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GCT won't boot to HDD (modified 0 times) barefootboatnik Profile Running into some problems regarding my GCT, if someone could give me some added in sight I would greatly appreciate it. I'm having some difficulty getting it to boot to the laptop hard drive I have. I've got a 6GB hard drive, formatted in three FAT16 partitions of around 2GB each. I've got the install cd for WinME copied to a separate folder labeled cabs on the primary partition (set as active), with the contents of a WinME boot disk copied to the primary as well. I just can't seem to get the hard drive to spin up at all. My XP desktop sees the drive partitions just fine (it will see/browse FAT16 partitions, it just won't make them. Had to use partition magic to do that). I've found that by connecting the IDE cable to the touchpad using either one of the IDE headers on the double header end, it will boot to the gateway screen, but with some red gobbledygook in the upper left corner. If I connect the IDE cable to the touchpad using the middle two rows on the IDE cable (in essence, bridging the cable headers like demonstrated on Badflash.com for the I-Opener), it will boot to the gateway logo screen and takes substantially longer for the red gobbledygook to show up... but it stops there and the hard drive still won't spin up. I've got to say, I'm stumped. Any suggestions? I've perused the posts on this forum relating to this problem (damn near went through each post one-by-one!) The header is seating firmly, I've tried it with two different power bricks (each with different power ratings; one is 18V-20V @ 3.33-2.50A, the other is 19V @ 3.16A). Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that I did not sys the hard drive. Is there any way to sys a disk under XP?... any particular software that would accomplish that, or do I need to throw together a Win98 box to accomplish this? Once again, any fresh insight into this problem would be greatly appreciated.... I've got a custom picture frame just waiting for this GCT and a nice spot on my wall all picked out. I'd hate to have to hang a pic of my ex there instead. :) .....just livin' and dyin' in three-quarter time. 01-24-2004 07:29:42

RE:GCT won't boot to HDD (modified 0 times) XFan Profile You nailed it! You do not have to build a Win98 machine, just get a Win98 boot disk, and use that to sys it. XFan 01-24-2004 09:59:04

RE:GCT won't boot to HDD (modified 0 times) barefootboatnik Profile Ah, but therein lies the rub, you see... I'm using a hotswappable hard drive box connected to my desktop via usb to 'see' the lappy hard drive... and I have been unable to get it to show up when booting from a Win95/98/ME boot disk. :( Looks like I may be out of commision until I collect enough parts make a Win98 box. Or maybe I'll just toss a spare drive into my desktop and install 98 on it.... In any case, the fact that the drive hasn't been sys'd wouldn't prevent it from spinning up at all, would it? .....just livin' and dyin' in three-quarter time. 01-24-2004 15:53:48

RE:GCT won't boot to HDD (modified 0 times) barefootboatnik Profile OK... I'm about to pull my hair out. Still experiencing difficulty getting the GCT to boot to my hard drive, problem being that the hard drive simply won't spin up. It's a Toshiba 6gb MK6014MAP. Works beautifully on my desktop, whether I use my USB 2.5" adapter or my IDE 40-44 pin connector. Also worked like a charm in my Webplayer. I broke out the multimeter and can see that both the 41 and 42 pins are carrying a shade over +5v, so voltage should be correct. I pulled out some the other lappy hdd's I had (all of which are bad, but they still spin) and tested each one of them... they all spun up in the GCT fine. Anyone have any insight as to what the problem could be? .....just livin' and dyin' in three-quarter time. 01-28-2004 23:48:58

RE:GCT won't boot to HDD (modified 0 times) MOOKIE Profile Only thing that I can think of... Maybe you need to put a jumper on your hard drive. Also, if I remember correctly.. To 'sys' the drive under XP, just copy/paste the contents of a win98 boot floppy to the active primary partition on your 'lappy' drive. Pop it in the Gateway, and if it spins, it should boot to the Gateway logo and then to a dos prompt, then you can run setup.exe from there. Adam@MOOKIE 01-29-2004 15:08:30

RE:GCT won't boot to HDD (modified 0 times) XFan Profile Mookie's solution should work for you. On the other hand, you could use one of the IMOD 3 adapters for the I-opener (bought one on Ebay) which works great in pre-loading laptop harddrives on a regular desktop system (used it for several I-opener and Webplayer projects). This would then enable you to boot from the Windows 98 floppy and then sys the drive. Hope that helps XFan 01-30-2004 01:56:22

RE:GCT won't boot to HDD (modified 0 times) barefootboatnik Profile Actually, the drive is sys'd and has the Win98SE install disc copied over to it. I bought an adapter from the local computer store so I could plug it into the IDE header in my desktop. Bootaed with a Win95 boot disk and partitioned, formatted, and sys'd the drive from there. The drive is bootable now.... boots fine in my desktop AND in my Webplayer. Straight to a command prompt, and the Win98 folder is clearly visible. BUT.... when I hook it up to the GCT, it won't spin up. Period. My other lappy hdd's will spin up fine in the GCT (that's all they will do, unfortunately... they're all shot), but the Toshiba just won't. Voltages all match up, the GCT is putting out the correct amount of voltage.. the drive just refuses to spin while in the GCT. Move it to the desktop, whether it's connected to IDE or USB adapter... and it spins fine. Move it to the Webplayer... and it spins fine. Back to the GCT... no spinny. Wonder why the GCT will power all of my lappy drives except for the one that actually works? And for the record, copying the contents of a Win9x boot disk over to the drive under XP did not make it bootable. I don't think it establishes any sort of MBR. I had to physically install the 2.5" drive into an IDE header, using the adapter, and sys from a command prompt. I also tried a jumper, on both recommended settings (device 1 and cable select.... device 0 is default if there is no jumper) with no results. I'm not sure that would keep the drive from physically spinning up, in any case. Talk about frustrating!! 01-30-2004 08:10:54

RE:GCT won't boot to HDD (modified 0 times) BigDog Profile | Email Check your IDE cable, I have seen personally issues with bad cables. I have gone to the extent of plugging in a spare IDE header (one that solders on the main board) and check every pin line with a ohm meter. Also, are there any missing pins on the IDE header that's one the mainboard? Did you solder the header on yourself? Ihave seen GCT's that came from Gateway to have a header installed but missing a pin and I am not speaking of the middle index; If you soldered the header on you might want to go back and re-check to make sure you didn't bridge any pins or not get enough contact on a pin including make sure that the full height of the pins are available by pushing down on the black header seat. I have had a couple GCT's do the same as you describe and it drove me nuts, most the time it was a bad cable or bad connections on the header. 01-30-2004 15:45:45

RE:GCT won't boot to HDD (modified 0 times) barefootboatnik Profile Ok... used my multimeter to check voltages on the GCT's header at the motherboard and at the end of the cable. I only checked pins 41&42, with ground at 43... reason being right now my main goal is to get the drive to physically spin while hooked to the GCT. just a shade over +5v every time. I tried a second Toshiba laptop that I picked up today... it wouldn't spin up either. So, back to the comuter outlet to pick up another lappy drive. This one was a Hitachi... it does spin up, but I'm experiencing errors trying to fdisk iton my main computer. (these are used drives, btw) The second Toshiba works great in my desktop, just like the first one did... but refuses to spin up when connected to the GCT. Perjaps it's a Toshiba thing? Anyone else have problems with or successfully connected a Toshiba laptop drive to a GCT? .....just livin' and dyin' in three-quarter time. 01-30-2004 17:20:20

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