Optical drives and slave hard drive not detected

I put the new slave drive into the bay and secured it in. I connected it to the gray connector on the IDE cable. I made sure the jumper settings for both drives were as per the manufacterers' instructions.

I turned the machine on. It booted up and updated its ESCD (I don't know what that is, but it always does this when a new drive is added). Then it went into Windows and said Windows had found the new drive, yada yada.

But when I clicked on My Computer, the new drive wasn't there. Not only was it not there, but neither were my CDRW and DVD. I checked Device Manager. The slave hard drive is listed as working properly in Device Manager, but my CDRW and DVD drive are nowhere to be found.

I shut down again and went back into my case. I checked the IDE connections, and sure enough IDE 2 (the CDRW and DVD) was disconnected. A small corner of it had been chipped off when the IDE cable got disconnected, but none of the pins appeared damaged. I pushed it back in and doublechecked to be sure it's in securely. I turned the machine back on and watched the optical drives as it booted up.

Their lights came on and they spun up, just as they always did before. I got the ESCD update message again, and assumed it'd found them. But when I got back into Windows, it still didn't detect them. Not in My Computer, not in Device Manager.

So the long and short is, the computer sees the new slave hard drive in Device Manager, but not in My Computer and Windows doesn't see the CDRW and DVD at all, eventhough they're all connected properly.

ESCD = Extended System Configuration Data:

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/E/ESCD.html

OK, the reason the new slave drive isn't showing up is because it isn't formatted yet. It'll show in My Computer as soon as you've done that.

I'm not so sure on the optical drive problem, but it might be worth it to try clearing the CMOS - it's possible that it's just got hopelessly confused.

Um, how can I format it if it doesn't show up in My Computer? It shows up in Disk Management in Computer Management, but I don't get an option to partition or format when I right click on Disk1. I'm attaching a screencap to show.

Ah now that's different - it's showing as a removeable media drive of some sort, not a hard drive.

Try clearing that CMOS first, then we'll see where we are after that. There should be a jumper on the mobo to do it, or you can remove the battery for a few minutes.

Actually, Disk 1 is showing as a Dynamic disk. Not sure where that came from but you need to convert it to a Basic disk.

Sorry, that's my bad, I just noticed that the C: drive (Disk 0) isn't showing in the lower section. The Doc has it, if you choose "Convert to basic disk" then you should get the partitioning and formatting options.

Hee hee, I just found that. I'm now the proud new owner of a 120 GB slave drive. :) But I still want my optical drives back. :(

maybe you bumped a ribbon cable out of place for your opticals try reseating them from the channel to the drives. Also go into your bios and see if they are recognized or make sure it set on auto for whatever channel you have them on.

When the cable got knocked out of the mainboard connector, the last 2 pins got bent. I was able to push them back into place with a screw driver. Now the drives are recognized.

edit: My last problem is my year-old floppy drive just cease to function. When I plugged it in and booted up, the machine said Floppy Boot Failure. The drive's LED lit and stayed lit, and the machine would boot no further.

Fortunately I still have my old floppy drive, and that works. But now I have my brand new floppy drive sitting in the case, dead. Are floppy drives that undepenable? Are there any good brands? The one I had that died was a Sony.

When I plugged it in and booted up, the machine said Floppy Boot Failure. The drive's LED lit and stayed lit, and the machine would boot no further.

If you had the floppy cable off you put it back on backwards, very easy to do, reverse it.

No, I didn't disconnect it from the mainboard. It was fine when I plugged it into the other drive the same way. Somehow my newer floppy drive just went bad.

Hi Guys

Have been reading this thread with some interest, as I seem to have the same problem as f117nighthawk.

My LG DVD rom suddenly stopped being recognised. When looking in My computer, the drive just wasn't there. When I went into device manager, the device status window reads "Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device."

Have tried to follow your advise to f117nighthawk, about going into computer management to format the disk however, only my hard drive shows up.

I have just bought and installed a new DVD / CD writer (Pioneer DVR-107D) in the hope that this was the problem, however this was not to be as I still have the same problem.

I would be most grateful for any help or advise you could offer.

Kind Regards

wilo

Go inside your machine, unplug the IDE cable from the board and the DVD drive. Check the connectors on the board and DVD drive for bent pins. Check the cable for damage.

Hi f117nighthawk

Have tried that. All connections seem to be OK and connected fairly securely.

One other thing I have tried doing is going into the BIOS to check out the IDE chanels.

The primary chanel is connected to my hard drive and secondary is connected to my DVD drive, however it is not showing any details for it.

Don't know if that helps.

Kind regards

wilo

Try making the DVD a slave to your hard drive.

Unfortunately this hasn't worked either.

I did try buying a new IDE cable to double check your first suggestion but no luck.

I've checked to make sure the disk drive is set to slave, and have even tried connecting the disk drive and hard drive on the same IDE cable to the Primary IDE channel, all to no avail.

I have seen some referances on other threads to "Firmware". As a novice I don't know what this is. Can you enlighten me and might it help?

Kind Regards

wilo

http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/f/firmware.html

Software (programs or data) that has been written onto read-only memory (ROM). Firmware is a combination of software and hardware. ROMs, PROMs and EPROMs that have data or programs recorded on them are firmware

You need to post the exact make and model of that peice of equipment. Maybe someone can help you find a firmware update for it. Then again, if it is right out of the BOX and did not work, I'd RMA / return the broken thing and exchange it. Yes I have had new stuff not work right out of the box many a time.

What they likely meant is a BIOS flash. Firmware is something that's upgraded through a thing called a flash upgrade. You have to download the new firmware to a diskette, then boot up with the diskette in your A:\ drive. Then you follow the instructions.

You need to follow the instructions exactly and make sure your computer's on a good power supply, otherwise you'll end up with a dead mainboard.

Hi Guys

Sorry it's been a while. I've been researching BIOS flash.

I found the right one for me and have updated my BIOS, but no luck I'm afraid.

I'm starting to get a bit frustrated. Let me review what I've tried so far and see if there is anything glaringly obvious that I have missed.

1) Checked all cables and pins on IDE cables are in good working order even buying a new IDE cable.

2) Bought new DVD rom (I wanted to upgrade anyway).

3) Ensured DVD rom was slave to Hard drive.

4) Flashed BIOS

If nothing else, I'm learning a hell of a lot about my computer.

Kind Regards

Wilo

If after all that it's still failing I'd say your IDE channel is shot. It's time to get either a Promise card or a whole new mainboard.