On Tue, 25 Sep 2007 20:02:08 -0000,
levypantsoem@yahoo.com
wrote:
>Hello,
>Yesterday I open my laptop ( acer aspire ) to clean the fan. In the
>process I broke the connector with the floppy disk but I didn't give
>it great importance because I don't use it. But when I turn on the
>computer it gives an error in the boot sequence:
>
>Inel Boot Agent Version 4.0.19
>PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
>PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel PXE ROM
>Operating system not found
>
>
>I've searched this error and I've found that is related with an error
>with the hard drive. But I find it strange because the connector with
>the hard drive is a solid piece and I'm quite sure that it isn't
>damaged.
>However, in the boot program I can't see the hard drive list ( but I
>see the 3 1/4 disk witch is not connected!). I've tried to change the
>boot sequence putting the floppy disk in the last place, but it
>happens the same.
>
>Any idea of what is happening?
>
>Thank you and sorry for my english
Hello. Did you get the problem solved? It is good to
periodically check back on your posts to tell others if
their suggestions worked or not, and add any further info
you might have omitted previously, so the discussion can
progress towards a solution.
As other indicated, the bios is trying to boot over the
network which in itself is not a problem since you weren't
wanting to boot from the network.
The remaining question is WHY it is trying to network boot.
Since it wasn't doing this previously, one of three things
seems most likely:
1) The CMOS settings were somehow scrambled and you should
load the bios defaults.
2) You had inadvertantly changed the bios settings for boot
order and need to change them back to either make the HDD a
higher priority boot device, and/or to have the bios try
all/other boot devices.
3) The drive or data cable to it is damaged. If all else
fails, pull the drive out and try it on another system. To
try it on a desktop system, get a laptop-desktop adapter
card which converts the 44 denser pins of a laptop drive to
a desktop ATA 40 pin interface. Such adapters are about $4
plus shipping, maybe $5 total on ebay if not elsewhere.
Having the drive connected on a desktop you can try it, run
scandisk, etc. You could instead use an external 2.5" hard
drive enclosure to check it.
Are you sure the cable you feel is damaged is to the floppy
drive instead of hard drive? Try unplugging that cable from
the mainboard then retry the system. Try to get a
replacement cable, since you will probably want that fixed
regardless of whether it is the primary problem.
Finally, you might try unplugging the hard drive and floppy
cables at the mainboard, clearing CMOS, and trying to boot
the laptop to a bootable CD. This much should work still,
providing the cable (or bus tracks when integrated onto the
mainboard) between hard drive and CD wasn't shared as one
ATA channel. If it is shared, try with and without the hard
drive connected, always with a bootable CD installed.
You might also enter the bios and disable the booting from
network option. At least then each attempt will be quicker
since you aren't waiting for it to give up on finding a
network boot server.
Problems booting my laptop (PXE-E61) 
Linear Mode
