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Exploding DVD Drive :(

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by Dodge, 2004/02/08.

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  1. 2004/02/08
    Dodge

    Dodge Inactive Thread Starter

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    Hi there,

    My new system that is now working originally had a DVD / CD-RW combi drive in it, but this drive went pop during the installation of Windows XP!!

    I phoned the supplier and he told me that this kind of thing can happen when the CD is slightly wobbly and the drive is trying to read data but can't. The drive then speeds up to see if it can read it now, but still can't. Eventually, the excessive speed is too great and the CD fragments. In my case, the drive was wasted.

    So I went there and he replaced it with a DVD-ROM and a separate CD-RW drive, which I have put in my system.

    But there is another problem now, where my computer can see the CD-RW drive but not the DVD drive. The configuration is as follows on the mainboard:

    IDE1 (Master device): 40Gb hard drive
    IDE1 (Slave device): DVD drive
    IDE2 (Master device): CD-RW drive
    IDE2 (Slave device): None

    I have installed the drivers and at one point the system could see both drives, but not any more.

    Anyone know what's wrong here?

    Dodge
     
    Dodge,
    #1
  2. 2004/02/08
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    Have you checked the jumper pins on the back of the drives?
     
    Steve R Jones,
    #2


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  4. 2004/02/08
    noahdfear

    noahdfear Inactive

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    Does it show up in device manager? Is it enabled there?
     
    noahdfear,
    #3
  5. 2004/02/08
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Try the DVD on IDE 2 as slave to CD-RW master
     
    PeteC,
    #4
  6. 2004/02/09
    Dodge

    Dodge Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks for the advice,

    Someone else suggested I reinstall the driver for the DVD-ROM, so I went into the Device Manager part of System and removed the driver. When I restarted the computer, I went there and used "Add New Device" which found it.

    There was no proper Driver CD with the DVD-ROM, but XP said the driver in use was the most suitable, and (touch wood) now all seems well.

    The guy who sold us the drive had said make the IDE1 Master the Hard Drive, and the IDE1 Slave the DVD-ROM, and the IDE2 Master the CD-RW drive, but if I have any more problems with this I will try your suggestions as well.

    Have a nice day! :)

    Dodge
     
    Dodge,
    #5
  7. 2004/02/09
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Hello Dodge!

    Two months ago there were two discussions on External Harddisk Rack and Independent Device Timing.

    They are both pertaining to different combinations of devices on a controller.

    Some combinations seem to be like tying a dog to one end and a cat to the other end of the same leash ...... :D ...... !

    Christer
     
    Last edited: 2004/02/09
    Christer,
    #6
  8. 2004/02/09
    kiddk

    kiddk Inactive

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    I always thought and was told that when the HD is on an IDE port alone it functions faster.
     
    kiddk,
    #7
  9. 2004/02/09
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Hi kiddk!

    The jury is still out on that one ...... :( ...... we didn´t reach a clear conclusion.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #8
  10. 2004/02/09
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    My understanding of this ....

    If two devices are on the same IDE both will run at the slower of the two transfer speeds if they are different.

    e.g Up until recently I had a UDMA 100 master HD and a UDMA 133 slave - both ran at UDMA 100 (UDMA Mode 5). Replaced the UDMA 100 drive with a UDMA 133 - both now run at UDMA 133 (UDMA Mode 6).

    IMO HD's on IDE 1, other drives on IDE 2 - unless, of course, you have 3+ HD's.

    More than happy to be shot down over this - ducks quickly :D
     
    PeteC,
    #9
  11. 2004/02/09
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Hi Pete!

    I´ve been sitting on my hands in order to not reopen those threads ...... :p ...... since I was the one wearing people out the last time. Anyone who reads them will end up looking like ...... :confused: ...... and I´m one of them.

    According to the Device Manager, I had my HDD running at UDMA 5 as Primary Master with the CD-R/RW running at Multi-Word 2 as Primary Slave.
    Running the AIDA32 tests showed no difference if the HDD was alone or in company with the CD-R/RW but it took slightly longer to boot with company. It was a longer BIOS phase but I didn´t notice any difference when up and running.

    A friend of mine suggested that I run the AIDA32 test while copying a CD from the CD-R/RW to the second HDD connected as Secondary Slave.
    Haven´t done that yet but there may be something to it. Do You know why I haven´t done it ...... :rolleyes: ...... I have the HDDs on one channel and the opticals on the other!

    Christer
     
    Last edited: 2004/02/09
    Christer,
    #10
  12. 2004/02/09
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Maybe I should have qualified my statement to say that as far as HD's are concerned the slower in UDMA terms rules the roost and both run at the lower speed.

    I have never run any other drive in conjunction with a HD on the same IDE - I was surmising the effect would be the same - obviously not - I stand corrected :D
     
    PeteC,
    #11
  13. 2004/02/28
    Filippo

    Filippo Inactive

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    >> I stand corrected

    Stand upright, and walk in the sun!

    There may be a further distinction:

    - a drive may be RECOGNIZED as capable of a certain speed / a certain communication standard

    - but it WILL slow down to the speed of the slower device


    The key here is "being" vs "acting as ".

    If Christer says boot time went up, it may be that
    * detection said "this is X "
    * but the controller said "well, this may be so, but for all intents and purposes, I have to use this as Y "


    This is the equivalent of a CPU being recognized as, say, a 2GHz model, but the chosen FSB rate + multiplier will force it to run slower.

    Appropriate software may yield the two different "readings" on the same window.
     
    Filippo,
    #12
  14. 2004/02/29
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    If I remember correctly, it went up by some 5%, from 57-58 seconds to an even minute. Tests using AIDA32 displayed no difference in transferrate.

    Today, I found out that the hardware setup makes a difference. A few weeks ago a friend and I shared the work with a new computer. He assembled it and I installed the OS and other software.

    I always make intermittent Ghost Images during the installation, in order to not have to go back to square one if I mess up. The system partition is on a SATA and the Images are stored on a PATA. I was surprized that it took so long to create the Images but just accepted it. The final Image of some 4-5 GB took 15 minutes to create (some 300 MB per minute).

    It took the owner two weeks to mess it up so, today, I payed a visit to restore using the final Image.

    Before restoring, I decided to open the case and have a look. The reason for that will be revealed in a different thread.

    During POST the screen had always displayed "no detected devices" but they were there and this is what I found:

    The SATA connected to SATA2

    The PATA connected to IDE1 with the DVD-ROM as slave using a 40 conductor cable.

    The DVD-R/RW connected to IDE2 using a 80 conductor cable.

    Well, I reconnected as follows:

    The SATA connected to SATA1

    The PATA connected to IDE1 as slave using a 80 conductor cable

    The DVD-R/RW connected to IDE2 as master with the DVD-ROM as slave using a second 80 conductor cable.

    Restoring the Image took approximately three minutes with a transfer rate of some 1.500 MB per minute.

    Now ...... :rolleyes: ..... that´s what I call a s*c*r*e*w*u*p!

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #13
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