Have you tried setting a Hard Disk Pre-Delay in the BIOS features?

It allows you to force the BIOS to delay the initialization of IDE devices for up to 30 seconds. The delay allows your IDE devices more time to spin up before the BIOS initializes them.

:ok:

Mac - I'll have a look next time I boot, but I have an oldish machine and I'm not sure it has that in BIOS. In any case, it is a SATA drive I normally boot from.

Anyone know where the boot drive sequence is held?

Looks like you may have company

ASUSTeK Computer Inc.-Forum- K8N-DL forgets Boot order after power loss from wall

Kind of points at the battery. Worth a shot, although we never heard from phillyb again:D. Thanks MR O

OK Found the problem - it had sneaked in a 'Load Default CMOS settings' without telling me - the clue was in one other setting I had changed a while back had 'reverted'. Next task to find out why..............

BOAC, recent experience (yesterday) re-reminds me that a duff bios battery will also let it forget the date. This on a four month old machine - it was forgetting date and boot order.

So if your machine is not forgetting the date, it's not the battery.

Duff IDE cables have been a problem, but I've not had a SATA cable do that. Having said that, the plugs aren't that spiffing - got a loose one?

Thanks, bog - you mean it isn't Sep 3rd?

I have to admit that as a relative 'newcomer' to SATA I find the connectors disappointing - very little progress apparent over the years of computing.

I guess the boot order could have 'suffered' with a dodgy Molex taking out an IDE.

Just to close this 'diversion' of mine - it is confirmed that a dodgy Molex is the cause of all my woes. It drops a drive off line and the boot order is then rogered. All I have to do is identify the 'occasionally loose' connection which is proving elusive.

OK, we won't mention post #24 then:)

Thank you:O