BIOS Doesn't Detect CD/DVD Drive?

For reasons best left to another thread, I took my machine apart, and now that it is back together the system won't recognize that the CD/DVD drive is installed.

When I originally unplugged the cables, I had two devices, one each, in Pri and Sec slots. I did not note which was HD and which was the CD/DVD drive (rookie mistake.)

When I reassembled it all, I put the CD/DVD in Primary, and the HD in Secondary. IIRC, the machine correctly identified both the devices in the BIOS, but wouldn't boot.

SO, following advice in another thread, I disconnected everything but the mobo. Then I put the HD in the primary slot. Voila - I booted.

Then, I put the CD/DVD in the Secondary slot. Now it still boots, but the BIOS doesn't see anything in the secondary slot.

Windows sees something, and calls it "Drive E:" but won't read from it.

I ran a program called "Unknown Devices" suggested in another thread, and it identifies the drive by name (LITE-ON COMBO LTC-48161H) but it is grayed out? The status report from that program reads:

I tried fooling it by updating the drivers, but the driver won't install because it doesn't "see" the device either.

So, what should a poor female l'il geek wanna-be try next?

I'm hoping it isn't life without a CD drive.

 

Nice description but we need loadsmoreinformation.

Since you are referring to primary and secondary I assume your system is IDE or ATA.

Have you tried asking the BIOS to detect the drives, or just expected it to happen?
Tell us about the BIOS and system and we may be able to help more here.

Tell us also what jumper settings you have on your drives and what cable connector (middle or end) you are using to connect to the drives.

Finally tell us if there are any other drives present on the cables?

You might try looking for a 'reset defaults' or 'fail safe' setting in the BIOS and rebooting, as a quick and dirty fix.

 

Thanks so much for replying.

IDE or ATA ? I was under the impression that those are the same thing. My BIOS refers to IDE, so I'm going with that. Maybe. :confused

The BIOS is set to auto detect. In fact,if there's a manual setting, I can't find it. I'm all about quick and dirty, and I absolutely resorted to the "reset defaults" already, to no avail.

From Belarc Advisor:

I don't have a legend for jumper settings on the CD/DVD drive. I haven't messed with them though. The jumper is on the far left. I am assuming that means it's set to Master.

The HD is set to "cable select" according to the legend here: http://www.seagate.com/images/support/en/us/u5_family_1.gif

(I was trying to install a secondary HD.....that's the topic I said was best left to another thread. )

The cables are 80 wire - blue ends plugged into the mobo, and the black ends plugged into the drives. The middles aren't connected to anything.

 

Yes IDE and ATA are essentialy the same. I didn't know your level of expertise, you said it was pretty basic, but in fact you seem pretty clued-up.

Pages 57 -59 of the motherboard (BIOS) manual spell out the IDE options in some detail. These are on the advanced tab.

Have you looked at these settings?

Belarc is not reporting the secondary IDE as turned on.

 

you might need to pull the drives out and check the settings (check the label - different manufacturers have different pin outs)? if they are on the same cable the master is on the end of the cable, and the slave is in the middle. my comp doesn't like master/slave combination, so i have to use cs. however, i have the 2 h/d's hooked up to 1 cable, and the 2 cd/dvd hooked up to the other cable. you might want to check that, and/or remove drives, and slowly reinstall them.

edit - i recently worked on a comp, and i was fighting 2 different problems (didn't know it at 1st), when i was trying to reinstall the os (xp).

1st problem - h/d's not recognized in bios - turned out to be somebody moved the ide cable to slot #3 (however it would boot from that postiton).

2nd problem - whenever i had both h/d's hooked up (i knew both h/d's were good), it wouldn't bootup - turns out the ide cable was bad.

i spent alot of time messing around with this (jumper settings, etc), and didn't think about it alot, however, i knew i was on to something when i had used a single cable for the h/d to get things running (the cd drive was on the other cable), and thought about it for a bit. anyway, g/l - sos

 

Here's a couple of good guides on hard disk installation. (Treat an ATAPI CDROM as if it's a hard disk).

Personally, I prefer using Master and Slave jumper positions. If you use these instead of Cable Select, it doesn't matter (contrary to popular belief) which data cable connecter the device is attached to. (You must have 80 Cond/40 Pin cables to use CS.)

