Solved What is PXE-61 and why is it failing?

riider May 19, 2018 at 12:40:15

Your computer is trying to boot off a network, no network is being detected, so it's telling you to check the cable. Your problem is either due to a dead hard drive, or the boot order in the BIOS needs correcting. Or you're actually trying to boot from a network & it's not working?

i_am_jim May 19, 2018 at 13:07:10

Thanks for your reply. So, I have a working network. My computer boots properly into windows. It all seems to be working in spite of this error. Windows 10 Motherboard MSI B85M-G43 CPU Intel i-7 4790 32Gigs RAM Primary drive Samsung SSD Auxiliary drive Western Digital 1TB message edited by i_am_jim

trvlr May 19, 2018 at 13:36:28

Re’ #2 The system may be cycling through the boot order until it finds something that works; presuming that the network boot is first on the list?

LMiller7 May 19, 2018 at 14:02:15

Most likely the problem is due to an improper boot order defined in the BIOS. Typically booting from the network would be set last. If it is before the hard drive you will see this error. Booting from the network is possible only under very specific conditions and is rarely used by home users. It is more common in large networks. When this fails an attempt is made to boot from the next device in line. When the hard drive is reached that works and everything proceeds as normal.

i_am_jim May 19, 2018 at 14:28:29

Thanks for the replies. I guess I'll just ignore it Windows 10 Motherboard MSI B85M-G43 CPU Intel i-7 4790 32Gigs RAM Primary drive Samsung SSD Auxiliary drive Western Digital 1TB

OtheHill May 19, 2018 at 15:08:48

Why not enter the BIOS (setup) screens and look? If the boot order is wrong then fix it. Did that computer come out of a business environment?

Johnw May 19, 2018 at 16:36:14

✔ Best Answer

Error at Boot: PXE-E61: Media Test Failure, Check Cable https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...

i_am_jim May 19, 2018 at 18:03:19

That link certainly nails down the problem, but I'm not sure how to correct it and since it doesn't seem to affect anything . . . It probably has something to do with my other post (https://www.computing.net/answers/hardware/what-do-pxe-and-19h-mean/94923.html), but I haven't the fogyist idea what those cryptic symbols mean and am unwilling to experiment with disk startup. Windows 10 Motherboard MSI B85M-G43 CPU Intel i-7 4790 32Gigs RAM Primary drive Samsung SSD Auxiliary drive Western Digital 1TB message edited by i_am_jim

Johnw May 19, 2018 at 18:18:07

"It probably has something to do with my other post (https://www.computing.net/answers/hardware/what-do-pxe-and-19h-mean/94923.html)" https://i.imgur.com/uoZrCIN.jpg

i_am_jim May 19, 2018 at 18:26:32

I kind of surmised as much. The default is Int 19h, but as you toggle though the options there's 18h and others. None of which do I know what they mean. Do you? Windows 10 Motherboard MSI B85M-G43 CPU Intel i-7 4790 32Gigs RAM Primary drive Samsung SSD Auxiliary drive Western Digital 1TB

Johnw May 19, 2018 at 18:44:02

PXE is in your manual ( which is in the CD that came with the comp ) or here. https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/sup... Google explains the other, it's something you virtually never need to know. intel what does Int 19h mean http://bit.ly/2x5rJt9 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BIOS message edited by Johnw