Boot problem after restoring
I need help with a problem involving a computer that uses a 8GB compact flash card as it’s only storage device. The CF card holds the WinXPsp3 OS as well as the primary application used by this computer. This is the third computer that I have built using this hardware. Only one of these units is in operation as the other two are used for spare and testing situations. I have three CF cards that function as designed. The system was first built on a HDD and once the OS had been cleared of all the superfluous garbage, I installed the applications required to fulfill the mission. If I recall, I used TIH 2009 to create a backup on an external HDD while the computer was booted to a TIH bootable cd using an external cdrom drive. I then performed a restore from the .tib image onto the CF cards all the while still booted from the cd. Everything worked great. This all occurred in mid 2009.
I now find a need to make some software changes to the system and thought it would be a simple matter to use the same .tib file that was created two years ago to make a new CF card using the same method as before. However, the two new CF cards that I have created will not boot in the computer. After POST, I get the “DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER” message.
My first attempts to accomplish this were using bootable cd’s from both TIH 2011 and TIH 2010. Both of these were a a disaster as neither of them would recognize the external HDD or the external cdrom. After scouring this forum, I find that others have run into this same problem only to be told that they now had to buy something called the PLUS PACK for these features. I no longer use TIH 2010 or TIH 2011 instead reverting to the TIH 2009 bootable cd for all operations.
Next, I booted the computer from the TIH2009 cd and performed a full backup of the working CF card. I then ran a validation on this archive and it completed with no errors. I then performed a restore operation selecting the complete disc including the partition and the MBR. The restore completed successfully but the system would not boot to the newly created CF card.
I then tried to do it all on the laptop that has TIH 2009 installed on it. Using the one CF card that works installed in a CF reader, I created a new .tib file, storing it on the hdd in the laptop. After performing a validation on the .tib, I then did a restore with a blank, formatted CF Card in the reader. Only to be presented with the same results.
The new CF cards are not the same brand as the original. They are the same speed (133X) and of course they are the same size (8gb). The computer itself is a mini atx board with 1.5ghz processor and 1gb of ram. And it works great with the one CF Card that I kept in my possession from two years ago.
Does anyone have any idea where I am going wrong here?
Yes, I use a program called "Partition Wizard" running on another computer. In comparing the working card with the newly restored cards shows them to be identical. It reports the "used" space, "unused" space, Status and Type to be identical. The status of both is "Active" and the Type is "Primary".
Hmm. You end up having an issue restoring a system image to an external disk. It seems similar to that thread http://forum.acronis.com/forum/22207
That shouldn't happen if you do the restore from the recovery CD, and I cannot explain why it would stop working from the 2009 CD.
Maybe other users will have some ideas.
The Plus Pack isn't the solution when the TI CD doesn't included the proper drivers for the system. Basically, what happens is the Linux drivers get dropped from the newer builds and older hardware support gets lost. You may want to consider creating a BartPE or WinPE-based rescue CD.
Have you checked the BIOS to verify that the computer actually has the new CF card set as the booting drive? Some computers change this automatically when drive changes are detected and the change isn't always correct or wanted.
The error message you're getting appears to be coming from the BIOS and not the CF drive. Either the computer is booting the wrong device or the CF card isn't being configured correctly when restored. I suppose it might be a geometry issue. Do you know if the restored partition offsets and sizes are exactly the same as the original? Have you tried doing a sector-by-sector backup and restore? Do you know if the computer uses non-standard drive geometry?
First of all, thanks for taking the time to reply. I double checked the BIOS to make sure it was still reporting the location of the CF card and it is. It also reports the name of the card correctly. On the second page of the POST info, it reports the type of card to be identical to the one that works. (LBA, ATA33, 7994gb). Then the cursor just sits and blinks at the bottom of the page.
You are way over my head regarding geometry issues. I don't know anything about offsets. The sizes appear to be the same. No, I have not tried a sector by sector and if the computer uses nonstandard drive geometry, I wouldn't know how to tell. The computer still works fine with the CF card that was created two years ago. And that card has been used to create the .tib file that I am trying to restore as well as the .tib that was created two years ago. All with the same results.
I may just give the sector-by-sector a try. It's about the only thing I haven't tried..
Charles,
To check the offset, launch msinfo32.exe, go to components, storage, disks. Each partition will be listed for each disk. The offset is the last number.
After an unforseen delay, I ran the two cf cards through "msinfo32.exe" on a laptop running Win XP. Both the working cf card and the non-working card report the OFFSET value identically at 32,256 bytes. My next effort will be to try the sector by sector method.
You could try creating the backup using BartPE (or WinPE) and doing the restore with BartPE (or WinPE). Another option to try would be to clear the new CF card of all partitions and then create a new Windows partition on it using Windows on the target computer (the mini ITX). You could boot to the good card and use Disk Management to create the partition on the new card if you have multiple slots. Otherwise, you could boot to an XP CD and start the installation and create the partition there (no need to do the installation unless you want to). Once the partition has been created, use TI to restore into it. Make sure to set the partition Active. Doing the restore would then be like doing a normal restore on a working card (just restoring the XP partition).
Do you know if you can do a clean XP install on a new card and have it work?
Since you started having this problem, have you successfully restored any backup image to a working card and have it still work properly? I'm not suggesting you try this now since it might render it unbootable.
Are you using the same build of TI 2009 (the same CD) that you used before? Or did you update to a newer build and are now working with a different build (and Linux kernel version)?
Are you sure it was TI 2009 you originally used? Do you have TI 11 or one of the earlier versions? If so, have you tried it?
I am sure that I used TIH 2009 back then but I can't be sure of the build. I can't figure out how to find the build from the cd. This whole thing is out of control now and far too much time has been spent on it. What used to be a two or three "mouse click" operation has turned into a nightmare. I am just going to put it on to Acronis and see if they can find the answer. Using the TIH 2011 cd, I tried to make a report .zip file of both the working and a nonworking CF card. Now the thing will not write a .zip file for the working card. It will write one for the non working card. I also tried to install a full working version of TIH 2011 on the original hard drive and doing a new back up and then use the TIH 2011 cd to do the restore all with the same non working results.
Thanks for the comments and suggestions and for taking the time to respond.
But for me ENOUGH IS ENOUGH..