17 replies to this topic

[mini93]

im having problems starting my laptop its an acer Aspire 5630 series
after much fidling i got on to some screen and it was telling me some information, i took a piccy of it on my phone but of course my softwear isnt on this laptop so now i shall type

Broadcom UNDI, PXE-2.1 (build 082) v2.0.6
copyright © 2000-2004 broadcom corperation
copyright © 1997-2000 Intel Coperation
All right reserver.
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable

PXE-MOF: Exiting Broarcom PXE ROM.
Operating system not found
_

nooooo idea what that means if anyone could gimme ideas...preferable tonight so i can save myself a trip to the repair people after work having to make up time ill have to miss

[mini93]

its on vista by the way, the symptoms are it will start up then go to the loading thing, black screen with a screen scroling loading bit with copyright windows under it...it will just stay on that screen for aaaaaages, i get bored/annoyed before anything else happens

if i do startup repair its saying it cannot repair this computor automaticly
problem details...
problem event name: startupRepairV2
problem signature: 01: autofailover
problem signature: 02: 6.0.6000.16386.6.0.6000.16386
problem signature: 03: 6
problem signature: 04: 589833
problem signature: 05: noRootCause
problem signature: 06: noRootCause
problem signature: 07: 0
problem signature: 08: 1
problem signature: 09: SystemRestore
problem signature: 10: 0
OS version: 6.0.6.6000.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID 1033

Edited by mini93, 05 December 2007 - 11:21 PM.

[*Raz*]

Sorry I cant help you, just want to say I know what you feel like- my damn laptops isbeing RUBBISH lately! Keeps crashing It is INCREDIBLY old!

Ive cleaned loads of stuff off it and compressed the files, it says its got loads of room but I cant understand why it is being sooo slow and keeps crashing

Hope yours gets sorted

[mini93]

mines not even that old, not even a year yet, i did a back to factory setting only a few weeks ago its been fine uptill now really just happened really strange, it didnt want to shut down last night ether just kept on some "windows is shutting down" screen had to turn it off after over 5 mins

even a system restore to last known point didnt work

[GottaDesigner]

It's basically telling you that it's somehow lost the start file 'exe' to load into the Windoh!s operating system. If you have a Windoh!s Vista disk I'd suggest you whack it in during start up and run the repair scenario.

[Bean]

"Windoh!s"

I did wonder where you'd gone, David!

[mini93]

laptop, so doesnt have disks or at least mine doesnt

i just googled the PXE-E61 media test failure bit, and people have been saying the problems are from the bios or somthing or the HDD being disconected...i dont know what they look like so how can i check conections

[GottaDesigner]

Bean: Ex- IT Journo here. I'm not a Micro$oft fan. I know all of their dirty little tricks.

Mini93: The manufacturer should at least have supplied you with a restore disk! If not, get on the ol' dog-an'-bone and get them to send you one! You personally can't check a laptop internally, they're closed systems and pretty easy to banjax if you mess with them. Best I can say is if that is the hearsay about the issues you're having, take it back to the supplier if it's still under guarantee and tell them to sort it. Messing with the BIOS is a No-No unless you're really savvy on stuff like that.

[mini93]

great...i got it off the net so i cant exactly send it back and i cant even remember the site now
different web pages are giving different information, always useful eh!

uuuurgh i think i can always go speak to the guys at the repair shop n see what they can sujest

[Silicon Skum]

The "error" message you are getting is because the laptop is trying to BOOT from the network (load the operating system from a network drive / server, rather than the hard drive) and the message is simply saying that the network cable is not plugged in (media test fail).

What this ACTUALLY means is that for some reason the laptop is unable to boot from the hard drive, from what you said earlier, you had some problems sutting down correctly and had to switch it off - this is actually BAD for the hard drive. Windows was probably trying to write something to the drive (may have been a hung program that wouldn't terminate, so slowing the shutdown procedure) OR was in the middle of writing to the drive - both of which can result in the data on the hard drive becoming corrupted.

I think this is what's happend here, the hard drive has become corrupted (OR it might actually have hardware failed before you shut down last time - when the drive fails, windows can't shut down properly because it cant write data to the drive, so hangs). If the drive is corrupted, the only real way to fix it is with the windows install disk.
You mentioned you don't have any disks with this laptop - well it's not that unusual, some machines come with the install "disks" loaded into a seperate, some time hidden, partition on the hard drive......which you should have taken a backup copy of. If the drive becomes corrupted badly, ie the MBR sector (master boot record - data that tells the computer how and where data is stored on the drive) becomes unreadable then ALL the data on the drive - other drive partitions included - is unreadable.

It *is* possible to recover the MBR data and fix the drive......but you will need a calculator and be able to count in hexidecimal.......

Assuming the hard drive has not failed hardware wise, then the only way you can sort it out, is to borrow another copy of that version of windows, and reinstall. You can still recover *some* of the data that was on the drive, even after formatting or reinstallation (some will be overwritten by the OS install), as long as you just install the MINIMUM needed to start the computer and use it (no programs etc.). Recovery tools are available on the internet, some are free (google it).

