Several common error messages are related to problems in the file system or drives. These usually occur when booting the system. It could also happen when attempting to log in or to access a drive. The common ones are listed below:
- Missing Operating System
- No ROM Basic – System Halted
- Boot Error Press F1 to Retry
- Invalid Drive Specification
- Invalid Media Type
- Hark Disk Controller Failure
Missing Operating System
This is an error that is related to problems in master boot record or partition table entries. You get this error because the partition table entries are pointing to a sector that is not the actual beginning of a partition. Invalid BIOS settings, which sometimes is caused by a dead or dying battery, could cause this error. You may get this error when MBR is damaged by virus. The problem occurs for the reason that there is no active partition found in the partition table.
The normal solution is to correct the invalid BIOS settings. The BIOS settings for drive parameters and LBA translation must be set to the same values as when the drive was partitioned and formatted to read the drive correctly. If the MBR on a FAT drive is damaged or virus infected, you can try FDISK/MBR to repair it. Use FIXMBR with a NTFS drive. More sophisticated disk problem require disk recovering tool or repartitioning and reformatting the drive.
No ROM Basic – System Halted
For an AMI BIOS, when the boot sector or master boot record of the boot drive is damaged or missing, you will get this error. This error also can occur if the boot device has been improperly configured or is not configured at all in the BIOS. In this case, data in the partition might be valid and undamaged but no bootable partition exists.
IBM systems in this situation used to drop into a built-in BIOS version of BASIC, but most non-IBM BIOS manufacturers did not license this code from Microsoft. So, instead of dropping into BASIC, they displayed this cryptic massage. Because the most common cause of this type of error is a failure to set at least one partition as active (bootable), the typical solution is to run FDISK and set the primary partition as active. You may have try repairing the damaged MBR or correcting the improper BIOS settings if the problem is not caused by the missing of a bootable drive.
Boot Error Press F1 to Retry
when the hard disk is missing a master boot record or boot sector or when there is a problem accessing the boot drive, you may get this error, which is generated by the Phoenix BIOS. It is a problem similar to NO ROM Basic does on an AMI BIOS. The most common cause of this message is having no partitions defined as active (bootable).
Invalid Drive Specification
This error occurs when you attempt to log in to a drive that has not been partitioned or for which the partition table entry has been damaged or is incorrect. You can check the existing partition using FDISK or use FDISK to partition the drive. If they are damaged, you probably should use a data recovery tool for example REMO to correct the problem.
REMO is a Mac Recover Software that may also be used for Mac file Recovery. It would recover data on a failed hard drive and recover formatted memory card. It can also be used on Windows.
Another solution is to repartition the drive from scratch, but this causes any existing data on the drive to be overwritten.
Invalid Media Type
This shows that the partition table is valid. However the volume boot sector, directory, or file allocation tables are corrupt, damaged, or not yet initialized. For example, if you try to access a drive that has been partitioned but not yet formatted, you would normal receive this error. The format command is what creates the volume boot record (VBR), file allocation tables, and directories on the disk.
The repair typically involves using a data recover utility or redoing the high-level format on the drive. High-level formatting does not actually destroy the data. You can recover the data by first doing the high-level format (OS Format) the volume and then immediately unformatting it using the unformat utility.
Hard disk controller Failure
This message indicates the hard disk controller has failed, the hard disk controller is not set up properly in the BIOS, or the controller can not communicate with the attached drives (such as cable problems).
You can examine the drive installation and make sure that the cables to the drive are properly installed, the drive is getting power and spinning, and the BIOS settings for the drive are correct. If all these are correct, the drive, cable, or controller might be physically damaged. Replace them with know-good spares one by one until the issue is resolved.