Hi guys...I have a problem with my CD Drives. Here's the scoop.

I have a LG GCE-8400B CD-RW drive and a NEC ND-2510A DVD-RW drive. Nec is plugged into Secondary Master and LG is in Secondary Slave (primary master and slave are on my 2 HDDs). The Problem is that both drives won't read any discs. They are not in My Computer neither are they in Device Manager. Whats bothering me more is that they don't even show in the Bios. Both Secondary IDE controls shows "NONE". How can I fix this problem?

Quote: Originally Posted by supersong115 Hi guys...I have a problem with my CD Drives. Here's the scoop. I have a LG GCE-8400B CD-RW drive and a NEC ND-2510A DVD-RW drive. Nec is plugged into Secondary Master and LG is in Secondary Slave (primary master and slave are on my 2 HDDs). The Problem is that both drives won't read any discs. They are not in My Computer neither are they in Device Manager. Whats bothering me more is that they don't even show in the Bios. Both Secondary IDE controls shows "NONE". How can I fix this problem?

I'd check your connections REAL good, both on the drives and the mobo..........if everything is okay there, then check in the BIOS to see if there is a function to identify drives (most BIOS have this feature).

Also, what was you doing prior to this occurring?

Quote: Originally Posted by Highperf15 I'd check your connections REAL good, both on the drives and the mobo..........if everything is okay there, then check in the BIOS to see if there is a function to identify drives (most BIOS have this feature). Also, what was you doing prior to this occurring?

I just spent a whole day rewiring and sleeving everything so i'm pretty sure that all the connections are nice and tight...I tried to have the IDE controller scan for hardware but it didn't find any..
before this occured, I was LANing with some friends. It had this one problem of rebooting everytime it reaches the log on screen so i tried to fix that. We went into Bios and tried some stuff but it didn't work. I remember my friend said he turned off optical drives but after one try he turned it back on. I found out that my USB wireless adpater was plugged into the wrong USB jack. THAT problem was fixed. But now optical drives are no where to be found...they have power though...i can put discs in and out and what not.

do you think theres something wrong with the IDE cable? or is it the Mobo...or OS?

Quote: Originally Posted by supersong115 I just spent a whole day rewiring and sleeving everything so i'm pretty sure that all the connections are nice and tight...I tried to have the IDE controller scan for hardware but it didn't find any.. before this occured, I was LANing with some friends. It had this one problem of rebooting everytime it reaches the log on screen so i tried to fix that. We went into Bios and tried some stuff but it didn't work. I remember my friend said he turned off optical drives but after one try he turned it back on. I found out that my USB wireless adpater was plugged into the wrong USB jack. THAT problem was fixed. But now optical drives are no where to be found...they have power though...i can put discs in and out and what not.

I would still check all your connection just to make sure..........all it takes is one loose connection.....

Quote: Originally Posted by Highperf15 I would still check all your connection just to make sure..........all it takes is one loose connection.....

thanks for the help. Everything seems well plugged...i tried to make it as tight as possible...

I you sure the ide cable you used is good? I would try another one just to be sure.
Are your jumper settings correct?
You might also try making the drives primary slaves to test them. One bad drive can cause both not to show up.

My advice would be, since you've already checked your connections, to try a new IDE cable.
Then, check your jumpers on your drives. Try the master on master, slave on slave, etc. and see if that works. If that doesn't work, try putting them both on CS (cable select), your optical drives should have that option.

Then, check your BIOS settings. If it is identifying the drives, and it's not on cable select, then manually change the proper optical drive to their respective slots (master & slave).

Can you give us some rig specs, to see if it yields any other options?

Quote: Originally Posted by subdismal My advice would be, since you've already checked your connections, to try a new IDE cable. Then, check your jumpers on your drives. Try the master on master, slave on slave, etc. and see if that works. If that doesn't work, try putting them both on CS (cable select), your optical drives should have that option. Then, check your BIOS settings. If it is identifying the drives, and it's not on cable select, then manually change the proper optical drive to their respective slots (master & slave). Can you give us some rig specs, to see if it yields any other options?

AMD Athlon XP 2200+
1024 mb DDR PC2100 RAM
Radeon 9600PRO
Seagate 40gb HDD
WD 80gb HDD
400 watt PSU
MSI MS-6390 MiniATX mobo.

Thats all the important specs. Thanks for all the help i'll see what I can do.

Quote: Originally Posted by HoJo I you sure the ide cable you used is good? I would try another one just to be sure. Are your jumper settings correct? You might also try making the drives primary slaves to test them. One bad drive can cause both not to show up.

I second that - I have had one bad optical drive cause problem just like you have. In both instances it was the last thing I checked and it was the problem. Try them seperately.


If they are not showing up in your BIOS it doesnt have squat to do with any windows setting - its a hardware level problem. IE bad drive, bad cable, bad connection, bad IDE controller etc - dont waste your time looking at windows settings as it will do you NO good.

Quote: Originally Posted by aaronrkelly I second that - I have had one bad optical drive cause problem just like you have. In both instances it was the last thing I checked and it was the problem. Try them seperately. If they are not showing up in your BIOS it doesnt have squat to do with any windows setting - its a hardware level problem. IE bad drive, bad cable, bad connection, bad IDE controller etc - dont waste your time looking at windows settings as it will do you NO good.

I fixed it. Not because I got a new IDE cable. Because i went into CMOS and turned on BOTH IDE channels. Turned out that only "PRIMARY" was on the entire time.

Thank you for all your help and advice!!