IDE or E-IDE/ATAPI

My DVD Rom Drive stopped working a long time ago on my Packard Bell cpmputer, 2001 build. I started a thread on this last year. I have finally got around to buying a new drive and wondered if it would be possible to upgrade to a DVD burner? my other drive is ok & is a CD Rewriter drive. Is it ok to use DVD rewriter drive for main playing/recording drive? Will my motherboard support a DVD Rewriter? I am using windows XP with SP2. Or should I just stick with a DVD Rom drive for playing discs? Also I note all new drives are E-IDE/ATAPI, I have read this is a 44 pin connector. Will my IDE 40 pin ribbon cable attach to it? I am confused. Is one drive a master & other a slave?
Any views welcomed. Thank you.

 

Yes, it will read and burn all types of CDs as well as DVDs (DVD burners used to be -(minus) or +(plus) DVD media types, but now you should find they use both).

When you find a burner you are interested in buying, look for the System Requirements for it. You can find them at the manufacturer's website in the product information/specifications for that model. Generally they state something like a 1.2 or 1.4 Ghz CPU, 256Mb (maybe only 128Mb) of system memory(RAM), 600-700 Mb of hard disk space (but making a temporary file to burn a DVD may take several gigabytes). You can see your system's basic information in Control Panel -> System.

Getting an External DVD burner might be something you could consider, but being a 2001 model, it very likely has USB 1.1 and not the newer USB 2.0 type. You would need to see how it would run (again, check the System Requirements for the drive).

E-IDE, ATAPI or just plain IDE are all 40 pin. I've never heard of 44 pin (unless it is some form of SCSI). The newer system is SATA. If it is E-IDE/ATAPI or just referred to as IDE or maybe PATA, you won't have any trouble.

The drive should come with information on installation. Generally, the manufacturer's website will have detailed instructions and photos, etc., but we could probably help if you needed it at the time. Holding the drive in front of you is a lot more informative than trying to imagine.

Just something to consider. The new drive will be a little more power hungry than the old drives. That 2001 system may not have an overly generous power supply for running 2007 hardware. Me, I would think about removing or disconnecting both the old optical drives and just running the new DVD burner. It will do the same job as both the old drives combined.

Matt
PS Uninstall all the old burning software for the CD burner before you install the burning software for the new drive.

 

DVD Burner

Thank you very much mattman for spending so much time on your answer. Your info is very interesting & a great help to me. I have ordered a LG GSAH42NBA 18 x DVD +/-R/RW/RAM DL Writer, so all formats are covered. The system requirements are ok for my computer. I have just fitted a new 160 Gb slave hard drive, so disc space for copying won't be a problem. I have a 40 Gb main C Drive.
I do have USB 1.1 on my computer, but have opted for an internal drive anyway. I have asked in a computer shop and looked up on internet and found out that all new drives E-IDE/ATAPI accept the 40 pin IDE type connector. Thank you for confirming that. I think I will take your advice & run just the new drive, that is a good idea. I was wondering about buying a DVD/ROM Drive just for playing games or using if I wanted to copy direct from one drive to the other & using new drive just for copying. I will take your advice & uninstall my CD software before I install DVD burning sotware. Do you recommend NERO 7 for burning DVD's. Thank you again mattman, the bbs advice is always appreciated.
Regards onefinger.

 

DVD Burner update

I received my LG GSAH42N Drive this morning. I ordered a bare drive from APR Media Ltd. so no manual or drivers included. I registered the product on the LG website and found section to download manual, drivers & software. I clicked on it and put my model no. in and: no data available came up. I find this hard to believe when my drive is a January 2007 model and it is listed in their products on their website, and my serial no. was recognised on registration. I have written to ask them why this is and to tell them their website takes 15 minutes to find each page, how annoying. Has anyone else encountered this problem with LG ?
regards onefinger.

 

Onefinger, I went here:
http://www.lge.com/support/manual.jsp
Entered:
North America
USA
DVD-ROM(Writer)
English
GSA-H42N

Be careful to put the dash between GSA and H42N.

The only software available is a firmware update, which you won't need unless you experience problems (like using the latest media).

I like Nero.

For installation, since you are removing the old drive, you can just set the jumper to the same as the old drive (MA, SL or CS) and connect it in the same place. There should not be anything else to worry about.

Matt

 

Thank you very much Matt. I have been a long time trying to figure out that manual on the LG website. I wasn't putting in North America and USA, if you don't the model isn't recognised. I am all ready to install. Thank you again.
Regards onefinger.

 

No problems . That site is run on Java boxes/windows and I agree that it is quite a pain, especially when you wait a fair while to be told there is no data.

Trust all goes well.

Matt

 

installation of new dvd burner.

I uninstalled my old DVD-Rom drive in device manager and fitted my new drive, keeping it set to master, same as old one. I decided to leave my A-open C.D. Writer drive installed as a slave. I done this in case I reboot system any time & it doesn't recognise my new drive. This drive will only be used as a playing drive. The new drive was given "I" as it's letter and CD Drive "H ". I left my Nero burning software, version 5.5, installed to see if it found new drive. Now the Nero has found: Image Recorder(DVD),
Image Recorder(CD-R/RW), I-HL-DT-ST DVD RAM GSA-H42N(DVD) and I-HL-DT-ST DVD RAM GSA-H42N(CD-R/RW)
and A-OPEN CD RW CRW5332(CD-R/RW).
The curious thing is, although my old DVD ROM drive is uninstalled, the Nero is calling my drive a mix of old, HL-DT-ST-DVD and new. The device manager is calling new drive by a mix of the 2 drives and my computer too. Any suggestions why this is? Should I uninstall Nero, as u suggested and start again with it? There seem to be be 4 recorders for the new drive, when only 2, as far as I know, should show. The drive is playing fine & was found straight away.