CD drive problem.

[Kizaragu]

Yeah it's me again, but with a completely different problem.

As I explained in my other Help topic my CD drive hasn't been working for quite some time.
It will play the odd rare Data CD, but half the time doesn't recognise any CD of any type at all and claims to be empty.
I've gone through windows Help and support and that never seems to find anything wrong and claims the device is working propperly.
I've followed all my friends advice and have checked the CD-RW is connected propperly, uninstalled it... everything.

But to no avail.
My friends believe the drivers themself may have become corrupt but as Device manager gives me no real name (IDE-CD R/RW 24x12A) for the CD drive, they have no idea where to get new ones for me. :s

I guess I could contact the guy who custom made the PC for us (A family friend), but he's moved quite far away and it'll be a long time till he'll be back down here again.

Anyone got any ideas for me?
(Bare in mind I'm not exactly a computer whizz, so not so much jargon please. http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif)

[Allos]

If you have the money replace your computer, as it seems royally screwed. If you don't, get someone who knows what they're doing and buy a new CD drive. Then remove the old one and insert the new.

[ABDUR101]

If you can get inside and take out the CD drive, it might have a label with information on it's make and model and so on.

No doubt shelling out money for a new comp is prolly out of the question, I'd look into it depending on how old it is, or it's upgradability. Worse comes to worst, you can just buy a new CD/DVD/whatever drive if within cost restraints.

[HUnewearl_Meira]

Sounds like your CD-ROM is dead, to me. Don't be surprised, though-- CD-ROMs tend to do that. I must've had dozens of CD-ROMs and similar devices take a dump on me over the years. The simplest solution is to just get a new CD-ROM, and stick it in place of the old one. These days they aren't very expensive, and you'd probably do well to just step up to a DVD-ROM or something, depending on what you have already. Replacing an IDE device generally sounds more intimidating than it actually is.

Here's some instructions... I'll try to keep it simple.

First, unplug the power supply to your computer, and turn off the power switch on the back. Open up your computer case. Depending on the precise model, you may have to remove the entire exterior, or just the side panels. The screws should be in the back, in any case. If not, then there should be an evident way to remove the front panel of the computer (either a handle on one of the sides, or on the bottom), and the screws will be behind there.

Once the interior is exposed, you should find two screws on either side of the CD-ROM (if the guy that built your computer was lazy or running low on screws, there may be only two screws holding the CD-ROM in place; or in some cases, even one! Which isn't exactly good, but I suppose it does the job; four screws is best). Remove the screws.

There will be basically two cables plugged into the back of your CD-ROM. One consists of wires of several colors (Probably Orange, Yellow, Black and Green; not necessarily in that order). That comes from your computer's power supply. Be careful when pulling it out; not because you'll zap yourself, but because it's probably not going to want to come out, and you stand a chance of messing up your hand against whatever's behind the CD-ROM when it comes off and your hand jerks back.

The other is the IDE cable, which is probably also connected to your Hard Drive. Take note of what side the red stripe is on this cable. Normally, it should be pointing toward the power supply, but sometimes it doesn't work out that way, as it might've been put in backward (most IDE cables these days will prevent that by their shape, but it's not always so).

With these two cables removed, you should be able to slide your CD-ROM out without any trouble. Do so.

Take a look at the back of the CD-ROM. You'll see two rows of 20 pins, then next to that, you'll see another two rows of 3 or 4 pins. Among those additional rows of pins, you're likely to see a little peice of plastic with a small piece of metal inside, wrapped around two of those pins. This is the jumper. These pins will be labeled somewhere, either above or below, "SL" "MA" and "CS". These stand for "SLave", "MAster", and "Cable Select". There may also be a diagram on the CD-ROM that describes these (though not necessarily). However the jumper on the old CD-ROM is configured, configure the new CD-ROM to match. If the old CD-ROM is configured to "Slave" then check on the new CD-ROM to see which pair of pins makes it a Slave, and place the new CD-ROM's jumper onto that pair of pins. If it was a Master, then set the new one to "Master", if it was set to Cable Select, then set the new one to Cable Select, and so on.

With the jumper in place, slide the new CD-ROM back into the bay that the old CD-ROM was in. Plug the IDE cable and power supply into the back of the CD-ROM, the same way they were plugged into the old CD-ROM. Use your four screws from earlier to screw the new CD-ROM into place the same way the old one was. Put the cover back on. Plug the power cable back into the back, and turn the switch on the back, back into the "ON" position. You can now turn your computer back on. You're finished!

[Firocket1690]

basically what Meira said...

Well, after you boot it up, your computer will 9/10 detect new hardware and open a New Hardware Wizard. If that doesn't pop up, open it from the control panel. The wizard's easy enough for you to go through without step by step instructions. That usually means clicking 'OK' or 'Next' http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Deathscythealpha]

Ive told ya for ages to get a new CD Drive Kiz http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

Well, the only things i can think to do about your CD Drive is:

1)Uninstall the hardware, restart the computer and check if it picks it up again.

2)Uninstall the hardware, unplug the device then plug it back in.

3)Go to the extreme and reinstall everything on your computer. Buts thats only if your really desperate to sort it out.

Also, check the speed of your CD Drive. I doubt it is this but if youve got a rather slow speed drive it may just not be able to read your CD's.

[HUnewearl_Meira]

On 2004-04-12 19:47, Firocket1690 wrote:
basically what Meira said...

Well, after you boot it up, your computer will 9/10 detect new hardware and open a New Hardware Wizard. If that doesn't pop up, open it from the control panel. The wizard's easy enough for you to go through without step by step instructions. That usually means clicking 'OK' or 'Next' http://www.pso-world.com/psoworld/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif



Actually, for IDE devices, that's not even necessary. Even some USB memory devices don't require a hardware wizard if the motherboard is sufficiently recent. Basically, Windows will handle any bootable device as though it's always been there.