Hi,

Yesterday, my wife wasn't looking and kicked in the (opened) drawer of the DVD burner which then wouldn't close anymore. So, I turned the PC off, opened it up, took it out, fixed it and put it back in, plugged it, etc... Now the drawer opens and closes fine as if nothing happened... the problem is that the PC will not restart giving me error codes such as :
"Error Code 0F00:136C IDE device failed. Blank or no media is present in optional drive" or
"Error code 0F00:1A44" , Message Block : 64988602..."

I tried to restart it in Safe Mode, and all options available (Safe Mode with Networking, Safe Mode with Command Prompt,...). Nothing will do

What is wrong ??? I unplugged the DVD burner and plugged it back on, what did I do wrong ?

Thanks very much in advance for your answer,

Charles.

NOTE : The DVD burner is the slave, my other Driver (regular DVD player is the master)
Dell (month and half old) Dimension Desktop E510 w/ XP Media Center (details in signature)



This post has been edited by cfvcc: Feb 17 2006, 08:14 AM

you didn't do anything wrong....it sounds like your wife damaged the laser on the dvd drive and the drive needs to be replaced

Thanks for your quick reply...

How can I start my OS anyway?
What if I don't want to (/can't) buy another DVD burner right now. Is there any way for me to boot XP without this drive ? I think I tried everything I know to start it... I really don't know what else to do.
all suggestions welcome and again Many Thanks,

Charles.

unplug the drive?

or drop into bios (setup) using f1, f2, or DEL and disable the drive there

Tried that also:
- Unplugged the drive -> won't start
- BIOS / switch the device OFF -> still won't start.

That's what I'm saying... I ran out of possibilities,

Could there be some safety on the drive itself (since I opened it and stripped it) such as a mini switch or something ?

this error is occuring without the drive in place?

Weird....

Hold the SHIFT key down while starting....does the error recur?

Where does the error display? In windows after the start menu shows?

Chances are slim but One kick kill the burner, that could loosen other thing too. I would check all other cables and drives too .

Hi,

I checked every cable with attention.

When I get home tonight, I will try the SHIFT key down while starting it... didn't know that one. If it works, I'll post from home, otherwise.... Monday morning at work. So, in the meantime, again many thanks and have a great week end,

Charles.

This post has been edited by cfvcc: Feb 17 2006, 09:03 AM

all it will do is skip startup applications....

I am still unclear when this error appears...in windows, during hardware startup?

Yes,

XP will not start at all.

It goes directly in a "black screen" prompting me to Start Windows in "Safe Mode" (regular Safe Mode, w/networking , or w/command prompt), or "Start Windows in the last known configuration" (Not sure of the terminology), and finally "start Windows"
There is a countdown... from 30 saying it will start Windows normally in 30, 29, 28...
I tried every option available (mentioned above) and it always lead me to a blue screen which says:
UNBOOTABLE_VOLUME_(?) saying I installed either a new hardware or software and it will not start Windows for security reasons.
It then says "If this is the first time this message appears, reboot your computer" If not, uninstall device or remove BIOS memory (not sure again what the message said).
I don't know whether this additional info will help but again, all suggestions welcome.

Many thanks again for your answers.

Charles.

much more helpful
do you mean

unmountable boot volume?

Do you have a windows xd handly?

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME indeed (sorry).

Help me out... handly ?

handy, available, nearby, around, obtainable, in a drawer, in the house, in a box, near a fox, aboard a train, in a plane...


can you get a windows cd


sorry, typing too fast

LOL...

I don't have a Windows XP CD. So, all it takes is to put a windows CD (I guess I could borrow it from a friend) and then boot it from the CD ?