Acer Aspire 5315-2326 gives No bootable device - insert boot disk and press any key message at startup

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ASKER

Hi There,

Thank you so much for explaining the error message I was seeing on the screen. Everything you mention does make a great deal of sense and certainly seems logical. Just to back up for a moment, I am wondering why I got a BIOS screen by simply reseating the RAM into a different memory bank. It was only one stick of RAM. At any rate, does it matter a whole lot though which memory bank one stick of RAM should be located? Of course, this question is more academic in nature though seeing that the laptop is booting with a display now. But, I am still curious though.

George

"I am wondering why I got a BIOS screen by simply reseating the RAM into a different memory bank"
probably the slot is not the problem but the memory card was not properly installed, if that is the case when the system boots-up it won't work but it also might damage the BIOS maintained non-volatile memory (holding your PC hardware settings). Then when you get back-on and the system boots properly again the BIOS POST (Power On Self Test) routines detect the “c-mos/flash” memory corruption and forces you to the BIOS setup screen while proposing default settings....

Every motherboard has its own rules about RAM memory population...
some are more permissive than others, probably you put your RAM in a slot that only works if there also a second RAM card next to it.. you just have to read your motherboard manual ;-)

SOLUTION

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ASKER

Hi There,

Thanks so much for the recent reply to this post. And, thank you so much for the instructions necessary to carry out the restore procedures. After talking to my friend today, I was told a new HDD was installed into this laptop. There is not any end user files or anything important which needs to be kept. So, a wipe and reload will be alright here.

Knowing this laptop likely has a new HDD, will the instructions for configuring the boot sequence within the BIOS be basically similiar to what is used to carry out a system restore? And, secondly, will this laptop be compatiable with Windows 7? If I am not mistaken, it originally had Windows Vista on it.

Any further thoughts and advice on this matter will be appreciated. And, thanks so much
: - )

George

1) on a system restore you usually do not touch BIOS parameters...
just take the defaults and be sure its ready for booting from the cd/DV unit if you are going to instal an OS from a cd/dvd

2)if it run vista will surelly run W7 but I'd go to the manufacturer web site and ceck-out the W7 drivers for your model are available before the installation.

Pmasotta: Acer has a "unique" bios with a built in imager that is activated with the bios for the D2D copier. See: http://us.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers , Notebook Aspire Aspire 5315, User Manual.

GMartin, As per the above refrenced link the Laptop does support windows 7 and any files needed can be gotten from the above link.

Wes

ASKER

Hi Everyone,

I apologize for the lengthy delay in getting back with everyone regarding my progress. Today, I have been back on this project using the information contained with the links supplied in addition to personal insights shared within this post. At this point, here is the status of everything which will require further technical advisement.

When I booted to the CD/DVDROM containing the Windows 7 DVD, I got all of the normal screens leading up to the Windows 7 install. At the option to either Upgrade or do Custom (Advanced) install, I selected Custom install because I want to basically redo the entire HDD by deleting the preexisting partition. To my surprise when I clicked Custom installation, I noticed within the Total Size and Free Space of Disk 0: Unallocated Space, there was not any default values. Instead, I only saw 0 for both of these. In other words, it is almost like the laptop is not even recognizing a HDD at all. And, of course, there was a message at the bottom of the screen indicating Windows cannot be installed to this disk (Show Details) When I clicked Show Details, I got a message indicating the computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk... Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu. So, I cancelled the installation and went back into the BIOS.

Upon doing a visual priority order, I noticed there was no longer a description given to IDE 0. Before I rearranged the boot sequence order within the BIOS configuration, I did notice a description given to the laptop HDD making reference to a WDC HDD which I believe to be Western Digital, but, I am not sure. To be honest, I found it strange the laptop's HDD looses its description just by the simple act of rearranging to the boot sequence.

At any rate, if someone could provide further advisement on this matter, it will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

George

ASKER

Hi Everyone,

I just want to take a moment and provide a further update on the status of this project. The PXE error messages noted earlier are now resolved after I did the following: I went into the Main menu of the BIOS configuration and disabled Network Boot and changed the SATA mode from AHCI Mode to IDE Mode, and saved the changes by pressing F10. The only error message I get at startup is No bootable device without the references being made to PXE. Also, during the Windows 7 installation process, I now have values for the size of the HDD along with the free space for the HDD as well, which is 232.9GB for both. Unfortunately, I will still need further technical assistance because of the following problem: During the Custom Installation of Windows 7, I am unable to use any of the advanced disk management tools like deleting partition, formating partition, creating extended partition, etc. because of the following error message: "Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing system partition. See the Setup log files for more information". At this point, I will need further technical advisement on this hurdle so I can finish the installation of Windows 7 onto this laptop.

Thank you in advance for any further help given to this question. I will look forward to reviewing any further input.

George

ASKER

Hi Everyone,

I am wondering if the HDD of this laptop is not physically defective. Is there a way I can determine if the HDD is good or not?

Thank you

George

are you using a full 7 or an upgrade version?
any chance you can read the "Setup log files for more information". as the message says...

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ASKER

Hi Everyone,

Regarding the two links given by Wes, I downloaded the ISO file to run the WD diagnoistics at boot on the laptop HDD. With respect to the second link given, WD Quick Formatter is used to format external drives only. And, this utility requires installation. Since I can not boot to this HDD, I am needing a utility which I can record to CD-R as a bootable ISO file which will format the entire internal HDD. I tried using dBan last night, but, it will take over 1350 hours to make the 3 passes in the formatting process. My guess is the long amount of time needed is related to the laptop HDD size of 232GB, but, I am unsure. With that point in mind, I would llike to have a bootable utility which will format quicker than that.

