What to do when your Hard Disc Fails To Boot

A number of things all need to be set to make a hard disc boot correctly. Just having one of them wrong - through a crash, reset, or other accidental corruption - can prevent normal functioning. This document lists the various settings which need checking on different machines.




The Boot File/Application

It is assumed that the hard disc will still have its boot file or application. If this has been accidentally deleted then that is outside the scope of these simple instructions.

The Configuration Settings

The values stored in the CMOS memory of the computer contain information relating to auto-booting.

These can be seen by pressing F12 and typing Status [Return] at the star prompt - that is, type the word "Status" followed by pressing the Return key. Shift will continue the listing.

An alternative way is to open a task window from the Task Manager icon menu (the green Acorn under Risc OS 3) and using the star prompt there. This means you will be able to scroll up and down in the window.



The second item on the Configuration status list should be Boot. If it is Noboot, then you need to issue the command *Configure Boot. Press Return after each complete command shown here.



The next relevant setting is FileSystem. This should be set to the filing system of the hard disc from which you are trying to boot. For example, it will probably be IdeFS for an A3000/A3010 and ADFS for an A3020/A4000/A7000/RiscPC. If you have an unusual set-up it could be SCSIFS.

This is set by *Configure FileSystem <the correct one!>.
(things in angle brackets are bits you need to substitute yourself!)



The next item is Drive. This should be the number of the drive from which you are trying to boot. It will normally be 4, though could be different.

You set this with *Configure Drive <number>.



The next item could be IDEDiscs or IDEFSDiscs or HardDiscs or SCSIDiscs depending on your machine. If an A3000/A3010 it will probably be IDEFSDiscs, on the A3020/A4000/A5000/A4 IDEDiscs, and on the unmodified A7000/RiscPC it will be IDEDiscs.

The appropriate one will need to be set to 1 if your boot disc is Drive 4, and possibly more otherwise or if you have extra hard discs/devices. The clue to which type of discs will be the FileSystem set above. If ADFS then either HardDiscs or IDEDiscs will be the choice depending on machine, if IDEFS, then IDEFSDiscs and so on.

This item is set with *Configure <somethingDiscs> <number>



None of these setting will come into effect yet - they are only read by the machine when it is turned on or reset, but there is one thing left to do before that. That is to set (or check) the hard disc itself to be bootable.



Setting the Drive Itself

At the star prompt (F12 again), after issuing all the necessary configuration commands above followed by Return each time, we now need to issue a series of commands:

You should now see the catalogue of the hard disc that has your boot file on it.

If it does not have Option 02 (Run) at the end of the top line, you now need to issue the command

You might also take the time to check that the hard disc is still called what it was before - that comes just before the word Option. If you have inadvertently altered the name of the hard disc this could prevent some of your boot file from executing. Now, whilst you are sure that it is the current disc, would be a good time to change it back with:

You should now be ready to restart your computer from cold. Shut it down if that is your habit and turn it off, count to 3, and restart it.

If everything has been done appropriately it should now boot correctly.

Examples

Here are some typical sequences of commands for "standard" machines to be entered at the star prompt and each followed by Return.



A3000/A3010

check it's the right HD and disc name

There may be additional things to be set here - check your Hard Drive booklet.



A3020

check it's the right HD and disc name



A7000/RiscPC

check it's the right HD and disc name



Now reset your machine to read the new configuration by turning it off, counting to 3, and restarting it. If all is well, the machine will now boot automatically.



Important

Now, take the time to load the Configure application (old boot/pre--A7000/RiscPC in Apps, new boot/ A7000/RiscPC double-click on !Boot) and save a Configure file to floppy in case it happens again.

This should record all the settings except for the setting of the Option 02 (Run) on the hard disc itself, which you would still have to set manually as above under "Setting the Drive Itself" if it became altered.



John Williams,
revised 26th May 1999


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