486 PC Cannot Get 3.5" Floppy Drive to DOS 6.22 Boot Disk \ VOGONS

486 PC Cannot Get 3.5" Floppy Drive to DOS 6.22 Boot Disk

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First post, by shellshock404

Posted on 2022-08-29, 04:05

shellshock404 Offline

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Hello,

I am a novice to all of this so bare with me, but have enough basic knowledge to get by. I have a 486 PC all setup, all the hardware has been set in the BIOS with all the correct specs and settings, i don't get any other errors. So the next step I go to boot up the DOS install disk and I keep getting "Non system disk or disk error". I've tried about everything under the sun to troubleshoot this, used different floppy drives, cables, different boot disks, even an original DOS disk, keep getting the error. I have no idea what to do, I'm concerned the onboard motherboard FDD controller is broken. I have a ISA multi I/O card but I'm not sure how I get the BIOS to detect it or set it, I plugged it all in and I get nothing. Also to mention I have the boot order A: C: and the 3.5" is on the IDE A connector.

Let me know if you have any insight, I would appreciate it immensely.

Thanks.

Reply 1 of 8, by jakethompson1

Posted on 2022-08-30, 00:45

jakethompson1 Offline

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That error is generated by the boot sector on a disk, never by the BIOS itself, so it's at least able to read the first sector. Make sure it's coming from the floppy and not the hard drive, e.g., by clearing out the hard drive settings in the BIOS. You'd need to disable the onboard floppy controller in order for the one on an I/O card to work. You're sure your floppy is bootable? You can format /s another floppy from another machine to check?

Reply 2 of 8, by Horun

Posted on 2022-08-30, 02:45

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shellshock404 wrote on 2022-08-29, 04:05:

Also to mention I have the boot order A: C: and the 3.5" is on the IDE A connector.

Huh ? You have a floppy drive connected to an IDE connector ?
Ok. First thing first. What motherboard is it ? can you take a picture and attach it ?
The onboard floppy port should be just one connector, 34 pin. The onboard IDE usually has two 40 pin ports.
Next: The cable is important. Floppy drives are typically set to ID1, so if just one needs to be connected to the end of a floppy cable that has some odd twists in it.

Hate posting a reply and then have to edit it because it made no sense 😁 First computer was an IBM 3270 workstation with CGA monitor. Stuff: https://archive.org/details/@horun

Reply 3 of 8, by shellshock404

Posted on 2022-08-30, 16:37

shellshock404 Offline

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Sorry, it is a floppy cable and it's on the twist. I'm confident it is hooked up properly. The motherboard is some unbranded motherboard called an M919, i have the spec sheet attached. It also is a bootable disk I even tried using an original dos disk too, same thing.

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Reply 4 of 8, by weedeewee

Posted on 2022-08-30, 17:04

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is the bios set to boot from A then C ?

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Do not ask Why !
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Serial_port

Reply 5 of 8, by shellshock404

Posted on 2022-08-30, 17:56

shellshock404 Offline

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weedeewee wrote on 2022-08-30, 17:04:

is the bios set to boot from A then C ?

That is correct.

Reply 6 of 8, by weedeewee

Posted on 2022-08-30, 18:15

weedeewee Offline

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try booting from floppy without the hard drive connected.

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Do not ask Why !
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Serial_port

Reply 7 of 8, by shellshock404

Posted on 2022-08-30, 19:23

shellshock404 Offline

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weedeewee wrote on 2022-08-30, 18:15:

try booting from floppy without the hard drive connected.

I did try this, the only device I have connected is the 3.5" 1.44mb

Reply 8 of 8, by weedeewee

Posted on 2022-08-30, 20:51

weedeewee Offline

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1 Do you have another computer to try & boot the floppy disk you are using, absolutely verify that the disk(s) are working ?

2 to use an isa card multi io controller, you would need to disable (if possible), in the bios, the floppy controller, yet leave the settings for primary & secondary floppy drive. (if not possible... that's annoying)
- set the isa multi io card to only have the floppy controller enabled ( as primary), disable everything else, and connect the floppy cable to the correct connector on this card.

Right to repair is fundamental. You own it, you're allowed to fix it.
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
Do not ask Why !
https://www.vogonswiki.com/index.php/Serial_port

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