Can't install ANY OS!

[Salgoth]

I'm stumped - pure and simple.

The third computer in our house just got retired since we got a new system for me, my wife got my old system, and her old system was to be donated to a local charity.

As of about 2 weeks ago the system had been running like a champ - no issues of any kind. System had been loaded with XP Home with SP3.

After I got my wifes new system up and running to her satisfaction with all old files restored I wiped the old hard drive using dban and took the OEM system restore DVD and let it run. Normal XP install follows with all the normal stuff (create and format partition, time zone, language etc). Final reboot occurs and when rebooting system hangs with the Windows logo and the progress bar. Tried several things to no success.

Had my XP Pro w/SP2 full retail version available since I put a full version of Windows 7 of my wifes computer so I reformatted and tried installing that - same result.

DL'd and burned an i386 Kubuntu 9.10 iso and tried installing that. Similar result - error said something about "no such device" but I would have to try reinstalling again to copy the error code.

I have tried 3 different hard drives and also ran Memtest on the RAM.

Somebody give me a suggestion on what I should try next?

[nokiaxion]

Tried changing the data cable from the HDDs?

Maybe the SATA/IDE controller is ****ed.

[Salgoth]

Tried changing the data cable from the HDDs?

Maybe the SATA/IDE controller is ****ed.

Older computer i.e. pre-SATA. But yes, I've tried that too.

Mother board is a FIC VC37GV with an Intel 845GV chipset

Processor is a Celeron D

HDD is a Western Digital WD1200JB

CD/DVD is a NEC ND-2500A

[Lechio]

Unplug the power cord, then take the CMOS battery off, the memory out of its slots and unplug the HDD. Wait a few minutes then connect all back together.

Boot from an Ubuntu CD and wipe the entire HDD with the partition manager.

[GenBlood]

I would reseat all the cable .. data .. power plugs to the hard drive,

the dvd drive. Try loading Ubuntu an see if the dvd drive loads the

live cd image. If you can't load the Ubuntu livecd image on the system

you might have a bad dvd or cdrom ... not a bad hard drive ...

[_bobcat_ Veteran]

I had this with a brand new laptop that had never had anything installed. I did a "full" format rather than the "quick" format and that solved the issue.

I also had it with another hard drive that had been in use but suddenly went wrong. Linux would install fine but Windows wouldn't. I gave up and used another HD. If you have a spare HD knocking around you should try it, at least as a test.

[Salgoth]

Unplug the power cord, then take the CMOS battery off, the memory out of its slots and unplug the HDD. Wait a few minutes then connect all back together.

Boot from an Ubuntu CD and wipe the entire HDD with the partition manager.

Tried a Ubuntu 9.04 LiveCD this time (maybe Kubuntu 9.10 was too new?). Didn't matter. When I tried running from the CD here's the message I got:

init: rc-default main process (2878) terminated with status 127

[Salgoth]

Well, I think what I'm going to try next is to create a bootable USB LiveCD and see how that goes. I guess I also will check for BIOS and firmware upgrades I may have missed.

[Salgoth]

UPDATE

Well, tried everything I can think of to this point.

- removed the CMOS battery to reset BIOS to factory defaults. FIC has no BIOS updated available anywhere that I could find for this board.

- ran Ubuntu LiveCD

- ran Disk Check to make sure it was a good burn

- ran full Memtest86 with no errors

- tried running the Live CD and go an error that it couldn't find a live file system

- tried installing from the Ubuntu CD and got the same rc-default error I listed in a previous post

- tried doing an Ubuntu install from USB to isolate if it was my CD drive causing the problem - same error as before so CD drive is eliminated.

- repeated the same procedures as above after trying another hard drive - same error so HDD is eliminated.

- repeated the same procedure as aabove after replacing the IDE cables - same error as before so cables are eliminated.

- tried installing XP Pro again. Everything seemed fine until the last reboot when the Windows logo and progress bar came up it froze the second pass of the progress bar animation - left it for hours and no progress. Hard reboot via power button and same thing.

Anybody got any ideas?

[Solid Knight]

What spare parts do you have laying around? Do you have an extra power supply? I had a problem with my PSU that required me to do a cold boot in order to get it to boot. It could also be the mother board. Check the capacitors to see if they are ruined (the tops should be flat or slightly indented). If you have a spare computer your can swap all the components aside from the suspect ones and find the faulty component that way.

[ajua]

It could be related to video or RAM.

If you any spare parts you could try swapping them.

[Salgoth]

It could be related to video or RAM.

If you any spare parts you could try swapping them.

It's not the RAM - ran the full gamut Memtest 86 without error.

Also isn't the Video - tried both the onbaord intel graphics and the ATI PCI graphics and same errors.

I'm really thinking either the MBD or Proc is fried somehow.

[Omkar]

Have you tried a bare-minimum install environment?

• Only one HDD as primary master and CD/DVD drive as primary slave, configured by jumper.
  
• Only one RAM stick, in slot0.
  
• No PCI cards.
  
• No USB devices plugged in (my HP printer once tried to **** up the initial driver installation leading to a reboot chain)
  
• On-board LAN cards, sound chip, modem disabled.
  

Also, you might want to investigate on what changed from the time it did work, and till the time it stopped working. :huh:

Omkar

[t_r_nelson]

Quick thought is the mobo capacitors could have popped. Once the system heats up with the load of the OS, it could be locking.

A quick physical inspection could confirm.

[Rudy]

Sounds like it's the chipset on the motherboard

[Salgoth]

Quick thought is the mobo capacitors could have popped. Once the system heats up with the load of the OS, it could be locking.

A quick physical inspection could confirm.

No visible signs of any blown capacitors - probably would have shown up while running Memtest86 since that took about 30 minutes anyway.

[Salgoth]

Ordered a FIC VC37GV motherboard and a P4 3.0 Ghz Northwood processor.

We shall see!

[Salgoth]

Still waiting for the new motherboard and CPU but figured I'd try something different. Since I had already upgraded the other 2 computers in the house to 64-bit Windows 7 or Windows 7/Kubuntu and had used full versions of Windows 7 Pro for each meant that I also had the 32-bit DVDs as well so I figured "Why Not?".

Dropped the DVD in, booted the machine, and waited for the install to hang just like every other Windows 98 SE, XP Home w/SP1, XP Pro, XP Pro w/SP2, Ubuntu 9.04, Kubuntu 9.10, Ubuntu 9.10 (CD), Ubuntu 9.10 (USB), install I had thus far attempted. To my utter astonishment Win 7 32-bit installed without missing a beat :huh:

After the required period of jumping for joy reality sank in. In theory you'd think "Problem Solved" - nope. I've already used the associated product key for my Windows 7/Kubuntu machine and it would not accept the key from a spare Windows 7 64-bit upgrade disk that came with the new computer.

So here's where I stand:

- I have a working install of 32-bit Windows 7

- I've already used the associated product key for my Windows 7/Kubuntu machine

- I have an available key from an unused Windows 7 64-bit upgrade

Anybody know of a legal solution to my dilemma? What do you think the chances are of MS letting me swap my 64-bit product key for a 32-bit product key?