problem installing cd writer

jba6511

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Dec 13, 2006
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EDIT: SEE BELOW. ok here is the situation. I was using an older computer and had taken the cd writer out of it and swapped it with a new dvd+r. Now I want to take the dvd+r out and put the original cd rw back in. All I did when I originally swapped was to disconnect the power to it and I can not remember if I disconnected the master/slave ribbon. I swapped and put the original back in and when the computer boots the power light on the drive flashes and I can open the drive, but it takes several seconds to respond. Once windows boots however, I get no response. I have tried the ribbon in the ide connector and without and have had no luck. What am I doing wrong?

bios now recognizes both the dvd-rom and the cd writer drive but windows does not. i tried to scan for new hardware in the windows device manager but it only recognizes the dvd-rom. what do i need to do to make windows recognize the drive?
 

jba6511

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thanks for the response. yea i have done that and it even shows the dvd-rom drive as secondary master and the cd-writer as secondard-slave. The hadr drive is set to primary master as well i believe. It seems odd that bios picks them up fine and windows only recognizes the the dvd rom
 

kamel5547

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I've run into issues where certain devices can't be on the same cable, you may want to try putting them on seperate cables if possilbe. I am assuming the devices work individually but not together...

I wasn't able to resolve this type of conflict any other way :/
 

jba6511

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well whats really strange is it is an older gateway and the drives were originally on the same cable i believe. i have racked my brain and can not figure it out. the power light on the drive also stays on the entire time the comp is powered on as well but refuses to open when in windows but will open when the computer is booting.
 

ZozZoz

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just out of curiosity: why don't you try swapping channels?
i.e. - put the harddrive on the secondary IDE channel, and the optical drives on the primary. tinker with the master/slave order.
p.s. both of them don't have jumpers installed right? pure "cableselect" ?
 

Rhinofart

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Like the guys said, have you tried putting just the CD writer back in by it's self on the channel? Also what you could try it to boot into safe mode and goto Device Manager and make sure there are no duplicates of the CD Writer or DVD drive listed. I don't trust the CS settings on IDE devices. I always make sure to do the Master/Slave settings. In my experience I have found that when you use the jumpers for Master/Slave it doesn't matter which device is at the end of the cable.
 

jba6511

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yeah i tried connecting only the cd writer to the master end of the cable and BIOS picks it up but not windows. Will try to boot into safe mode in a few minutes
 

Rhinofart

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I can't remember if you have tried the writer in a different system or not. Are you sure the power connector is all proper? IE one of the pins inside the molex connector is not half out? It's possible that one of the voltage leads is not making proper contact and therfore part of the drive itself is not being powered properly. Which would allow the device to be detected, but not spun up or otherwise functional. Other then that I would say you have a dead drive. I have seen something similar to that with one of my old maxtor hard drives. The low voltage pin on the molex wasn't making proper contact so the drives control electronics were not working, but I could hear the drive spinup and such.