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Only boot floppy works, nothing else

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packdragon

IS-IT--Management
Jan 21, 2003
459
US
I have a server that just stopped working. It has 3 SCSI disks, and no configuration changes have been done, which indicates some type of hardware failure. Replacing the SCSI controller didn't change anything. According to the SCSI messages during bootup, it appears that the primary hard drive may have gone bad - it sees the disk but says it is "not ready". When I switch the bad one for a spare hard drive it seems to start the boot sequence, however I get a blue screen saying "inaccessible boot device". I figure I probably need to reformat it so I try to boot from a Windows 2000 installation CD. I get the menu to choose between Pro, Server or Adv. Server, but after selecting one I get CDBOOT: Can't find NTLDR. This is bizarre because the CD boots perfectly on other machines. I even tested it again to be sure. The only way I can get it to boot is to put in a Win98 boot floppy.

Is it a malfunctioning piece of hardware or maybe a conflict that is preventing a boot from CD or hard drive? I even took a working IDE hard drive from a working computer and installed it into the bad machine. It starts Windows 2000, but then the same blue "inaccessible boot device" screen comes up. Anyone have any suggestions?
 
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