PDA

View Full Version : Secondary Drive Problems


arcox80
02-09-2006, 05:47 PM
I recently purchased a new DVD-ROM drive as listed below. Previously, I had just a regular 48x CD-ROM drive installed with the Sony DVD writer installed as well. Everything worked fine.
I installed the new DVD-ROM drive, replacing the old CD-ROM drive, and booted up the computer. It booted normally, detected the new hardware, and everything seemed fine. The only problem then was that the mouse would start to stick or lock up for a few seconds, and then everything would go back to normal. So, I decided to reboot hoping that this problem would be corrected. After rebooting, I got an error message saying that neither Secondary Device Drive (0 or 1) could be found. I have the DVD writer as the slaved device and DVD-ROM as the master (as the CD-ROM was). I tried switching the jumper setting on the DVD-ROM drive and the computer wouldn't even load up.
On the error message screen saying it can find the Secondary Device Drives, it has the option to continue or go to the setup utility. In the setup utility I brought up the "Drive Configuration" menu and this is what was listed.
Diskette Drive A: ............3.5in, 1.44MB
Primary Master Drive........Hard Drive
Primary Slave Drive..........OFF
Secondary Master Drive....Unknown Device
Secondary Slave Drive......Unknown Device
IDE Drive UDMA...............ON (can be switched to OFF)

Selecting either Master or Slave for the Secondary Drive brings up this menu
Model: unknown
Drive Type....AUTO (can be swtiched to OFF)
Capacity.......n/a

If I choose to continue, instead of going into setup utility, the computer will boot up into Windows normally. However, when I go to my computer only the Hard Drive and Floppy Drive show up. There are no D or E drives. Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated.

arcox80
02-09-2006, 06:21 PM
I just went and removed the DVD-ROM drive and put the old CD-ROM drive back in. Everything booted up normally. I rebooted and went into the setup utility and both secondary drives were listed. So I'm guessing this means that the DVD drive is faulty? Yes...no?

Gizmo
02-09-2006, 06:27 PM
It does sound like the drive is faulty. Time to pull that receipt out.

arcox80
02-09-2006, 06:34 PM
Not what I wanted to hear, but thanks for the help anyway.

glc
02-09-2006, 11:55 PM
Verify that the new drive is jumpered EXACTLY the same as the drive you pulled out. You have 3 choices - MA, SL, or CS. I'm betting that it was CS.

arcox80
02-10-2006, 12:51 AM
Okay, I was wrong about how it was jumped. The original CD-ROM drive was CS, and I put the new DVD-ROM drive in on CS too, originally. After the restart, it stopped finding the drives. I then switched the DVD-ROM to the MA setting, and the computer would not even get past the Dell screen. I couldn't do anything except restart the computer.

glc
02-10-2006, 01:48 AM
If the new drive did that, it's faulty. Dell cables are cable select cables, both drives should be set to CS.

arcox80
02-10-2006, 10:23 AM
Okay, thanks. My DVD writer is set to SL and is working properly, so should I switch it though as this might be a problem?

Cricket
02-10-2006, 10:47 AM
My DVD writer is set to SL and is working properly, so should I switch it though as this might be a problem?Set both drive jumpers to CS and see if everything works okay.

:) Cricket

arcox80
02-10-2006, 02:50 PM
That didn't work either. I tried with just the DVD drive in there by itself and that didn't work either. I tried just about every configuration and have given up. Time to ship this guy back.

glc
02-11-2006, 11:06 AM
If the DVD writer is on the middle connector on the cable and set to SL and it works, put the other drive on the end connector and set it to MA.