Jumpering Overview;
http://www.easeus.com/disk-copy/Singl-Master-and-Slave-Drives-and-Jumpering.htm

Installing;
http://www.easeus.com/resource/install-ide-hard-drive.htm

 

I have to play with my PC. I'm on the laptop right now.

I'm flattered that you think I'm clued up. This site has taught me everything I know. I can absolutely assure you that I know just enough to be dangerous.

This all started when I tried to install my secondary drive. The last time I installed a secondary drive, it was no big deal. I did "Cable Select" and it worked like a charm. The primary drive died, so I bought a big new drive, and installed it. No problems. ( I was pretty darned proud of myself - my hard drive crashed but it was no big deal!!!)

Then I tried to re-install the secondary drive, and the system did not like it. (It's been so long I can't temember what happened though.) I was in a hurry, so I just took it back out of the loop and have been complacently, apethetically content with a single drive for about a year.

I got the bug to start messing with it again, and thought I'd try a Master / slave configuration instead of Cable Select. I had to pull out the memory and the plug that runs from the power supply to get enough room to allow the secondary drive to slide out at all. I can't believe I ever got it in there.

I was actually trying to see the maker, but I saw a legend for the jumpers on it and that was all the farther I went.

I slid it back in, put the memory back, hooked the power back up, then, like I said, couldn't remember which slot the HD vs the DVD was in. When it didn't work, I took the secondary drive out of the system and put the primary drive back to "cable select," where it had been originally.

I might have to go back and swap them again. I know that the CD/DVD was recognized correctly when it was in the PRI slot, but it seems to me that the SEC slot was recognized until I swapped them.

I'll mess with the secondary drive after I get my system back the way that it was.

I don't think that I have a Slot 3. (well, I do have a slot that a floppy drive would connect to, but that is a different size connector. Wanna guess how I know that??? ) The slots are labeled by the manufacturer on the Mobo as Pri and Sec, so that's how I know which is which.

Bad cable. Argh. That's a trip to the store for me. (Unlike you guys, I do not have a huge box of "stuff".) Oooh - but it is garbage day tomorrow. Maybe I can find a curbside cable. (Yes I am cheap, and I have no idea where the nearest PC store is. Do places like Best Buy and Circuit City sell those?)

 

"I got the bug to start messing with it again, and thought I'd try a Master / slave configuration instead of Cable Select. I had to pull out the memory and the plug that runs from the power supply to get enough room to allow the secondary drive to slide out at all. I can't believe I ever got it in there.

I was actually trying to see the maker, but I saw a legend for the jumpers on it and that was all the farther I went."

Don't be daunted by jumper settings. They're quite simple really. Of the two links I posted, the first gives a very good overview of jumper settings, and the second link is basically a pictorial set of instructions.

If you post the make and model numbers of all your drives/CDROMs we can tell you exactly where the jumpers should go, depending on the setup you choose (Mast/Slv or CS/Drive positions).

And don't forget what studiot mentioned; "Belarc is not reporting the secondary IDE as turned on."

Ensure both IDE channels are enabled in the machines bios.

 

OH, I'm not intimidated at all by changing the jumpers.

I changed them to Master / Slave when I started this, and I only changed them back because I was undoing all the changes I made in order to get my PC to work the way it used to.

I try to do things one sloooow step at a time, but this time I had to pull all that stuff out to get to the secondary drive's label.

I have to head downstairs. Just so I'll know next time, which line is telling you guys that my Sec slot isn't turned on?

And is this my mobo number?
Intel Corporation D845GVSR AAC45431-104

 

Primary IDE Channel [Controller] Intel(R) 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics Controller [Display adapter]

is listed, however these type utilities will specify the second controller (all ~found~ hardware, such as; Secondary IDE Channel [Controller] Intel(R) 82845...........)

Yes, that's your listed mobo.

 

The Jumper settings on CD/DVD drives are often stamped into the metalwork on the rear end of the drive rather than printed on a label. You have to get the angle of the light correct to see them.

You haven't told us if you have the motherboard manual or not. There are three pages IDE settings in the BIOS part of the manual. Included in these settings are the ability to turn the both primary and secondary IDE controllers on or off individually.

