How to Fix PXE-E61: Media Test Failure, Check Cable Boot Error?

PXE-E61: Media Test Failure, Check Cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel Boot Agent

This Error indicates that your BIOS settings are misconfigured or your hard drive might be failed. To fix the Media Test Failure, Check Cable error, it’s essential to know the root cause of PXE-E61.

PXE stands for Preboot eXecution Environment, which is a boot mode supported by some of the motherboards. This allows the computer to boot from a network drive. The complete error message asks you to check the cable, as the computer couldn’t find the boot drive.

The following could be the reasons for this error:

• Power issue
• Damaged ethernet cable
• The misconfigured boot order in BIOS
• Hard drive or network drive is physically damaged, corrupt, or crashed
• Damaged boot sector

In this blog, we’ll see the solutions to fix the PXE-E61 Media Test Failure error. But before you do that, you should always consider contacting a Professional Data Recovery Service provider in the first place. Trying to fix the error on your own involves the risk of permanent data loss.

How to fix PXE-E61 Media Test Failure, Check Cable Error?

1: Check the Power Supply and Cables

As soon as you turn ON your PC, the system tries to boot from the configured bootable network drive. An improper or loose connection between the hardware may not allow the system to boot and cause PXE-E61: Media Test Failure error.

Thoroughly inspect your network drive and make sure that power cables are properly connected and not damaged.

Note: If the drive is corrupt or not detected, reach out to a data recovery expert and get back your inaccessible data.

2: Remove external USB storage devices

If the BIOS is misconfigured and the USB boot has the highest priority in the boot sequence, the BIOS will try to boot from USB first. If the connected USB device is not bootable then it will search the bootable device in the network and you may get the Media Test Failure error.

Remove the External USB device to skip boot from USB.

3: Change the boot order in BIOS

If you want to boot from a network drive then, check if the network drive is placed at the top in the boot order. If not, set it at the top in the BIOS settings. You can do it as follows:

1. Enter the BIOS setup utility as follows:

• Turn ON or restart the PC.
• Press the key used to get into BIOS setup utility while the PC turns ON. This is usually the F2 key (Refer to the manufacturer’s manual).

2. Navigate to the Boot menu, where you can change the boot order.

[NOTE]: The name of this menu could be different. Also, the boot order isn’t necessarily be found under this name. They may vary from one computer to the other.

3. Use the keys mentioned on the menu to set a network drive as the highest priority to boot from. The device at the top in the row of devices has the highest boot priority.

4: Disconnect the network drive or Reset BIOS

It’s possible that you have Windows installed on your hard drive, but the connected network drive is set to the highest priority in the boot sequence which doesn’t have Windows installed on it. The computer will try to boot from the network drive and may fail—leading to a PXE-E61 error.

To fix PXE-E61 Media Test Failure, Check Cable error, disconnect the network drive by removing the network cable.

You can alternatively reset the BIOS to its default settings. This will boot the system from the internal hard drive.

NOTE: You can reset the BIOS setting to its default option by removing and inserting the CMOS battery again.

The CMOS battery is flat and round in shape. It looks like the ones used in electronic toys and watches. If it’s irremovable, don’t try to remove it, and follow the 1^st method to reset the BIOS.

[NOTE]: You can reset the BIOS setting to its default option by removing and inserting the CMOS battery. The CMOS battery is flat and round in shape. It looks like the ones used in electronic toys and watches. If it’s irremovable, don’t try to remove it, and follow the 1st method to reset the BIOS.

5: Get the help of Data Recovery Experts

If none of the solutions fixed the error, you shouldn’t try any other random step. Instead, you must reach out to the Professional Data Recovery Service provider to prevent any data loss. At the end of the day, it’s the data that is more important.

[NOTE]: If you couldn’t fix the PXE-E61: Media Test Failure, check cable boot error then, you have to recover your data first. Recover your data to avoid permanent data loss. You can recover it by Free Data Recovery Software absolutely free. If you are unable to recover data by yourself then you can go for data recovery services. Remote Data Recovery and In-Lab data recovery are the two-option available for data recovery.

Conclusion

The error PXE-E61: Media Test Failure, check cable generally appears because the system couldn’t find a network drive to boot. We discussed the probable causes of the hard drive error and various solutions. We also mentioned the need and importance of Professional Data Recovery Services in resolving this error. Getting the help of Data Recovery Experts is always the best choice in such scenarios.