Non-System disk or disk error

Hey Everyone,

Ok heres the deal.

I have an old laptop, its an IBM Thinkpad 380D.

I had just formatted. And I thought all was going well.

Right when I start up the laptop, it gives me the message --

--> Non-System disk or disk error
Replace and press any key when ready

I have tried putting a boot disk in for the system and rebooted.

But yet again, even before reading the floppy or cd-rom, it gives me the same error.

I am really trying to get this thing running.

So anything anyone could tell me on how to solve this problem would help me greatly.

Thanks,
DIGITALshimmerz

Are you sure there's nothing in the CD-ROM or Floppy Drive? Also check the setting in the BOIS, there could be another boot option selected, I donno. Try formatting agian. Did you do anything to the BIOS?

MB

Quote:

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Originally posted here by MicroBurn
Are you sure there's nothing in the CD-ROM or Floppy Drive? Also check the setting in the BOIS, there could be another boot option selected, I donno. Try formatting agian. Did you do anything to the BIOS?

MB

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When the computer starts up, right after it gives you the initial screen
that says "IBM Thinkpad" in a bunch of colors.

The error comes up immediatly. It doesnt even give the computer specs.

If there is a way to get right into BIOS, I need to know the key.

Thanks,
DIGITALshimmerz

Hm, I donno the BIOS Key, mines Del, but my dad's was like F2 I think on his Laptop, I donno Try DEL and tell me if it works.

It could be the hard disk. To confirm this, you could make sure that it is not making it to attempt a boot from the floppy or CD ROM by disabling them in the boot order or something to that effect. Of course, you first have to find out how to get into the BIOS. Did you already try IBM's site or try a google maybe? I hope this helps a bit.

I have an oponion may be I am right or not, but may be the HDD's sector 0 is a bad sector and contains bad cluster ( if cluster 0 of a hard disk is damaged, the HDD is useless ). I hope I am wrong.

Quote:

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Originally posted here by Unl3Ashed
I have an oponion may be I am right or not, but may be the HDD's sector 0 is a bad sector and contains bad cluster ( if cluster 0 of a hard disk is damaged, the HDD is useless ). I hope I am wrong.

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Even if sector 0 was bad he should still be able to boot from a floppy.

Try f8 when booting. You have to time it just right. If you press it after the bootstrap loads then it's too late and the system will continue booting.You must have the boot order set to prevent a floppy boot.

On the ThinkPad T20 (wich I currently use) the key to select boot device is F12
it says in the bottom of the IBM ThinkPad logo..

I dunno about yours though.

ok: to enter bios either f1, f2, del, esc
- look for the boot order (first a (if this is your floppy) then hard disk)
- if you say you can't boot with a floppy the floppy could be damaged (i know to some this might sounds foolish but it happened to me...)

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"Knowledge is the Real Power"

Sounds like everyone is on the right track...

If you can enter your BIOS, using whatever key it is (F1-12, Esc, Del, Space Bar(yep, they did that) ). Otherwise, you may want to try to open up the case and set the BIOS jumper to the override position (there are usually only 2 different postions for the jumper) and try to fix things from there. (On startup you will be taken directly to the BIOS control) But it is possible that the CMOS battery is dead, in which case you may be screwed, unless you are able to replace it with no ill effects to the CMOS.
Good luck, and as an afterthought, open up the case and make sure that all of the connections are tight.

Ouroboros

I had the exact same error on a desktop with new drives in it. Mashed on the connectors and it fired right up. You could also try booting to a diagnostic floppy from the HDD manufacturer.

Here's a hint for those PC's with obscure key combinations for entering the BIOS.

1. Switch the pc off.
2. Then switch the machine back on.
3. Immediately hold down a few keys (almost any will do) keep holding them down.
As the machine goes through the POST it will think there's a problem with the KB and tell you such. most PC's then tell you to press a certain key to enter the BIOS setup screen.

I've used this trick a few times with rotten PC's that hide the POST info behind a splash screen.

I hope this helps you get in.

I have a Thinkpad 6oo and had to find a setup disk set to get to all of the goodies for it. I still have it somewhere. It was a pain and I needed some assistance to find it. The setup disk jumps you straight into the Bios aspect. I hope this helps. If you think the 600 disk may help then just hit me up and I can send it to you. Good luck.

Being that you were able to try and format the disk, I wouldn't think that your BIOS would be the problem unless you have changed it since the format. Also, if you only formatted it, then that would be the reason it gives you "NON-SYSTEM Disk", it has no OS. Try formatting it again with " format c: /s" which copies the system files. What OS were you trying to format it with, and how did you try to format the drive?

Only thing I can say is...enter the bios and check the boot order...Set it as Floppy-> HDD-> CD-ROM
If all else fails....boot to a floppy disk, repartition and re format for the hell of it...theres no harm in doing it since you started with nothing anyways, and it couldnt hurt. something computers just need a little pursuation(if thats how u spell it)

dont know if this will help,. think i had to do this to one of the boxes... have you fdisked a partition and make it active. sometimtes if a partition isnt active, it will give you the non system error.

the other option i would suggest is check if your bios is set to pnp. i had a motherboad a while back that was pnp incompatible and i had to look up any periph i was installing and first input into bios before installing the actual hardware.

suggest: set system to minimum video configuration and try from there:
(power to motherboard, ram properly seated, video card, NO floppy, NO HD, NO CD. and if it works with that, start adding one by one u ntil you have the problem cornered.

good luck

I did some double checking just to be sure and prior to formatting you should have made a system set using the Disk Tool program that was in the configuration utility. IBM has this "uttpfw98.exe" and the user manual "380dug.pdf" on their site under the 380 heading. Without that utility you will probably be locked out, that was the same issue I had with mine. I just had to confirm. F1 is the boot access key. Good luck and any questions you have should be answered in the users manual.