in need of replacement? Maybe it's the cheapest part that needs to be swapped out?

Rocke_T_Sinetist · Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 3:15 pm Post subject:

Coulda was. That battery can cause all manner of goofy stuff when it's on the verge of going bad.
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