Any help regarding this question will be greatly appreciated. I will look forward to hearing more from everyone regarding this post. In the meantime, I will go ahead and run the WD Lifeguard Tools Boot Disk to test the drive for possible issues.

Thank you

George

ASKER

Hello Everyone,

I want to take a moment and provide some updates to this ongoing project. Using a program downloaded from Western Digital with Caldera DR-DOS, I attempted to run a test to check the integrity of the laptop HDD. No matter if I select Quick Test or Extended Test, I get the following message: Drive configuration changed while this program was running. The drive configuration must remain the same as the program runs. Please restart the program. I also get this message if I try to low level format by selecting Write Zeroes. When I restart the laptop as instructed, I get the following error message: Non-WD Drive.. Error/Status Code: 0201. Interesting if I do a "cold" boot (powering off the laptop and staring it up again to run the WD utility), the WD utility detects the HDD once again.

At the present time, I am running a utility built into Ultimate Boot CD called Parted Magic. This program detected and ID the HDD of the laptop and gave me the option to erase it using Secure Erase. The message I got says Secure Erase command has been executed against the selected drive. Please allow 30 to 180 minutes for completion. It has been at least 3 hours now, but, this screen is still there with the HDD light on the console occasionally blinking. To be honest, I am not convinced it is doing anything to the HDD. However, I will leave it on all night and see what happens in the morning. If the message is still there in the morning, then, it is safe to assume the utility is not doing what it claims.

Playing devil's advocate for a moment and assuming the HDD is really bad, I do have a question. I have an Acer Aspire 3690 laptop with a good working HDD. Speaking theoretically of course, could I possibly use this HDD in the problem Acer Aspire 5315-2326 laptop? It seems reasonable that I might be able to do this, but, I am unsure though.

In the meantime, if any further suggestions come to mind, please post because I am anxious to get this HDD issue with the Acer Aspire 5315-2326 laptop resolved. And, thanks in advance for all of the great suggestions so far.

Thank you

George

SOLUTION

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George,
What Model are the Western Digital Drive and the other Drive you are looking to use?
With the Model#'s I can lookup the specs and advise if they are simialr in specs.

You might also try using this link:
http://secure3.tx.acer.com/FindSystem/FindSystem.aspx?title=Information%20About%20Your%20System

It requires the SNID an 11 digit # which should be on the bottom of the laptop. It will also take the SN, Serial# a 22 digit #and then report specific details on your laptop.

Wes

ASKER

Hello Wes,

Thank you for your continued interest in helping to resolve this question. At this time, I am still at work. But, when I get home this afternoon, I will look for the information you are requesting. It will probably be close to night fall or so. But, I will get back with you.

And, thank you so much once again : - )

George

ASKER

Hi

With regards to ubuntu, will the interface of this OS be pretty straight forward and simple? I have never used this OS, so, naturally, I am unfamiliar with the logistics for using it. If I understand my instructions correctly, I am to boot to the CD with ubuntu, delete any existing partitions if the HDD is responsive, and cancel the install. Following those procedures, I should be able to boot from the Windows 7 DVD, create a partition, format the partition, and install the preferred OS, namely, Windows 7, onto that partition. Is that the sum of it?

Thank you.

George

ASKER

Hi

I almost forgot to mention. The original HDD which came with this laptop is no longer there. It was replaced a few weeks ago with this 232GB WD HDD. Will you still need the information Wes?

George

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Gorpge, Yes because the Western Digital website can give specific information to specfic hardrive if that info is known.
If you want to get the info yourself you can go here:
http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?level1=7&lang=en

Wes

ASKER

Hi Everyone,

First and foremost, I want to sincerely thank everyone for their insightful feedback given in addition to the valuable links. I especially appreciate the time and effort given in explaining the error messages reported within this thread. It certainly did help in clearing up much confusion surrounding the troubleshooting process of this laptop HDD. Now, lets move onto what was finally decided after hours of testing and troubleshooting.

No matter what test was used, the HDD of this laptop never did respond. In fact, the BIOS of the laptop and even the diagnoistic testing tools used would just randomly detect or ID the HDD. Given the variety of techniques used in an attempt to correct the issue with no success, I had to come to the conclusion the HDD is simply defective or bad. Luckly, I had another laptop HDD from a bad Acer laptop to use. This replacement HDD was smaller in size, 80GB as compared to 232GB, but used the same interface technology, namely, SATA. So, I simply removed the defective HDD from the laptop, removed its cadey, and placed this cadey of the replacement HDD, and finally inserted it. From there, I was able to boot from the Windows 7 DVD; go through the standard procedures of deleteting the preexisting partition, create a new partition, format the said partition, and then install Windows 7 onto this parttition.

While I was hoping to get the 232GB HDD working, everything still worked out using a replacement HDD. At any rate, I am happy this problem is now resolved.

Thanks a million for the feedback given. To be honest, I did learn a great deal from this post as I always do.

Great job : - )

George

George,
If the drive was bought from a retial establishment go to the Western Digital website and see if the drive might still be under warranty.>http://websupport.wdc.com/warranty

If it came with the Lpatop then I would check with Acer...As the Western Digital Mobile drives normally have a 3 to 5 year warranty.