I am using an older Pentium III (500 MHz) as a test machine to experiment with multibooting Linux and Windows on the same computer. The PC is running Windows 2000 at the moment, and Linux will be added soon.
Recently the memory was upgraded to 384 MB SDRAM.
Few days ago, BIOS stopped recognizing the Floppy Drive ...
The BIOS booting order is: floppy, CD-ROM, Hard-Disk.
At the end of startup process BIOS displays a short message:
"Event log messages. Enter Setup to view."
What could be the problem?

This is a HW/Mobo problem... either BIOS is bad (the ROM wears out), the cables are bad, the contacts dirty, or the floppy has died. So...

...reseat the cables, use new cables, use a new drive, flash the bios, all that stuff.

Does windows use the floppy drive?

Fortunately you only need the CD drive.

Hi,
The ROM wears out?? How many flashes were done? Each manufacture flash has their own specs as to how many writes. I would say the BIOS CMOS battery would decay thus needing replacement before the ROM.

The ROM is silicon, if not a eeprom, eprom then no erasure because of ambient light if the window mask should fail. The ROM is not going to wear unless you exceed the power specifications. Not wearing out but failing. Static discharge or surge can cause damage to any system component.

It could be as simple as the cable re-seat or even a floppy that has failed.

"Event log messages. Enter Setup to view."

Have you tried pressing Enter ? It may say something important.

I will try to find another Floppy Drive and do a test with it soon.
The cables have been re-seated, nothing changed.
Message: "Event log messages. Enter Setup to view" appears at the last stage of startup, and pressing "Delete" key (normal way of accessing the BIOS settings) does not work (OS already is starting).

It could be a BIOS/Motherboard issue -- after a small BIOS change it looked like the drive was recognized. In BIOS ---> Advanced ---> Diskette Options, I changed "[Disabled]" (the original parameter) to: "[1.44/1.25 MB 3 1/2"]". After rebooting, a short familiar sound of Floppy Drive starting was back, and the icon returned to "My Computer". BUT - a message appeared also: "Windows drive is not ready for use, its door may be open. Please check drive A: and make sure that a disk is inserted and that the door is closed". After inserting a floppy disk, it was not recognized -- another message: "Please insert a disk into drive A:".

How could I find out how many times the BIOS was flushed?
Thank you for the helpful suggestions.

Hi,
The BIOS update/flashed would depend on if you or someone initiated an update. You would know it! Unless you have done a live update of the BIOS. I would discourage this latter method.

As for the BIOS history, you would match the BIOS date and revision with manufactures data to see what it should be set at. Anytime you do a update be certain to backup the current BIOS to allow a recovery. All manufactures have a BIOS update procedure that you should follow explicitly.

The problem does sound like a floppy device failure. Cheap, replace it.