installing printer killed system with BootIt NG

[NancyB]

This is really weird. I bought a new printer, a Brother MFC-J835DW, and proceeded to install the driver. After it finished, it requested a system restart, which I did. The system could not boot back up, and I have not been able to get it started since. It almost looks like BootIt NG has somehow been corrupted. When it gets to where BING should start, I get two lines:
Bootit EMBRI 2.01
Bootit EMBRL 2.04
The system just stops at that point. If I put a BING start disk in and start the computer, I get just the second message, but it still can't get any further.

I think I have 1.85a on that computer -- that's the latest install/start disk I have. I tried booting with that CD, a 1.85a floppy, and a 1.87 floppy I built on another computer, and they all do the same thing.

The computer is a Dell Dimension 4700 with XP Home SP3. I think I have primaries limited, though it's been such a long time since I set it up (July 2005) I don't remember for sure. The partition set up is something like:
Dell Utilities & Diagnostics partition (came on computer)
Window XP
Extended partition containing
. . . Data
. . . Backups
. . . Pagefile
Dell Recovery partition (came on computer)

I think I put BING in the Utilities & Diagnostics partition -- it had plenty of space and it put BING out of the way. I use it once a week to back up the Windows XP partition, putting the files in the Backups partition. That was last done Saturday night, with no problems.

Does anyone have any idea what is wrong with BING and how I can get my system to boot again? Could this have been a sudden hard drive failure? It's almost 7 years old, after all, but it's a strange way for a hard drive to die. If the disk is readable at all, I can get to the data if I have to put the disk in another computer or get a case for it. I could also reinstall XP if I had to, though that's not something I look forward to.

Does anyone have any ideas what I can do? Thanks so much for your help!

Nancy

[NancyB]

Even stranger still, the problem has fixed itself. After posting the question last night I turned everything off and went to bed. This morning I tried booting the system, and it worked! Because I'd rearranged some cords, the new printer was turned off and unplugged, so I wonder if that could have something to do with it. I've brought my data backups up to date and am ready to start playing around to see if the printer is somehow interfering with BING. Is that possible? It's my first multi-function printer, with print/scan/copy/fax capabilities. Would it be wise to upgrade to the Bare Metal version?

Nancy

[mjnelson99]

You can create an image so you are protected, then plug in
the new printer.

Notice what happens or doesn't happen.

Bare Metal does have more options than BING including
having IFD Version 2 as a part.
Mary

On 6/5/2012 11:58 AM, NancyB wrote:
> Even stranger still, the problem has fixed itself.

After posting the question last night I turned everything
off and went to bed.

This morning I tried booting the system, and it worked!

Because I'd rearranged some cords, the new printer was
turned off and unplugged,

so I wonder if that could have something to do with it.

I've brought my data backups up to date and am ready to
start playing around

to see if the printer is somehow interfering with BING.

Is that possible? It's my first multi-function printer,
with print/scan/copy/fax capabilities.

Would it be wise to upgrade to the Bare Metal version?
>
> Nancy
>
>

[NancyB]

mjnelson99 wrote:
> You can create an image so you are protected, then plug in
> the new printer.

Thanks for the suggestions. I already have a recent enough image, but having an image doesn't do any good if I can't load BING to use it

I finally got the time to look more at this; I wanted to get some other work out of the way first. The problem is definitely the printer, though it's a mystery why. I plugged everything back in and turned on the printer, then booted the system. It got stuck at the same place it did last night. As soon as I turned off the printer, BING loaded and continued with the automatic boot. Inside Windows I was able to turn on the printer and use it with no problems.

It looks like I need to talk to the folks at Brother Support. What is BING trying to do at that spot that the printer could be blocking? I can get by with turning off the printer when I need to boot, but there are times that could be a nuisance. I'd like a better solution if it's possible. I will update to 1.87, though it's unlikely that will help any. I'll also see what happens if BING is deactivated. I expect that to "fix" the problem, since this looks like a conflict between BING and the printer. But I use BING frequently, so that's not a reasonable permanent solution.

Nancy

Edit: I just did a web search for "printer stops computer booting" and found a lot of threads discussing this problem; some are extremely old. None mention BING, so maybe it's not relevant. The consensus seems to be that it's a BIOS problem with USB all-in-ones. This printer can also be connected using a network, either wired or wireless, so I'll try that.

2nd edit: One of the posts talked about changing BIOS settings, so I went into Setup (F2 while Dell logo is displayed) and found a spot to disable booting from USB devices. I turned it on, and it works! It does mean that I can't boot from a flash drive, but that's not a problem for me. It was also recommended to update the BIOS. I haven't looked if anything is available, but may try that, too. Apparently the BIOS thinks the USB all-in-one is a bootable device and is trying to boot from it, so it hangs. The printer brand doesn't really matter.

One more edit: I checked the Dell website, and there was a BIOS version for my computer more recent than what I had. So I downloaded and installed it, and it corrects the problem without having to disable booting from USB devices. Finally, the right solution!

