Thank you all for your suggestions. I tried the Windows fix from Gary, but to no avail. Eventually I decided to go back to the initial setup and get mom an external drive, but even the original drives failed -- in their original configurations!
So I opened everything up again and looked... and lo and behold, the IDE cable was disconnected from the motherboard. Yup. For how long, I don't know. So I plugged it in and everything is fine. Sheesh. Thanks, all. =) On Jul 29, 3:12 pm, The KwikOne <[email protected]> wrote: > But before doing that... did you check in the device manager? Was > there a ? type device, or with an ! or red x? If so then depending > upon which and what the status indicates would determine the next > step. > > On Jul 28, 5:22 pm, Gary Fisher <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hi, > > > If you are sure you have thedrivesproperly connected and jumpered, the > > first step I would take is to clear the CMOS. If you are not familiar with > > doing this, it usually requires disconnecting from power, removing > > motherboard battery, then momentarily shorting (jumpering) 2 pins on the > > motherboard, usually marked CLRTL. Then remove jumper, reinstall battery, > > and connect power. > > This may not fix the problem, but I have often seen cases of "corrupt" CMOS > > causing the computer to not recognize hardware. > > > Regards, > > > Gary > > > On Tue, Jul 28, 2009 at 3:02 PM, Susan <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > I'm working on my Mom's Dell Dimension 8400 that is no longer under > > > warranty. It came with twoopticaldrives-- DVD and CD-RW -- and > > > lately the CD-RW has stopped detecting CDs and so I bought another > > > drive to replace it. I've assembled several computers in my time, so I > > > didn't expect any trouble. > > > > The twodrivesthat came from Dell were both Philips with jumpers set > > > to cable select. I took out the offending CD-RW and slid in the new > > > brand-X drive ("I/O Magic") -- which is a DVD-RW because nobody sells > > > CD-RWdrivesin brick and mortar stores anymore. (My mom doesn't need > > > a DVD-RW, but c'est la vie.) > > > > So I connected the IDE and power, plugged everything back in, and > > > booted up. Then I got two little system beeps and the following not- > > > too-uncommon error: > > > > -- > > > Drive 4 not found: Parallel ATA, PATA-0 (PRI IDE Master) > > > Drive 5 not found: Parallel ATA, PATA-0 (PRI IDE Slave) > > > Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility > > > -- > > > > F1 just booted intoXPwith no sign ofopticaldrives, and F2 took me > > > into the BIOS where bothdrivesdid seem to be listed and on although > > > both had DriverIDs of "unknown." > > > > Thus began a whole series of attempts to make it work which all proved > > > unfruitful. I tried every combination of master/slave as well as > > > switching which drive was in which bay and then trying every > > > combination of master/slave again. The results were the same every > > > time. I scoured the internet to no avail, but I did read that some > > >drivesare just finicky and won't work with others, so I said, "That's > > > what I get for buying the cheapest brand-X drive..." and went back to > > > the store and bought a nice Pioneer DVD-RW. I was full of optimism. > > > > So I came back home, traded thedrives, and the same thing happened! > > > I've tried cable select as well as setting one to master and one to > > > slave, but it doesn't work. I haven't tried every combination yet with > > > this drive, but I'm wondering if something else could be going on > > > here. It seemed awfully suspicious that I could be getting the very > > > same behavior with this second drive, and I've taken great care to > > > make sure that the IDE and power cable are definitely pushed in > > > sufficiently. > > > > Does anybody have anything else for me to try? I know that in the > > > worse case I can have my mom switch to an external RW drive, but that > > > will be logistically inconvenient and I'd really like to get an > > > internal one working if I can. Besides, not being able to make this > > > work is making me look like an idiot. =) > > > > Thanks! --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Computer Tech Support" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/computer-tech-support?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
