Acer Aspire X3400 - Reboot and select proper boot device

For a few months now ive been having problems with my Acer Aspire X3400. It Started off as just being slow, but now it will boot and work almost as normal for around 5-10 mins then the lagg sets in, slowing everything down whether its Google Chrome or windows folders or programs, until we reach the frozen screen point. i have left it on the frozen screen for 10 hours before and no change, so i had to turn it off at the switch (i know that's not wise, but i had no alternative).

When I booted the computer up again I saw the normal acer splash screen, then it goes to this message:

Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected boot device

Now i have rooted around a few forums looking at this problem, but the only threads ive seen about this message are people who cannot boot into windows at all, whereas i can. All i do is leave the tower unplugged for 5 mins then reboot and windows will boot but then it loops back to the lagging and inevitably the boot device message.

I have searched and searched for help on this problem but to no avail, so im hoping that someone here will be able to help.

I'm haven't got a lot of experience with diagnostic work so if you feel you can help but need more info, let me know what you need and how I can get it and I will post asap.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can offer help and apologies if i have posted this in the incorrect place.

 

It sounds like your HD could be failing. Sometimes letting a bad HD cool down will allow it to work for a while.

A couple things you could do would be a file system check to make sure it isn't a corrupted file causing the problem. Right-click the C: drive in My Computer and select Properties. Under the Tools tab select Error Checking. Leave the first box checked and hit Ok. It will schedule for next reboot and run before Windows starts. Note if it finds any errors.

The other thing is to run a HD diagnostic. Since it is a desktop the HD should be either Seagate or Western Digital. While in the Properties window check under the Hardware tab and give the model number of the HD and we can find a diagnostic program.

 

Hi and thanks for your reply. i have just run the CHKDSK on the HD and showed these results:

stage 1 / 3
262 large files processed
0 bad files found
o eA files found
60 raparse records processed

I couldnt type fast enough to record the rest but i can say it showed no errors in stage 2 or 3.

Windows startup repair started after i got the comp running again and said it could not repair the computer automatically. This is the Probem details:

Problem signature
Problem Event Name : StartupRepairOffline
Problem signature 01: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem signature 02: 6.1.7600.16385
Problem signature 03: unknown
Problem signature 04: -1
Problem signature 05: AutoFailover
Problem signature 06: 1
Problem signature 07: 0x1e
Os Version: 6.1.7600.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

I dont know if that gives any insight into the problem but i thought id add it in anyway.

As for the HD, its a : WDC WD10 EARS-22Y5B1 SCSI Disk Drive

1TB with 2 partitions ( C: & D: ) with windows 7 Home Premium SP1 on C:.

Thanks again for your reply and i hope this helps you help me as its been driving me mad for weeks and weeks.
If you need any more information just let me know what and how =]

Thanks again,
Dan

 

Can you still boot into Windows or is there a startup problem where you keep getting startup repair and that error message?

***
I'm just going to post the link for your diagnostic program while I have the tab open but it won't repair a Windows startup problem. http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=608&lang=en

 

I can still boot into windows for around 5 mins before it crashes, but to do so i have to leave the tower unplugged for like half an hour. when i ran CHKDSK that was when windows startup repair ran.

ill download that program and try get it running on my desktop and let you know my results.

thanks again,
Dan

 

Hi,

If you are having trouble keeping Windows stable then you should download the CD version which is an ISO file. Then you want to use imgburn's "Write IMAGE File to Disc" option to burn the .ISO to a blank CD/DVD. Guide: http://www.calibancomputer.com/computer-tutorials.htm#burning

Now, boot from the disc and run both the Short and Extended test. The Short test just gives an immediate result of Good or Bad as to the HD status. The extended test attempts to fix errors.

If it fails both tests than the HD is bad and not stable enough for an OS.

