Gateway laptop MX6453 - keeps booting to System Recovery - "WHY"

And if Gary's recommendation is not working, make sure that your F11 key is not stuck...  You may have to pull the keyboard, but with most GW models, it is not hard to do..

FE

I did receive your comments this day, however I am away from that PC, and will be getting to it this evening, Kansas time.  Thanks for all the comments.

I had no audio drivers which would install to return HD audio to the MX6453 Gateway laptop.  After attempting to download every driver Gateway had available for audio for the serial number of this PC and it still not installing, I attempted to backup to an earlier date, thus the system would restore to mormal.  That didn't work as the daughter must have turned off that mode.  As I did have the Gateway XP Media "Restore" CD I atempted to run it.  That took me to a recovery mode.  There I had three options, which I should have selected "quit" as my 3rd.  However, I attempted to run the not critical repair, and did attempt the recovery.  There-after all I get now when I go to recovery, it backsup the system, and then reboots into recovery and again continues to make a backup.  I did a parallel sys load with Microsoft in my ear, and they failed to move over all the iTunes which the kid bought that are still (hopefully) on that laptop.  The "F11" key is not stuck.  I also am getting something about the hal.dll is missing.

Okay, that's a different issue than what I thought you were having -- I thought it was booting to the system recovery utility on a recovery partition.    It sounds like what's happened is you aborted this in the middle of a system recovery ... and it keeps trying to continue that process.   What happens if you simply let it continue to run?

Also, do I correctly understand that you do NOT have any backups of your data?

After installing the parallel sys load and opening up that system, there were like a total of 6 backups there, meaning like I said earlier, if you allow it to continue running, it just keeps attempting to recover, and it ask if you want to backup, or quit, it never gets to the point of restoring the system and actually booting.  I can't recall if I stated the original OS was XP Media & the parallel sys load as XP Pro..  What is the file format for iTunes?  It isn't MP3, as I did a search for ILS and M4P (thinking that was the format).

Well, i can give you a list of the most popular formats, including itnes:

    * MP3: The most popular music format is MPEG Layer-3 format. This is popular for downloading and storing music. Because of Lossy compression the download file is much smaller then the original.
    * WMA: - The Windows Media audio format is popular with windows system, it was designed by Microsoft.
    * WAV: To open files with these formats you need ATRAC3 drivers.
    * RA: This format is "Real Audio format" and is used to stream audio over the internet.
    * RAM: This is used to store a link to the internet address where actual audio file is stored.
    * DSS: Digital Speech Standard files.
    * MSV: - Memory Stick compressed voice files.
    * DVF: This file is commonly used by Sony dictation recorders.
    * MP4: Apple uses this format for downloading music from their iTunes store with digital right management.
    * iKlax - Multi-track digital audio format, allows mixing and volumes arrangements.
    * GSM: This file format was designed for telephone use.
    * DCT: This audio format is used for dictation, it's header portion can be encrypted.
    * VOX: This audio format uses the "Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation".
    * AAC: This audio format is based on MPEG2 and MPEG4 standards.

What do you mean by a "parallel system load" ??     Did you create a 2nd partition and make a dual-boot system (XP Pro & XP Media Center)?    Did you try to do a repair on a Media Center installation with an XP Pro CD?    It's not clear just what you did.

At this point, if your primary goal is to recover the I-Tunes music, I'd STOP!!    Do NOTHING that may write to the disk anymore than you already have.    If necessary, get another laptop hard drive and reload the system with a fresh installation of XP from your restore disk.    Once that's working, connect the original drive via a USB bridging device, and you can then recover the files you need without any further writing (and possible corruption) to the original disk.

Note, however, that the DRM (digital rights management) feature of I-Tunes may prevent you from doing this.   That's why I-Tunes provides a copy feature to enable you to backup the collection to external drives on a frequent basis.   Most users with large collections do this at least weekly.    If you have the receipts for all the purchased music, you MAY be able to redownload it -- I simply don't know whether the Apple folks are sympathetic to that or not (I'm not an I-Tunes user).

In any event, the #1 rule of data recovery is STOP -- do NOT write to the disk that you need to recover data from.    Your likelihood of success will be much higher if you abide by that rule.

Although Apple does not like to do this, and I believe their agreement with you says that they only allow a one time download, you can request and most likely receive permission to download all of your music from the Itunes Store...  I had to do this for a friend of mine who did not backup their data files..

