Help! : Reinstall doesnt work on a PCV RX202

[uocram]

Hello!

I reinit BIOS => OK
I make new partition disk (30/50 Go) => OK
I then select Standard reinstall (3 CDs) => OK
But when restart only appear SONY logo and then the devices list and nothing after...

I tried this procedure three time with the same result

The 3 CD-ROM are original SONY reinstall CDs for this VAIO
Before the reinstall, the VAIO works fine...

Thank for any help.

[uocram]

Problem:
During clean reinstall, the first partition was not available (not NTFS, 0 Ko).
So the install can't process correctly.

Solution:
I install another HD in mode Master, and the first HD in mode Slave.
=> the install become efficient.
In WinXP, I can see the bad partition on the other disk. I can format it.

And all is OK, but why the install can't partition correctly with the official CDs?

[seb21__]

You the recovery disk for creating the partitions.

[uocram]

Yes, I used the recovery disk for create partitions.
It was bad the first time (the first of 2 partitions was corrupted), but with the 2e HD the creation of partitions became efficient... (also with recovery disk)

[kee-lo_]

Any S.M.A.R.T messages when you boot?

[uocram]

No message.
Only the devices list with no activity

[jammold]

It might be a possibility that the disks might be corrupted. Its the faulty MBR (Master Boot Record) code that it is using to describe bootcode and partition tables.

Have these self-created recovery disks ever worked in the past?

BTW: A word of warning. Using the FDISK /MBR method might render an NTFS disk unusable because it strips out the last4 bytes of MBR code in CYL 0, Sec 1, called the admin bytes.

These describe a serialised key for the disk.

If it is damaged, you must use a DOS boot disk or DOS Boot CD, and the tool called MBRTool (get it from diydatarecovery.nl) to restore these bytes.

If it is repartitioned in Windows XP, obviously there will be no problem. The problem arises as FDISK for Windows 98 is unaware of these bytes and zero fills them, confusing XP and refusing to boot.