Check if everything is properly connected. Floppy might as well be broken. Otherwise I see HDD isn't configured in BIOS.

I've already quadruple-checked that and tested two other known-working floppy drives. The BIOS doesn't make any attempt to read the floppy drive apart from the initial noise when POST'ing. In that screenshot I was not attempting to boot from the HDD, and did not have the HDD connected.

Lol, the case has the front bay covers upside down 😁
Also, the CPU is 12 MHz by the way, not 16 MHz, but you sure know that.

Anyway, I would use another controller if you have any on hand.
If that doesn't work, then I would try BIOS flash, but finding anything suitable today is impossible.

Bay covers up are side down? Huh, how can you tell? :p

I actually didn't know the frequency of the CPU, I only got this PC 2 days ago. Good to know though.
I don't have any other controller at hand, but If you think that could be a possible cause I may be able to borrow one from a mate.
I'm going to try powering the empty CMOS battery socket to see if that makes any difference...

If you look at old XT drives like Seagate ST-225, you can see that the perforated part is meant to be on bottom to match the harddrive. Like on this photo:

Anyway, missing CMOS battery shouldn't be a problem, but you can try it if you want. Also try cleaning contacts on the controller card with some alcohol, it could help. And try to re-seat every socketed chip, there might be a little bit of oxidation that prevents good contact.

Also, now I noticed that the tantalum cap on the left bottom between the Goldstars chip seems damaged, maybe little cracked. It might be a problem.

Interesting! I'll try those suggestions. And yes, that tantalum does seem to have some kind of cosmetic mark on the outside, but it's not cracked. I've taken it out and measured it on my ESR meter, and it seems to be within tolerance.

Moderator here, edited the original post's imgur embeds due to the extremely large photos expanding beyond the post's borders. We're a retro forum, some of us have very tiny screens. I typically browse in 1366x768 😉

In the future, check out Stiletto's guide for using imgur with VOGONS. Welcome, by the way 😀

Cables plugged upside down?

some boards refuse to boot when the BIOS battery is missing.

Stiletto wrote:

Moderator here, edited the original post's imgur embeds due to the extremely large photos expanding beyond the post's borders. We're a retro forum, some of us have very tiny screens. I typically browse in 1366x768 😉

In the future, check out Stiletto's guide for using imgur with VOGONS. Welcome, by the way 😀

Alright, Thanks, I thought the forums were going to auto-scale the images like some other forums I attended, but then figured it's alright.

clueless1 wrote:

Cables plugged upside down?

I've checked! FDD drives also constantly have their lights on when it's upside down..

kanecvr wrote:

some boards refuse to boot when the BIOS battery is missing.

OK, Now I'm definitely going to try replacing the battery somehow and see what it does, Thanks

ReCat, welcome to Vogons.
Where are you based?

My father's 386 PC had exactly the same case.

You might also want to open your PSU and have a look at the capacitors on there.

I also recently acquired a 286 and after also having problems with my hard drive booting up I realised that the PSU was the culprit.

jesolo wrote:

ReCat, welcome to Vogons. Where are you based? […]
Show full quote

ReCat, welcome to Vogons.
Where are you based?

My father's 386 PC had exactly the same case.

You might also want to open your PSU and have a look at the capacitors on there.

I also recently acquired a 286 and after also having problems with my hard drive booting up I realised that the PSU was the culprit.

europe, i've bought this PC at a car boot sale recently for €5 so it could be imported for all I know since i haven't read the HDD yet
and good idea, I will check the voltages on the power rails too, thanks

What happens if no floppy controller is present ?
Does the mainboard complain then ?

That's a pretty cool 286 motherboard, it even has places for SIPP memory to be used.

Man, you guys find cool stuff at car boot sales 🤣

Anyways, my experience is that a floppy disk may be picky from which drives it's read on. I have one that refuses to read on a good drive in one machine, and reads fine in another.

Jo22 wrote:

What happens if no floppy controller is present ?
Does the mainboard complain then ?

I'll try that and report back

cj_reha wrote:

That's a pretty cool 286 motherboard, it even has places for SIPP memory to be used.

Man, you guys find cool stuff at car boot sales 🤣

Anyways, my experience is that a floppy disk may be picky from which drives it's read on. I have one that refuses to read on a good drive in one machine, and reads fine in another.

The problem is it made no attempt to read it either, it's just completely silent. It did however make a noise when first initializing the drive, which sounds normal.

Alright, If I boot up the mobo without a floppy controller or with the floppy drive disconnected from the controller I get this same error:

i've also cleaned the contacts of the controller card, as well as checking the voltages of the PSU, and both seem to be within 2% of their target voltages when booting up.
I've also soldered on a CR2032 battery holder and battery onto the mobo, providing 3V which is within the charge range of the original Ni-Cad 3.6V, it seems to have made no difference although the CMOS successfully retains it's settings and time now.

Pretty bummed out. I'm going to try to see if I can test the HDD and the drive controller in my P1 machine next.

I have had problems booting with goldstar card as well which I talked about in this thread Re: Problem with my ISA I/O card
Not sure if our problems are related.

Baoran wrote:

I have had problems booting with goldstar card as well which I talked about in this thread Re: Problem with my ISA I/O card
Not sure if our problems are related.

Interesting. For me the only noise and LED light my floppy drive makes is when POST'ing. Nothing when it is supposed to start reading the disk.

ReCat wrote:

Alright, If I boot up the mobo without a floppy controller or with the floppy drive disconnected from the controller I get this same error:[..]

Hmm. Ok, seems the board is behaving normal so far. If you can, try another floppy cable. A modern, non-twisted type (for a single drive) for example.