Here is the form to request it:

http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/store/browser/

I also was a little confused by your statement regarding a Parallel Install..  Assumed you were referring to a dual boot config, but since this does not come standard on any GW system that I have ever worked on (and I have reloaded hundreds of these) I had no comment..

Oh, and I agree with everything that Gary mentions in this posts!

Good Luck!

FE

To clear the air - I did create a second partition, one that I could boot the PC to (the PC was not bootable prior to this).  I could not find the iTunes anywhere on the PC, and as the daughter has most, or if not all songs she downloaded on her ipod, I elected to "fdisk" the entire PC (clean up all the crap she had on it as well) and install a clean copy of XP Pro to the PC.  Here I am now a day later, and only with the OS installed, plus all the drivers from Gateway for this particular PC, as controlled by the serial number of the laptop.  Exception - the audio still does not have drivers, and  is not functioning.  The SigmaTel  audio driver (version 5.10.5082.0) as shown for that PC fails to install.  When I download and attempt to install I receive the following statement: "Device Object not present, restart the system and run setup again".  Of course when I restart and attempt to do as per the error screen, I again get the same error.  Thus no audio!

Oh - by the way thanks for the info on iTunes and being able to obtain the downloads again, if they are lost.

Did you install the Microsoft UAA High Definition Audio Class driver BEFORE you installed the SigmaTel audio driver?     This is necessary for high definition audio devices.

Gateway's download site made no mention of that download.  Where (link) can the UAA driver be downloaded?

It's available at a variety of places ... including Microsoft ... but this is probably the quickest/easiest link to download it:
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp32501-33000/sp32646.exe

Have downloaded the Microsoft UAA and installed it, and then attempted to  load the SigmaTel and again I received the same error code as mentioned above "Device Object not present, restart the system and run setup again".

First, are you SURE you've downloaded the correct audio driver for your system?

Second, before worrying about it, update XP to the latest service pack (SP3) ... it may very well "know" about the audio device at that point (many devices are "known" to SP2 and SP3 that were not known to the earlier incarnations of XP).     After XP is fully updated, and with the system online, go to Device Manager, highlight the audio device, and select "Update Drive" ... then let it search Windows Update for the latest version.    This will solve a lot of driver issues.

Also, did you install the MB Chipset Drivers... a first step which also helps XP identify hardware correctly..  They are available from on the Dload page of GW for your model..

BTW:  from what I can see, those are the correct drivers according to the GW site...

FE

To:  garycase - have already upgraded XP Pro to SP3, and then I attempted to load the drivers from Gateway, and yes, per their site I am using the proper driver for SigmaTel.  I also have gone into Device Manager many times and attempted to upgrade drivers for all the sound items.

To:  Fatal exception - MB chipset?  This PC is using an AMD Turion" 64 X2 Dual-Core Mobile Technology - can you elaborate more on the Chipset you referred to?

http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/getFile.asp?id=20835&dscr=AMD%20CPU%20Chipset%20Driver%201.3.2.0&uid=237066554

Note that installing audio drivers for HD audio devices can be very tricky -- the UAA driver MUST be installed first.    If you installed the Sigmatel drives first, then even if you uninstalled them there may be residual registry entries that can preclude this from working correctly.     If you do a clean install, and update all the way to SP3 (which includes the UAA HD drivers), you should then be able to install the Sigmatel drivers with no issue.     On the other hand, I've also seen cases where the drivers won't install correctly with SP3 -- in those cases you need to NOT do the SP3 update until you first install the UAA driver, then the sound driver ==> and once sound is working okay you can apply SP3.     If it sounds like this can be tricky ... that's because it can :-)

The AMD chipset download you provided a link to was already downloaded from Gateway.  This took place this morning (Central time USA).  Are you saying that after XP Pro is installed, and before any upgrades from Microsoft/Windows are downloaded, the Gateway & Microsoft driver for sound should be installed?  So as per this statement, I should fdisk the hard drive again and install XP Pro tp the SP2 level, and then install the audio drivers with the UAA download, huh?

Yes, that may be what you need to do.    First, it may be necessary since you had installed the Sigmatel drivers initially before the UAA bus drive.    Second, it MAY be that this is one of the cases where the audio driver won't install correctly with SP3 installed.      This is one reason I always image a drive at key points during an install -- it's then a simple 5-10 minute process to revert to any particular point if something goes wrong along the way.

