CD / DVD combo drive caused boot failure

About a week ago my machine would not boot.
It hung after displaying the initial choice for Boot Menu and BIOS settings.

Fortunately, I noticed that the power light on the #1 combo drive stayed on.
I removed that drive, changed the jumper on #2 (both PATA) and connected it to the Master connector.
Everything has been fine since then.

I have two questions.

Is it OK to leave the top bay open? I did not replace the front panel.
I figure it's allowing more air circulation in the case.

If the current drive should fail, will I be able to boot by setting the hard drive as First boot device AND second boot
device?
Hard drive is of course currently set as Second boot device.

At present, I don't have a replacement should the current working Pioneer DVR-111 fails.

Thanks.

 

Hi,

I personally would put something in the empty bay to keep dust out. Even the non working drive can sit in there disconnected from the power and data cables without causing any problems.

If the current DVD stops working the computer should just ignore it and automatically go to the second device your HD. If it hangs for some reason disconnecting the newly failed DVD should solve the problem or as you say change the boot order.

Most failed drives are just ingnored if BIOS can't get the information it needs about them. It may be the way your BIOS is written or the way the drive failed that caused the hang up. I wouldn't worry about it since unplugging the failed device should always let you move on to the next device in the list.

 

Thanks sach2.

I like the way you explained that and cleared up the questions I had.

Think I'll watch the temps for a day or two before replacing the faceplate, for comparison purposes.

A bit of trivia.
Even though the Master drive typically goes in the top bay, the mounting holes for the top bay would only align with the
original drive.
So Master is in bay #2 and presumably always will be, unless other holes are drilled.

 

Hi,

I've seen several threads where Toshiba laptops hang on the Toshiba flash screen and they always seem to be resolved by removing the CDROM. I guess it just depends how the BIOS is written whether it can ignore an unknown device or gets stopped in its tracks. Probably just a bit of poor programming on someone's part.

I'm no expert on air flow but I remember reading where it is not recommended to leave the cover of your computer case off because it actually gets better flow when the cover is in place. I'm just extrapolating that closing the bay might be best. Probably won't actually make a difference in airflow but it may make a difference in dust.

That is strange on the CDROM not fitting the bay. I can't remember off hand if CD drives have 2 or 4 holes but I would probably have just lined up 2 holes and left two screws out if I really wanted to use the top bay. Seems to me I have done that with a hard drive in the past and not had a noticeable problem with vibration or anything. If you are happy the way things are, I don't see any reason to change it but do keep an eye out for dust accumulation for a month or two.

 

Thanks for the Tip.
I guess that makes sense.
The case fan can't draw air Through the case if it's wide open.

I was a bit concerned about a rear expansion panel that I removed to allow better air flow next to
the adjacent Silent graphics card. Opening it up after about Eight months, it looked fine - no dust buildup.
Only on the fans and heat sink top.

The problem isn't the drive, it's the mounting cage.
This is an emachines. Don't know if that makes a difference, but they only put two holes on there
that exactly match the holes on the drive they chose for this model.
Two screws on one side. Seems secure enough.

The hard drive cage is much better - fully removable and I was able to get two screws on both sides of both drives.