Topic: Floppy Disk Player

[Tony]

Mmmmmm dont forget I have seen your real photo Tony  


           

And you thought that was bad !!!! I better not show you an up todate one  

[joudi]

Hello again to all,
   Answering Lobo: Yes, it does boot from floppy...but the problem also happens there sometimes. So I have to make many tries (sometimes) to make it work. the problem happens in the same way like any other time. And in the BIOS, Although I don't understand enough, the floppy disk is enabled as I can see. In fact, it's working, but it has that problem from time to time.
   
    Answering Adept: Without opening the computer, I succeded many times to see the composants and all the pieces of my computer and their details by serching somewhere in the programs. I'm trying now to do the same to be able to answer your question about the motherboard, I am unable to find my way to arrive there.
    In fact, I am afraid to realize at last that the problem is in the motherboard (I really hope not). I can add that I have no problem in the CD's Drivers. If the problem is in the motherboard, must it not affect all the drivers?  

[Sandra]

Not necessarily Joudi,as far as I know it could be a fault on the floppy disc controller bit whereas the IDE controllers for the CD and hard drive may be ok.
I am not that experienced with motherboard faults but there are a lot of ICs on all boards now and any one being faulty could affect one part of the PCs performance without affecting another probably  

[Clive]

Joudi, if you are saying that you want to know which motherboard you have without opening up your computer, try downloading AIDA32.  This will provide you with details of all your computer's components.

http://www.aida32.hu/aida-download.php?bit=32

[Simon]

Just a wild guess (again!) Joudi, but have you tried another floppy disc cable?  In these situations, it's often a case of step by step elimination, and anything is worth a try.  

[joudi]

Hello and thanks to all who participated in giving answers to my problem,

   Clive: It's a wonderfull link that you've mentioned in your answer. Thanks a lot.
   
    Simon: Yes, I tried an other connection cable when buying the other floppy driver I bought the cable too, without any result.

    Adept: At last I got to know the identity of my motherboard, it's that:
   


    Motherboard Properties   
Motherboard ID   11/05/2001-VT8366-8233-6A6LVM4AC-00
Motherboard Name   MSI MS-6382(E)
   
Front Side Bus Properties   
Bus Type   DEC Alpha EV6
Bus Width   64-bit
Real Clock   133 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock   267 MHz
Bandwidth   2133 MB/s
   
Memory Bus Properties   
Bus Type   DDR SDRAM
Bus Width   64-bit
Real Clock   133 MHz (DDR)
Effective Clock   267 MHz
Bandwidth   2133 MB/s
   
Chipset Bus Properties   
Bus Type   VIA V-Link
Bus Width   8-bit
Real Clock   67 MHz (QDR)
Effective Clock   267 MHz
Bandwidth   267 MB/s
   
Motherboard Physical Info   
CPU Sockets/Slots   1
Expansion Slots   3 PCI, 1 AGP, 1 CNR
RAM Slots   2 DIMM
Integrated Devices   Audio
Form Factor   Micro ATX
Motherboard Chipset   KT266(A)
   
Motherboard Manufacturer   
Company Name   Micro-Star International
Product Information   http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_list.php
BIOS Download   http://www.msi.com.tw/program/support/bios/bos/spt_bos_list.php
   
Problems & Suggestions   
Problem   Less than 3 memory slots detected. Expanding system memory may become difficult.


    So could that mean to you anything? Please if you want to help me can you tell me what to do step by step? Because I am afraide to touch the bios without having enough knowledge about it.

[Clive]

I shouldn't take the credit for the link because Hookstar probably posted it here originally.  He's the one who usually finds all the useful links.  

[Sandra]

Thats the same board as mine Joudi althought mines the 6382 ver2 (its about 6 months newer)
Not that that helps at all I just thought that I would let you know  

Clive how come you are recommending inferior ladies like AIDA when we all know that Si Soft Sandra is the one to have,anything called Sandra has to be better  

[Tony]

Hi joudi,

have you checked and flashed a later verision of the bios?

MSI have a little tool called 'Live Update2' download it and then it will check to see if your board needs it's bios updating [it will auto recognise your board]

http://www.msi.com.tw/html/support/liveupdate/main.htm

PS: there are also some handy little utilities worth downloading as well via Live Update2

[Simon]

I would just point out here that flashing your BIOS is not something to be taken lightly.  You can do irrepairable damage to your motherboard if you get it wrong.  Please take expert advice if you consider attempting this procedure.  

[joudi]

Thanks a lot Tony,
  It seems an interesting link to me.

Thanks Simon for that precious advice of worning.

   Well, I don't know If we can make the "live update" normally like any other program. If so, I'm capable to do it myself. But if it's risky, as Simon says, I prefer the help of someone else. Perhaps someone from the forum who knows enough about it.
   In fact, it's my first time I hear about "Flashing the Bios". Technically I don't know what does it mean. Is it only updating, or more than that? And how to do it? Do you think it may correct the problem?

    Thanks in advance to anyone who gives suggestions.

[Sandra]

Hi Joudi,I tried to do mine before Xmas (Noel pour vous,je pense   ) on my old PC
I followed the instructions from the motherboard manufacturers site (That was a FIC PAG 2130 board)
It was quite detailed and explained how to do it in easy to understand terms including explaining how to make a back up of the original BIOS in case the new one didnt work properly and you needed to revert to the older one.
I tried a few times without success and ended up having to take it to a friend (Lobo,a member of Pals) and he tried following FICs instructions.There was no way it would work so he did it as he usually does them and it worked straight away  
The one thing that I noticed which will possibly reassure you if you are a little scared of trying it (as I was),is that it guides you as you get to the stage that you are about to update it and asks you if you want to make a back up copy and does it for you.
After it has done that it will proceed to update the new BIOS and if it fails to update will tell you it has failed and will leave the original one in place without altering anything.

A Bios update allows your motherboard to do various things.Mine enabled it to support a Hard drive of up to 127 gig when it wouldnt recognise a 40 gig one that I had just bought with the original BIOS.Other updates enable other things or possibly allow them to be done more efficiently.
Bon chance  

[joudi]

Sandra: Mais voilà une anglaise qui parle bien le français  . Je me disais toujours que cette femme (Sandra) doit être une femme qui a pas mal de qualités. Et voilà, Je me trompe pas.

   Well, I can understand that you are encouraging me to do it by myself. I don't have arround me someone in whom I can have a total confidance concerning the Bios in case I follow a wrong way (although I know myself: I'm not going to do wrong things. only in case). I'll wait a little to see if there will be other interesting advices from the forum to give me more determination to do it.

    A très bientôt SANDRA.

[Simon]

I believe the crucial part is getting the correct update for your motherboard, Joudi.  Not having done it myself, I can't offer any further help, but it looks like the tool in Tony's link might be useful.

Hopefully Adept or Lobo may be able to give some further advice.

[Tony]

I think you can have problems flashing a new BIOS if in the middle of doing it you have a power cut.

But Adept will be able to tell you more about the potential pit falls of Bios flashing. I'm as thick as Simon but just a bit braver or maybe more foolhardy   In that I have flashed motherboard Bios's three times and Graphics cards Bios's three or four times, and experianced no problems whatsoever.

PS: Getting out of bed in a morning carries a risk slight though it may be. There are only two things in life guarenteed to happen your death, and your government will lie to you