I am referring to the Chipset AMD Processor Driver 1.3.2.6 Drivers...  They are available on the Gateway download site for your model:

http://support.gateway.com/support/drivers/search.asp?param=MX6453&x=16&y=9&st=kw

Description:

http://downloads.guru3d.com/AMD-Processor-Driver-1.3.2.6-WHQL-download-1515.html

the chipset driver was downloaded from Gateway's site, see my response to garycase above, unless your download is a different one then the one he suggested?

I do take notice that the AMD driver Gateway had to download was version 1.3.2.0, this latest one is 1.3.2.6  -  I'll download that and see if it makes any difference.  Can another style of an audio system be downloaded?

Just got off the phone with Microsoft Support.  They took control of my PC, and verified if UAA was installed (they did download a file to make certain KB835221 WXP), and spent some time evaluating.  They have stated that the "Sound Card" within this laptop must be bad, as it is not being detected.  With all that said, how do I tear this laptop apart and get to that card, thus I can replace it?  If I do get to it, should it be replaced with a "like" card?  Again, thanks for your replies.

Unfortunately laptop sound adapters can't generally be replaced.     The best way to get sound for your laptop is to use a USB sound adapter with external speakers.

e.g.  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829128004   if you just want basic sound;

or http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102020    if you want a higher quality multi-channel output.

... and a set of powered speakers  (anywhere from $10 to whatever you want to pay)
http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=60&name=Speakers

How about something that will have a headset/ear buds connectivity?

The Creative unit (2nd link) has both speaker outputs and a headphone jack.

The first unit has a single output jack, so you'd have to switch between the speakers and headphones (i.e. only one can be plugged in at a time)

Hard to believe that the sound card just stopped working...  but stranger things have happened, eh?  But if you installed the MB drivers, then the sound device should show up in Device Manager, and if not, then perhaps it is toast...  and like Gary says, this is not a replacement part.. you would have to replace the entire MB to correct it..

FE

There ARE a few laptop motherboards with plug-in sound cards;  but in most cases the audio chips are soldered to the board, which is likely with this model.    The Component Replacement Manual does not show any indication of the sound card being replaceable -- and I'd expect it to be listed there if it was a replaceable unit.   [http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Q106/Blade/8511418.pdf ]

Currently that PC is being loaded (installing) Windows 7, if that OS makes the audio work - wow, I'll really be on Microsoft...

I am testing W7 in our production environment right now and am very impressed with the outcome so far..  In fact, it is running on a GW tower (E4100)..    found and installed all the required drivers...

I would be interested to know if your new install resolved this issue..  keep us informed!

FE

Windows 7 has not detected any sound system within the laptop."No Audio Output Device is installed"..  It shows the speaker with a red X through it, but it will not turn on, or install audio, even with me manually attempting to install Gateway's audio driver.  NUTS!

It seems fairly clear the audio adapter has failed -- time for a USB sound adapter.

As Gary is the lead here, I have to agree...    :)

FE

If an outboard device is installed, will it operate the onboard speakers within the laptop?  Will the volume still be controlled as if the sound card itself was working?

"... If an outboard device is installed, will it operate the onboard speakers within the laptop? " ==> No.   That's why I noted you'll need to buy a pair of speakers.   [You COULD rewire the internal speakers to an outboard jack and plug it into the external adapter ... but that's a non-trivial project.]

"... Will the volume still be controlled as if the sound card itself was working? " ==>  If you mean via the laptop's hotkeys, then probably not ... they most likely control the amplified level of the onboard speakers ... not the Windows volume level (if they control the Windows level, then yes, they'll work).    But if you mean the normal Windows volume slider (and any hotkeys that may control this), then yes, it will work the same no matter what audio adapter you're using.

Follow up statement:  Not only is the audio not working, nor is the on-board modem.  When I attempt to load the modem's drivers (I know - who uses a modem anymore) a message is shown "Driver was pre-installed on your PC.  Shut down your PC, plug in modem hardware and turn on PC again.  Don't remove CD from Tray.  If you are installing High Definition Audio modem, please ensure that Microsoft High Definition Audio Bus Driver is present".  Thus I guess both the sound and the modem are having the same technical problem??  Thanks for all comments.