IDE port not functioning

Hello old friends,
Working on a Dumb Dell gx260 cant get cd rom and hd to both work at same time. Seems like one IDE port quit or controller is bad. Hd works ok in primary 0 but primary 1 wont read rom device. If I switch them around the opposite happens the Rom works and the hd is not recognised so I know the device and cable are good. Reset cmos couple times no change. Seems like bios firmware is up to date. I tried to chain them on one cable on the good port and that seemed to cancel out the hd. Anyway the Rom device shows up as not installed or unknown device. Thinking the mobo is bad or need to redo the firmware, not sure if downloading a driver would fix it. Looking for a clue here.

Thanks in advance

Did you enable the second one in the BIOS.?

I did, and it says unknown device even when not connected it says the same thing.. I have since the first post reinstalled the chipset and tried to flash the bios but was told it is the same version, not much left to fix.

Thanks

Are both drives "jumpered" to Master or Cable Select?

Quote:

---

Dell gx260

---

Check for bad caps on the motherboard. The GX260 is notorious for them.
http://www.ehow.com/info_12215665_de...r-problem.html
http://www.badcaps.net/pages.php?vid=5

Quote:

---

I tried to chain them on one cable on the good port and that seemed to cancel out the hd.

---

Like Steve said, check the jumpering. They have to be a Master and a Slave or both Cable Select.

The hd has a jumper I assume set from factory but I dont know what it is I didnt see a diagram on it to show those. I did try the rom in all positions and nothing different. The hd has 4 positions and it is set all the way to the right. The rom was originally set with no jumper. If I remove the hd and plug the rom in its place it works but then no hd. Will check the caps next.

I took a look at the capacitors and did find 3 that were bulgy at the top and had a little yellow substance coming out there as well. So that must be what the problem is! Good call Midknyte..
This is why I am a member of this forum because there are some very savvy and knowledgeable people here and I have learned a lot and I thank you very much.