If the hard drive has failed, then you will need to buy a new drive - and there is no chance of recovering any data.

To check if the hard drive is still working, or connected - switch the computer on and go into the BIOS (usually pressing the DEL key or one of the F keys at startup) and see if the hard drive information shows anything - if it does, the drive might be OK, if nothing - drive has failed or is not connected (check connection when switched off, and try again).

SS

[sixwheeler]

There are other ways!

You can start the computer with a suitable disk (Ultimate Boot Disk may work) and run check disk utility (chkdsk /f). This can also do a physical scan and will often sort the problem out.

Checking the BIOS in not a forgone conclusion. If the disk controller has failed then the disk will probably not show up in the BIOS, but it may, rarely, if the fault is intermmitent. If the disk has physical damage on the surface then it will show up.

In your case, as the system is hanging during startup, I would suggest that there is some sort of corruption/physical damage.

I would suggest that a check disk is the first port of call, you'll just need to find someone that can do it for you. Check for bad blocks on the disk, if there are any then you will want a new disk just to be on the safe side.

If that is all clear, then installing 'over the top' may be the quickest way to sort the problem out. You can reinstall over the top of the old system and it will keep all your old settings etc, you do not have to reformat it or completely reinstall it - well you used to be able to, I haven't tried it on Vista yet.

As far as data recovery goes, these days it is very easy to get the data off a laptop drive (assuming that it is not a controller failure). Remove the hard drive from the laptop, buy a 2.5" HDD USB caddy and stick the drive in it, plug the drive into a USB port on any computer, and hey presto, you have access to all your data. If it struggles, then you may need to use some data recovery software: Zar, On Track, GetDataBack and R-Studio are all good.

[minimarco]

too much porn build up on your computer

[Jammy]

May I suggest taking the HDD out (usually a clip or screw holding it in), blow the connections, then reinsert it carefully and try booting again.

Almost certainly won't cure the problem, but worth a shot.

[Silicon Skum]

There are other ways!

You can start the computer with a suitable disk (Ultimate Boot Disk may work) and run check disk utility (chkdsk /f). This can also do a physical scan and will often sort the problem out.

Yeah, good point! I was in a rush to get the post finished and missed a few details out. I didn't mention any boot disks, as I was unsure if there was another machine with a CD / DVD burner available to download and write the disk - but that method will work just as well also.

You can also do chkdsk from the recovery console when booting from the windows CD (Vista and XP have a similar recovery option - so you may be able to use either to run the disk check). To run the disk check and fix errors, at the recovery console CMD line type : "chkdsk /f". To recover / scan for bad sectors, type: "chkdsk /R" - Locates bad sectors and recovers any readable information (implies /F).

To use the recovery console, you will need the windows ADMINISTRATOR account password - this is not the same as you use to log into the computer under your user name. As you got this machine pre-installed, try leaving the password blank and see if you can log in.

I recently did this exact same thing for an XP machine with a corrupted drive, not even chkdsk could read the drive, and the drive showed up as "unknown format", so had to be reformated and reinstalled - worked fine after that, and passed a surface scan. I don't know if MS have recently changed the way chkdsk works, or if it was some other cause, but it's maybe something to bare in mind.

Checking the BIOS in not a forgone conclusion. If the disk controller has failed then the disk will probably not show up in the BIOS, but it may, rarely, if the fault is intermmitent. If the disk has physical damage on the surface then it will show up.

Yup, true. Again, rushed posting. The controller is not the usual failure mode, more often it is damage to the head and / or disk platter surface (caused by the head striking the disk surface - usually mechanical shock, or switching power off while accessing the disk) - and as such the drive will still show up in the BIOS, even though it's toast. As I said earlier, check to see if the hard drive connectors are still fully connected and not loose (does sometimes happen).

Check for bad blocks on the disk, if there are any then you will want a new disk just to be on the safe side.

Not neccaserily, a few bad blocks is not a death centance for a drive (can be caused by a number of things - can even be present from new), BUT if the number increases over time, then the drive is Borked and needs to be replaced before it fails totally. Checking for bad blocks regularly over the next couple of months will reveal if the drive is going to fail soon.


When doing a full surface scan of the hard drive, it will take several hours to complete - it's a very slow process. Don't be tempted to interupt or switch off the power during the scan, as this can lead to furthur problems with the drive - just let it do it's thing.


SS

[mini93]

taken to the shop now, he was confuzzled he checked the BIOS is reconising the HDD but it seems it is unable to read date to fully boot, he said it was strange it would even get to the point it did so
hes gona check it over again and might have to put a new HDD in and ghost over the files, apartly its easier as some of the softwear and files or what ever is difficult to load and read correctly
said should be about £90 all out if he replaces the HDD with the ghosting