"Insert a system diskette and press enter to reboot"

[Coban]

On an IBM aptiva I started getting this message when the machine boots... or should i say... fails to boot.
I checked the boot options in the BIOS, tried a System floppy disk which wouldn't spin...
I checked the power and data cables and all other attachments inside the PC.
I'm lost... TIA, Ari

 

[Coban]

Almost forgot.... it took about 10 reboots b4 I was able to enter the CMOS/BIOS. Could the actual CMOS chip be bad on the motherboard?
TIA, Ari

 

[roamer1]

Hi Coban

The floppy is first in the boot sequence?

Try a different boot floppy?

Do you have option to boot to CDROM?

can you supply a different HDD to place as primary in that box or pull the offending HDD and set as secondary in a different box?