RM CL51 not booting from CD

[Bugs]

Hi All,

 

Iv got an old RM CL51 which I wanted to use as a linux machine and general muck about machine, thing is I cant get the thing to boot off the CD, Iv set it as the first boot device in the boot order, and when I start it up I get a boot menu however when click CD it refused to read from it and just flick up with the boot menu again.

 

I know the CD works I can here it whirring and stuff, and even had it replaced cause I thought the drive might be damaged, but the new drive acts the same. I have noticed it has a RM BIOS but, looking at the RM site there are no BIOS updates. On first getting the machine I got it working by copying the Windows CD onto the harddrive the plugging it in the laptop, but obviously it would be far easier to get it boot boot from CD.

 

Can anyone help or offer explanation as to why it wont boot from CD?

 

Thanks

 

Craig

[Michael]

The RM CL51 is a very old laptop - I presume we're talking about the same thing?

 

It is strange it won't boot from a new disc drive. I presume the disc drive is detected in the BIOS? Does it work with an XP boot CD?

 

You could try booting from a USB disc drive (if supported).

[Bugs]

yes I believe we talking bout the same thing.

 

The drive is detected in the BIOS and I can hear it spin up, no iv tried with multiple XP CD's and all are the same

 

I have tried booting from USB CD and it has the same issue (doesn't boot) I have tried a pen drive which again didnt work but wasnt sure if I set it up right. The only thing I have found that does work is a USN Floppy drive which I used to run DBAN on it when I first got it.

[Michael]

If you've changed the boot sequence and saved it, I cannot see why it wouldn't boot.

 

If you make the disc drive the only boot device (possible in most BIOSes), what happens then?

[Arthur]

The RM CL51 (a.k.a Compal BCL51) was rebadged by Acer and sold as the TravelMate 290. You may be able to flash the latters BIOS onto the RM laptop.

 

http://i.imgur.com/3nr0q.jpg

 

I did this once with an RM nBook 4150 and flashed a BIOS update I found on Intel's website for the Compal HEL80. Luckily it worked.

[Bugs]

if I set the CD as the only boot device I just get a boot menu and when I press enter on the cd it just reappears.

 

thanx Arthur i`ll check that out, I chceked out the compal site and couldnt find any drivers (it doesn't seem the best site anyway)

Edited December 14, 2011 by Bugs

[Bugs]

Iv downloaded the BIOS update for the 290 & 290D I cant be certain which mine is because the stickers worn off on the base but, I do know its a Pentium M as its listed in the BIOS so I assumed it was one of these two.

 

When I run the update utility however it gos through the motions then I get an error saying 'Error - The PROJECT ID is not correct!' I tried several times as I thought it might be my disk but it has come up with the same error any ideas?

[mwbutler]

Try pressing F10, F11, or F12 (or what ever it may be) to get to the boot menu and select CD drive there.

[Bugs]

My origonal issue was I couldnt boot from CD which is why i`m trying to update the BIOS but it keeps displaying this error

[mwbutler]

My origonal issue was I couldnt boot from CD which is why i`m trying to update the BIOS but it keeps displaying this error

 

Which is why I suggested a different way to try to boot to CD

[HarryMonkey]

Silly question I know, but, You're sure it's a bootable CD. Have you tried another disk in the drive?

[Bugs]

OK, sorry see what you mean now I can boot from USB floppy.

 

I have checked that the CD/DVD's are bootable all are, and have tried both USB and the internal drives with no luck

[clareq]

if you boot from the usb floppy with cd drivers on into DOS, can you then navigate to the CD ROM? A Windows 98 disk boot floppy might hold the necessary drivers and config.sys file.

[Arthur]

When I run the update utility however it goes through the motions then I get an error saying 'Error - The PROJECT ID is not correct!' I tried several times as I thought it might be my disk but it has come up with the same error any ideas?

Are you using the BIOS updater for Windows? To fix this, try changing flag=1 to flag=0 under [Platform_Check] in the platform.ini file.

 

Before you flash the BIOS, would it be possible to download CPU-Z, run it and then post a screenshot of the "Mainboard" tab (just to be on the safe side ). The "Graphics" tab will tell you which graphics card is in the laptop.

[Bugs]

I can boot a windows 98 Bootdisk and get access to the CD drive but, I cant run setup from windows or install linux

[Arthur]

Have you tried creating a bootable USB flash drive for Linux using something like Universal USB Installer?