[mjnelson99]

Unplug the printer. It worked before, did it not?

On 6/5/2012 11:41 PM, NancyB wrote:
> mjnelson99 wrote:
>> You can create an image so you are protected, then plug in
>> the new printer.
>
> Thanks for the suggestions. I already have a recent enough image, but having an image doesn't do any good if I can't load BING to use it
>
> 
>
> I finally got the time to look more at this; I wanted to get some other work out of the way first. The problem is definitely the printer, though it's a mystery why. I plugged everything back in and turned on the printer, then booted the system. It got stuck at the same place it did last night. As soon as I turned off the printer, BING loaded and continued with the automatic boot. Inside Windows I was able to turn on the printer and use it with no problems.
>
> It looks like I need to talk to the folks at Brother Support. What is BING trying to do at that spot that the printer could be blocking? I can get by with turning off the printer when I need to boot, but there are times that could be a nuisance. I'd like a better solution if it's possible. I will update to 1.87, though it's unlikely that will help any. I'll also see what happens if BING is deactivated. I expect that to "fix" the problem, since this looks like a conflict between BING and the printer. But I use BING frequently, so that's not a reasonable permanent solution.
>
> Nancy
>
> Edit: I just did a web search for "printer stops computer booting" and found a lot of threads discussing this problem; some are extremely old. None mention BING, so maybe it's not relevant. The consensus seems to be that it's a BIOS problem with USB all-in-ones. This printer can also be connected using a network, either wired or wireless, so I'll try that.
>
> 2nd edit: One of the posts talked about changing BIOS settings, so I went into Setup (F2 while Dell logo is displayed) and found a spot to disable booting from USB devices. I turned it on, and it works! It does mean that I can't boot from a flash drive, but that's not a problem for me. It was also recommended to update the BIOS. I haven't looked if anything is available, but may try that, too. Apparently the BIOS thinks the USB all-in-one is a bootable device and is trying to boot from it, so it hangs. The printer brand doesn't really matter.
>
> One more edit: I checked the Dell website, and there was a BIOS version for my computer more recent than what I had. So I downloaded and installed it, and it corrects the problem without having to disable booting from USB devices. Finally, the right solution!
>
> 
>
>
>

[TeraByte Support]

Sounds like it may have some type of flash drive slots or something on it
and your BIOS is trying to map in those as drives but no media is making it
hang. Try disabling "legacy usb" support in your BIOS or put media in the
drive.

"NancyB" wrote in message news:2494@public.bootitng...

mjnelson99 wrote:
> You can create an image so you are protected, then plug in
> the new printer.

Thanks for the suggestions. I already have a recent enough image, but
having an image doesn't do any good if I can't load BING to use it


I finally got the time to look more at this; I wanted to get some other work
out of the way first. The problem is definitely the printer, though it's a
mystery why. I plugged everything back in and turned on the printer, then
booted the system. It got stuck at the same place it did last night. As
soon as I turned off the printer, BING loaded and continued with the
automatic boot. Inside Windows I was able to turn on the printer and use it
with no problems.

It looks like I need to talk to the folks at Brother Support. What is BING
trying to do at that spot that the printer could be blocking? I can get by
with turning off the printer when I need to boot, but there are times that
could be a nuisance. I'd like a better solution if it's possible. I will
update to 1.87, though it's unlikely that will help any. I'll also see what
happens if BING is deactivated. I expect that to "fix" the problem, since
this looks like a conflict between BING and the printer. But I use BING
frequently, so that's not a reasonable permanent solution.

Nancy

Edit: I just did a web search for "printer stops computer booting" and found
a lot of threads discussing this problem; some are extremely old. None
mention BING, so maybe it's not relevant. The consensus seems to be that
it's a BIOS problem with USB all-in-ones. This printer can also be
connected using a network, either wired or wireless, so I'll try that.

2nd edit: One of the posts talked about changing BIOS settings, so I went
into Setup (F2 while Dell logo is displayed) and found a spot to disable
booting from USB devices. I turned it on, and it works! It does mean that
I can't boot from a flash drive, but that's not a problem for me. It was
also recommended to update the BIOS. I haven't looked if anything is
available, but may try that, too. Apparently the BIOS thinks the USB
all-in-one is a bootable device and is trying to boot from it, so it hangs.
The printer brand doesn't really matter.

One more edit: I checked the Dell website, and there was a BIOS version for
my computer more recent than what I had. So I downloaded and installed it,
and it corrects the problem without having to disable booting from USB
devices. Finally, the right solution!


[NancyB]

TeraByte Support wrote:
> Sounds like it may have some type of flash drive slots or something on it
> and your BIOS is trying to map in those as drives but no media is making it
> hang. Try disabling "legacy usb" support in your BIOS or put media in the
> drive.

That's an interesting idea. The printer does have a USB port and two memory card slots on the front. The BIOS update did fix the problem, and I'm satisfied with that. It was sure frustrating there for a while, though!

Nancy