Sometimes the partition table is corrupted, making the disk look like a "non-disk" to the installer.
If you are reading this, you have likely encountered a frustrating wall during the installation of MikroTik RouterOS on a physical server or an older PC. You have burned the ISO, booted from the USB drive, and instead of seeing the familiar setup menu, you are greeted by a single, fatal line:
Which (v6 or v7) are you attempting to install?
The "Fatal Error: no CD-ROM found" during a MikroTik RouterOS installation typically occurs when the installer boots successfully but cannot locate its own source media to continue the installation. This issue is most common when using modern hardware or specific BIOS configurations that the older RouterOS x86 installer does not natively support. Core Causes of the Error
Remove the USB drive. Your server will boot directly into MikroTik RouterOS CHR. It will ask for a login (admin, blank password). fatal error no cd rom found mikrotik full
If you must use the legacy ISO (e.g., for a specific old device), try these three fixes in order.
Modern motherboards use UEFI by default. The standard RouterOS x86 ISO installation architecture requires standard legacy BIOS (CSM) routing to map storage endpoints correctly.
Plug the USB drive into a black USB 2.0 port on the back of the motherboard. Avoid blue USB 3.0 or Type-C ports, as the installer kernel often lacks the necessary xHCI drivers to read them post-boot. Method 3: Wipe the Target Drive's Partition Table
Older versions of RouterOS (especially RouterOS v6 and earlier) lack generic drivers for modern AHCI or NVMe storage controllers. Sometimes the partition table is corrupted, making the
lsblk
andreipop June 27, 2021, 7:50pm 14. It is actualy 16 years old. And seems like the isue was never solved. Semms like nobody cares. MikroTik community forum
When SATA controllers are set to AHCI mode in BIOS, RouterOS may not recognize the CD-ROM drive.
Configure your PC's network adapter with a static IP address (e.g., 192.168.88.2 , subnet 255.255.255.0 ). Launch Netinstall as an Administrator. The "Fatal Error: no CD-ROM found" during a
Change the value from or RAID to IDE , Legacy , or Compatibility mode . Save the changes (usually F10 ) and reboot.
: Turn on the MikroTik hardware while holding down the Reset button. Keep holding it until the device shows up in the Netinstall interface list. For x86 PCs, configure your BIOS to boot from the network (PXE Boot).
To help tailor these troubleshooting steps to your specific environment, could you share a bit more context? Please let me know:
This error halts the installation completely, preventing RouterOS from formatting the target drive and copying its system files. If you are stuck at this screen, your hardware is working, but the MikroTik installer cannot communicate with your storage drive or installation media due to compatibility mismatches.