I just wondered if the secondary channel had got turned off somewhere along the line as Belarc only reports the primary but not the secondary channel. i.e. it is not a line that is present which says it is turned off,
rather a line that is not present that says is is turned on.
There is such a line reporting the primary channel

It is vital to get into the BIOS and check what is actually seen.

Go to the advanced tab
use the arrow keys to get to IDE configuration
press enter to expand the options

Post what is listed in table 18 on page 57

If you don't have the motherboard manual, download it here

http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d845gvsr/sb/cs-008823.htm


Dan's advice is usually pretty sound but the position on the cable can make a difference.
Proper cable select cables have one of the wires blanked to enable the function, but many manufacturers can't be bothered to use these so their cables will work either way. Cable select came in before the 80 wire ultra ATA. When I get time perhaps I will post a photo of a 'proper cable' showing the stopped wire.

 

I hope you guys are still around. Real life got in the way....

Nope don't have the manual for the mobo. Thanks for the link - I was getting ready to search for that myself.

I also didn't have a manual for the drive. The manufacturer emailed me a link to the manual, and I'm going to have a go at this thing now.

First I shall start with the BIOS to see if it will recognize the SEC slot. - OK, I'm in the BIOS and it will not let me access the settings. It is grayed out and the arrows won't take me there.

I do get a DVD NOT FOUND message when I boot.

 

Try accessing the BIOS settings with nothing connected to the secondary.

 

No. It shows:

IDE CONTROLLER: [Both]
PCI IDE Bus Master: [enabled]
Hard Disk Pre-Delay [Disabled]

Primary IDE Master [ST3300622A]
Primary IDE Slave [not detected]
Secondary IDE Master [not detected]
Secondary IDE Slave [not detected]

The Blue stuff I can acess the sub menus for, but not they gray stuff.

 

OK the top block allows full control - both primary and secondary are turned on

the second block presents reports of detected devices and only allows control of those detected.

this is all as page 58 of the manual.

Except that it is not detecting your CD drive for some reason.


Check carefully the jumper settings.
Will the bios detect the CD drive if connected to the primary in place of the hard drive?
Will it do it with both cables?
Will it detect the hard drive with both cables?
Will it detect the hard drive on the secondary?

The answers to these will tell you which piece of hardware is not working.

 

OK, when I install the Disc drive in the primary position and the HD in the secondary position, I get:

IDE CONTROLLER: [Both]
PCI IDE Bus Master: [enabled]
Hard Disk Pre-Delay [Disabled]

Primary IDE Master [PM-LITE-ON COMBO LTC-4816H]
Primary IDE Slave [not detected]
Secondary IDE Master [RT2300622A]
Secondary IDE Slave [not detected]

Note that the HD (now in SEC) is being identified differently than when it's in the primary slot. Does that mean anything?

Anyway, when I let it continue the boot sequence, it gives me grief.

INTEL Boot Agent Version 4.1.08
Intel Boot Agent PXE Base Code (BA1210BC)


Client MAC ADDR: 00 0C F1 88 D1 C4 GUID: D50D0507 0494 11D8 9D99 00E01825D1E7

DHCP.....then

PXE-E53: No boot file name received
PXE-M0F Exiting INtel Boot Agent

Then it says either pick a different device or insert boot media.

I get that message if I go into the F10 boot menu and manually select the hard drive, identified there as SM-RT2300622A.

In the BIOS, the 1st Boot device is the hard drive, the second is something internal (IBA 4.1.08 Slot 0140) and third is the CD/DVD drive.

In the F-10 boot menu, they're in a different order. The CD/DVD is first, the HD is second and that other thing is last.

 

PXE chips are a pain on standalone pcs - they are meant for pcs that boot from network.

In the BIOS boot menu

PXE boot to LAN should be disabled.
The hard disk drive submenu should refer to the hard disk.

What happened with the cable swops?

What does the table 19 say about block mode and cable detected for both the hard drive and CD? (IDE submenu on the advanced tab)

What does are the table 19 settings say for the hard drive in the primary slot.

Make them the same in the secondary slot for the hard drive.

 

Wow - maybe I'll play around with this again. I ran out of time to fool with it and have just been using it without a DVD drive.