system error message

[buschman31]

I have gotten a dell desktop optiplex G1 400 with a 4 gig hdd that comes up with an error message when booting up. It reads primary hdd 1 not found. secondary hdd 1 not found. strike f1 key to continue. f2 for setup. After pressing f1 system will start booting into windows. Also the hdd fdisked into 2 partitions. Even when i replace the 2 gig with another hdd i still get this error message. How can i remove this message and not be bothered with seeing every time?

Also can anyone help me resolve a problem with a hp photosmart printer? When printing a test sheet or anything else it will only print using the black ink cartridge. No printing can be done using the color cartridge. The printer is a ps1115. I had no problems with it printing in color before i had stop using the printer. The cartridges were removed before put back in its box. I have also found a p1000 with the same problem. It will print in black ink but i can't get it to use the color ink. A new color cartridge had been used for testing. Does anyone have ideas as to why both printers are not printing using the color cartridge?

[crossedup]

First question, sounds like the CMOS battery is dead and it cant store its settings when its turned off, you can pick up one cheap. Just pull the old one off the board and take it to radio shack or some such place.

[buschman31]

i did just that, replace the cmos battery. still getting same message when system boots up.

[crossedup]

You might have to go into the settings and look around. Maybe it has been set up with the first 2 HD's as user defined and those two drives are no longer in there, maybe it is finding the one in there after that. A long shot but possible.

Those optiplexes were a pain in the bum, to be sure, i had one kicking around here for a year and a half or so. Just got rid of it last month. I put a bigger CPU in it and it wouldnt POST, in a fit of anger I unplugged it and let it set for a month or so. Plugged it back in and it worked great ever since.

Try clearing your CMOS, does amazing things sometimes. Or go into it and reset to default.

[crossedup]

This in a response to a PM, your box is full bushman31. Original PM in quotes, my response is not.

buschman31 wrote on 03-22-2005 01:15 PM:
have a ? for u. How do u resett the mobo on a optiplex? and also the system has a slot 1 cpu (400) and had swapped it out with a slot 500mhz. system would not boot. had a problem with the cpu in my other system. not sure if its the cpu or mobo. also the hdd still have the 2 partitions because i had installed windows xp on it. i had found this computer and had nothing but trouble installing xp on it. take a while but finally got it on there. let me know of any other fixes i can try.

Its probably the CPU that is the culprit in trying to get up to the 500Mhz mark. The upgrade options on those Dells were very limited, I was only able to get mine to 400Mhz, as yours is now. Is the 500Mhz a PII or a PIII? A PII will most definately not work, differant voltages and a few other things.

There should be a jumper on the mobo to "clear CMOS", its somewhere, forget where exactly.

How big is the HD in question? Might help to troubleshoot