Smartstart "hard stop" error

[Jake Draisen]

I have a Compaq ProLiant 7000. When I attempt to boot from a SmartStart 5.4, I get the following on a black background:

hard stop

I have tried using a SmartStart 5.2 CD with the same result.

Any Ideas?

[Sunil Jerath]

Hello Jake,
Normally I would say it's caused by a wrapped CD and if you leave it out on a flat surface then it works(Believe it or not). Since you have tried two different kinds hmmmm makes me wonder. The only other time I have come across when someone had Kingston or any third party memory. I had it removed and used COMPAQ memory and it did the trick.

Regards,

[Jake Draisen]

We found the solution. Our floppy drive died and I guess it had a short in it. Once I replaced the drive, it worked fine.

Thanks for the help.