What happened to the drivers?!

[digory]

I had a very odd thing happen and was hoping someone could give me some direction as to what happened and how to fix it.
Running an Asrock K7SBX onboard sound, with 98SE, etc etc....

I notice on startup the message that the ALIHDD.sys file is missing, and the error in the config.sys file (error being the alihdd is missing) but no problems until going to make MP3s out of a couple CD's and the machine restarts itself.
When it starts back up, there are no drivers for anything. ANYTHING.
I got most of them reloaded, but still don't have access to the 80gig slave drive, nor can I get any sound to work.
Further more, when starting some programs, I get the illegal operation error and they shut down...such as winamp, Windows media player, etc etc...that the kernel386.dll has errors on such and such lines...etc.

All drives drive come up as a generic IDE 47 disk or a generic floppy disk in the device manager and on start up, where as they came up as specific drive titles before.

I have no clue what exactly happened. No viruses and no serious errors can be found.
Has anyone seen this before?

 

[Willoughbyva]

Save you data and reinstall. You also might want to check your memory and make sure your fans are working correctly.

 

[digory]

Thanks Will, I'm thinking I may need to reformat the HD.
Man, that's gonna take a lot of backing up. Thank God I have enough CDRW's on hand.

This thing has been a mess since I moved everything over to the new mobo.

I've done a dozen of these and never had a problem like this before.

 

[digory]

oops

 

[digory]

OK, I go to do my back ups and suddenly I have no zip or CDRW.
They show up on boot up, but in windows they aren't to be found.
I have a Primary and secondary IDE device that's showing up in device manager as not working correctly, which I'm assuming is the CDRW & Zip.

What THE %@(*&@!

I reinstalled windows, hoping to reinstall the drivers with no avail.

I have info on this HD that I was in the process of backing up when it geeked on me, and desperately need.

 

[alm4rr]

The device driver ALIHDD.sys is used for ALi local bus IDE chip. That prob explains why everyting IDE is all messed up.

Reinstall the drivers for the mobo from a floppy and see what happens.

 

[digory]

By the drivers are you meaning the BIOS?
I can get a new BIOS off the AsRock site, but as far as drivers go there is nothing there.

One thing I did notice is that the AMD supported board that I have dosen't have any ALi stuff available on the website, only for the Intel boards.

For AMD I only have VIA and SiS.

 

[alm4rr]

when I say drivers, I mean the chipset drivers
The Asrock site blows - you'll have to email them b/c I don't even see your model MOBO listed on their site!

Pretty obscure mobo manufacturer - they German based?
Yea I see the site only has AMD with VIA and SIS

If you know the Ali chipset, you may be able to get it off of ALI's site - but they are not like VIA where it's pretty straight forward 4in1 drivers, unfortunately......

 

[digory]

The thing is, in the BIOS setup, everything shows up and looks fine. It;s only when in the wiondows environment does nothing show up properly.

Could this be a problem with windows?

I'm running 98SE on this beast.

I have written AsRock and am waiting for a reply. I believe they are German based.

I have only used Asus and one other Asrock in my other machines, but this one came as a barebones package.

What's the general consensus on Shuttle boards? I've never used them before.

I do have the ALi Chipset, so maybe I'll check that out tomorrow. Thanks.

 

[alm4rr]

It's not the bios - its the drivers for all those chips on the board - the bios tells the computer what and where it has it whereas the mobo drivers tell the board how to go about communicating to those chips. The chipset (ali) drivers usually come on a "support cd" that comes with the mobo. See if you have anything ALI on that disk that came with the comp and the drivers *should* be on that.

ALIHDD.sys is used for ALi local bus IDE chipset, which has nothing to do with the bios, so the bios should be fine.

 

[digory]

 

[digory]

Weird thing is, the mobo is SiS. AsRock K7S8X
I've been posting from the road and am now home
I think the ALi Stuff is from the old computer that HD was in.
I thought I wiped it....hmmm...apparently not.

I know it's not the BIOS. I've had others tell me that the BIOS and MOBO drivers were the same thing, which was contrary to what I was always taught. Thanks for clarifying

So now, question is, how do I get the CDRW to work so I can back my stuff up before I reformat.

 

[alm4rr]

if you have a 2nd computer, I'd recommend transfering files over direct connection or lan. As long as the one IDE channel the primary hard drive is on is working ok, it shouldn't be a problem moving the data to another computer.

 

[digory]

What I found after actually being able to see the machine is that it's an SIS chipset, the ALi driveres were residual from the old machine this hard drive was in.
I think I can get the CDRW to work to back up some vital files. I have a 2nd CPU but it's a Mac...hey it was free.
Thanks for your help.

 

[digory]

What I found after actually being able to see the machine is that it's an SIS chipset, the ALi driveres were residual from the old machine this hard drive was in.
I think I can get the CDRW to work to back up some vital files. I have a 2nd CPU but it's a Mac...hey it was free.
Thanks for your help.

 

[alm4rr]

ah then you're prob all set. drop a line if anything acts up

 

[digory]

that still doesn't explain why they show up fine upon boot up but not in the device manager.
Wouldn't they be screwed up on boot up?

 

[alm4rr]

do you mean in the listing readout from the bios as soon as the computer starts?

 

[digory]

Right, everything lists fine... or am I misunderstanding something?

 

[Matthias99]

Your hard drives and IDE controller are fine (which is why they show up on boot). Windows is just hosed and doesn't know how to talk to the disks properly anymore.

 

[digory]

Windows? hosed?! Suprise Suprise!
Thanks Mat, hence needing new drivers.

 

[digory]

OK, I got the CD and zip back.
Found box checked
"Disable 32-bit write protected disks"

Now, I just need my sound and slave drive back.

The sound card is on board, and keep getting the message that it is in use.

The slave drive shows up in boot up and in the bios, but no where in windows.
shouldn't there be a line in the config.sys that points to the slave?

 

[alm4rr]

I'd recommend a reformat and fresh windows install instead of trying to make it all work ok after a major problem like this. The slave drive won't need to be reformatted since it doesn't have the OS on it. The slave is configured by the jumpers in the back (slave being if it is the second drive on a channel.) (FYI - A 2nd HD can be a primary drive on the second channel while the 1st HD is primary on the first channel)

If the CD works, go ahead and burn the files (then make sure they are all ok on the CD)
and go for a reformat

 

[digory]

Yeah. it's about time for a reformat anyway.
Thanks for the info and patience.
God bless