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Re: Debian

On Tue, Feb 22, 2000 at 02:38:38PM -0000, Richard wrote:
> Hello
> 
> > Award Bootblock  BIOS v1.0
> > BIOS checksum error
> > detecting floppy drive A media
> > insert system disk and press enter.
> 
> I've tried to create and use a boot disk for the BIOS but it won't 
> have it :-(  When I press enter the floppy dirve just sits there and 
> does nothing.  Even tried turning the floppy data cable round to see 
> if that might be the problem.  Nothing.

	I thought that the BIOS needed to be up and running properly
*before* any hardware can be used. Can you boot off your hard drive?
If that's the case, forget about the floppy for the time being, and
reinstall the BIOS. Try to install an OS in the hdd using a properly
working computer, and then swap it back so as to boot from the hdd. Mind
you, your hdd detection parameters might be fscked as well, so you might
not be able to boot off it. I remember someone on USENET with a similar
problem (he had flashed his BIOS with a wrong one). Two suggestions were
given:
-Get an EEPROM programmer and do it safe
-[A brutal variation of the above] Get an identical mobo with a working
chip, power up, and then take the chip off that mobo and put the faulty
one (!!!), flash it and replace in the faulty mobo. Don't do it unless
desperate. And even if desperate, don't do it. I reckon it works fine
with SGIs and DEC Alphas, but definitely not with pissys :)
-Try to put your BIOS in maintenance mode or clearing the BIOS config
(take the battery out and wait for a while), and see if it boots. If it
does, then burn the BIOS again.

	Hairy problem by the looks of it :-/

	Regards,
	José

-- 
José L Gómez Dans			PhD student
					Radar & Communications Group
					Department of Electronic Engineering
					University of Sheffield UK
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