INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE, sometimes....

I have an Abit KX7-333 with an 2400+, which, until yersterday,were running perfectly. I then decided to reinstall my OS (2k) to help clear out all the junk. I created a second partition to backup all the stuff I wanted to keep using Partition Magic 8, but PM8 screwed it up and the first partion was damaged. I mangaed to recover the data (long story....) and store it on another machine, and formatted the drive for a fresh install. However, the Win2k setup freezes just after the part where it loads all the drivers and says "starting Windows 2000"

To find out where the problem was I tried the hardisk in another machine, and its fine. I removed all the extra cards, but it still didn't work. So, trying to be sneaky, I installed the first part of the OS (selecting partition and copying setup files) on the other machine then placed the HD back in the original, hoping to skip the setup problem.

Now I get the dreaded INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE when trying to load windows setup (ie from the now bootable HD), but only in my original machine. The only thing I can think is causing it is the mobo, as everything works fine elsewhere. But why is that? What has changed? PLEASE HELP ME!! I'M GOING MAD!!!

Is this the raid or non-raid version of the board? If the raid version, are you pressing F6 and loading the raid controller driver?

You said that you tried the install with extra cards removed, did you also remove one of the ram sticks?

Unless your two machines are both KX7-333 based, your 'trick' probably would not work.

One last thing, did you try another IDE cable?

Non-raid version (hence 333, not 333R ).

Have (now) tried it with either of the memory sticks, with the same result.

As the first stage of setup merely prepares the hard disk file system (surely generic between motherboards) and copied the setup files across (again generic). The 'trick' not working suggests to me that the is somehow a problem initialising the HD on the first machine.

Yes have tried several IDE cables.

Nevermind - sorted now, kind of. Cos the onboard IDE controller appears to be knackered, running the HD on a spare RAID card I had lying around, and seems to be quite happy now. Cheers anyway.