Media Test Failure Check Cable MSG

I have an Emachines T6212 Desktop computer. I woke up one morning to find this message,

PXE-E61:Media Test Failure Check Cable

I called Emachines/Gateway and they mailed me a restore dvd. It would not read the dvd. I then called them and they said do a system restore, which is not an option for me because there is data on the drive I really would like to recover.

I attempted to use openSUSE to run the computer from the dvd, but once i loaded the linux kernel, the computer froze. Am I dead in the water on this one, or is there some easy solution to this? I do plan to restore the drive once I get the data off of it. I am told it's not uncommon to have to restore Windows XP, but in two years, this is my first issue with this system.

Thanks for any help.

 

Just got the above message with my Gateway 200ARC. I turned the laptop off. Unscrewed the back portion of the laptop labeled for the HDD (hard drive). I used a Philips type head screwdriver, like you would use for eyeglasses. Picked up 8 or 10 different ones from the Dollar Store in a small, black, plastic case. Two small screws to unscrew. Sure enough, as soon as it was off, I could see that the cable was not completely attached. I gently disconnected it and reattached it. Works fine now. Boots up properly to windows and am now back on the net sending this post. 10 minutes ago, a Gateway rep gave me a $300 estimate to replace the hard drive. Now with my fingers crossed, it works again!

 

plodr is on the right track.... the 'media test failure' message is due to a PC trying to boot via a network connection and when it can't (because the PC is not set up to boot from the network; nobody ever has the PC set to boot from the network because it just isn't done much anymore except for maybe in large office environments on workstation 'drone terminals') it says "HEY! I'm trying to boot to the network and it's not working! Check the network cable!". That is the "check cable" referred to in the error message. The only reason this message is coming up, is because the PC has already gone through each boot device and was unable to successfully boot from any of them, so it tried the network as a last resort. Chances are, the hard drive and/or possibly the drive controller has failed. Go into the PCs BIOS and check whether it recognizes the hard drive. Check the boot order; make sure the CD is first, and the hard drive is second. Some BIOSes have a hard drive diagnostic; run it if available. If not, download the Ultimate Boot CD; it's a bootable CD full of diagnostic tools. Locate the correct tool for your hard drive and run an extended, advanced, in-depth diagnostic on it. Here's the download link for the UBCD:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Ultimate_Boot_CD_Basic_d4019.html
If I remember correctly, you'll launch the .exe download and you end up with an .iso image file; burn it as an image to a CD. If you burn as you would normally burn a data CD, it won't boot correctly. Just about every burning program on the planet has an option to burn .iso images. Look for something that says "create disc from image" or maybe "write image file to CD" or something that mentions ISO.... if you need help burning the image correctly, just let us know....