 

hey,

i ran the diagnostics program and the quick test came back with simply 'passed' however when i run the extended test, after about 10-15 seconds i get a bsod error message.

heres the error message:

BAD-POOL-HEADER

TECHNICAL INFORMATION

*** STOP: 0x000000019 (0x0000000000000003, 0xFFFFF80002E1E880, 0x0000000000000000, 0x000000000000000)

i tried 3 times, to test if it was a coincidence but each time it happened 10-15 secs after starting.

i tried a few times using the iso to boot from cd but it always said:

Dlgdiag 5.04f

NO DRIVE FOUND
ERROR/STATUS CODE: 0120

HIT ANY KEY TO CONTINUE...

when i continue the screen goes black with ' A:/' in the top corner. its like cmd but i dont know what 'A:/' is nor any commands for it.

i did change the advanced setting to create a mini dump file, which if it has any more info than ive put on here, i will post when i can get back on it.

thanks again,
Dan

 

Oh i just thort, would i be able to preform the diagnostic extended on puppy linux? just a thought as i used it recently to save files off a friends lappy before formatting.

thanks
Dan

 

Hi,

The No Drive Found error from the CD is strange since Windows at least tries to boot so it sees the drive. Maybe try unplugging the tower and giving it the 5 minute wait to see if that helps the CD find the hard drive.

It looks like the CD is booting fine and exiting the diagnostic because it can't find the drive. At the A:> prompt you could type DLGDIAG5.EXE and hit <enter>. That would restart the program to see if you get a different result.

If no luck, you could also open the tower and make sure the HD cable is firmly attached to both motherboard and HD. If you have an extra SATA cable you could try replacing the HD cable. Or if your CDROM is SATA then swap cables between the HD and the CDROM. See if any difference.


The bad pool header I am not sure about. Basically points to a hardware problem.

The WD diagnostic won't run from Puppy because it is DOS/Windows program.

Edit: I'm going to post this link to WD error codes--they basically say the HD is bad. But we can still try to get the CD to recognize the drive. I doubt you'll get the Windows version to complete.

 

hey, sorry its been a while, but havent had much spare time the last week.
I still have not managed to get the diagnostic disk to find the Hd.

What ive been thinking is to take out the Bad HD and replace it with another Sata Hd out of an old pc. Would it be as simple as just switching the HDs?

Also on the motherboard there are 4 Sata ports. Originally the Hd was in Sata1 and Cd Drive was in Sata2. would changeing HD to Sata3 or Sata4 make a difference? I didnt know if it may be the port thats causing the problems.

I have tryed swapping the sata cables but that made no difference.

Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Dan

 

Hi,

You can try connecting the HD to SATA3 and then see if the CD diagnostic can find it.

As far as using an old HD that would work but you will probably need to reinstall Win7 (It depends on how different the hardware is whether it will adjust or require a fresh install). Or maybe clone it from the questionable drive to the old one. I just used Todo Backup and it cloned my drive fine using the bootable CD.

I booted from CD with both HD attached to the computer. Then cloned the System Reserved partition and then cloned the C: partition. Removed the original HD and the clone booted up fine. You could attempt something like that and reattach the questionable drive and then see if the Windows diagnostic (installed on the new cloned drive) would complete on the questionable HD with it being just a secondary HD on the system.

BTW, I see I gave a bad link to error codes earlier this would be the correct link: http://support.wdc.com/techinfo/general/errorcodes.asp

 

One thing we have omitted is checking BIOS to see if the drive is seen there when you get the "Insert Boot Device" message. Probably F2 during the Acer screen and usually there will be a section like System and then Drive Configuration.

So if you get the no boot device message restart and hit F2 and see if it is showing the HD in BIOS. I think it will be but might as well check.

 

I have tried to clone the 'system reserve' and my c: drive onto my spare Hd but ive come across another problem.... My spare Hd is only 160gb. system reserve cloned fine but althought theres only 30gb used on my questionable C: drive, the Partition is like 465gb, and therefore it wont clone. EaseUs wont let me back-up files when using Bootable Cd. I tried to just copy the files from the questionable drive to my spare using Puppy linux but after trying to clone the partitions using EaseUs, my spare now has only 2 partitions, 1. system reserved and 2. is only 20gb. im assuming that the rest of the drive is classed as unused. Any ideas where i could go from here?

Thanks,
Dan