CD-rom not found at boot up nor in desktop

[Guest_imported]

this is a random yet ongoing problem. it's happened while running an app as well as just web surfing.... the 1st sign is the mouse halts movement, then traverses as if through jello, skipping across the screen, and eventually halts... this means i must reboot the system. often, the ctl-alt-del doesn't even bring the restart box, so i go to the power button reboot... upon reboot with the black BIOS screen, it says "Seconday Master: None" & "No CD-Rom drives found at all." then i'll get the "Windows Protection Error:" screen. it doesn't happen with every required reboot, only after the 1st sign of mouse slow down.
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I had this looked at "professionally" once, but the problem has returned twice since then (after their 30 day service warranty). the cd drive magically came back on its own the 1st time but not this time. this only started after i upgraded to my current board/chip combo, and it never happened with my previous setup. all other components are the same. i have all the current drivers for everything, and use WIN 98 SE.
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my specs: AMD 950 Duron on a MSI K7Tpro2A with a C-Media PCI sound card and a NumberNine video card and a Acer 50X cdrom and a generic CompUSA modem.
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the only stuff i know about the CMOS setup is how to change the drive boot order, and turn on the USB ports. i know nothing about port #'s, or any other setting shown on the b&w BIOS screen, or what they mean.
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thanks...... -TX Dave-

 

[lilbpaw]

Just out of curiosity, what was your old system?
For a note: Acer are proprietary (sp?) Therefore this
maybe causing an issue.
In the bios, the first option should list your installed
components. Is is showing the cdrom when when your not having issues or after a lock up?
Is there only 1 cdrom? Make sure you have the jumpers set to master not slave or not cable select. Put on the end of the cable also.

Good Luck and let me know.

Lilbpaw

 

[Guest_imported]

thanks for the response--

my previous system was a ASUS P5-A board with a P-233MMX chip. the only new items are the MSI board with AMD chip, all other components are the same, including my current invisible cd drive. it never went away with the old system; i never had any problems (except the technology was way outdated.)
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i have the jumper on the cd drive set to Master and the cable is in the correct slot on the board. i have only one CD drive. it would appear in the "Seconday Master" spot on the b&w startup screen when all was running normally.
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i used to think the conflict was the sound card and the chipset and the cd drive; i uninstalled the sound card once and the drive came back for a while. then i reinstalled the sound card using the MS add hardware wizard instead of the manuf. suppiled install disc, and the cd drive didn't go away. but that scheme didn't work on this last incident.
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when i went to have it "professionally" examined weeks ago, the dude said "no problems found". i noticed he gave me a fresh WIN 98 installation at the time. but i can't do that with an invisible cd drive, nor do i think that's the *cause* of the cloaking.
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i wrote MSI about it, but got no response except the "thank you for writing MSI..." generic deal.
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everything in the "Properties" menu seems okay. i am quite hesitant to mess with the MSConfig thing because i don't want to royally screw it up more.
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the only drivers i (supposedly) have installed are for the monitor, the video card, and the cd-drive. my trackball driver isn't installed, nor is my sound card.
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thanks for reading...... -TX Dave-

 

[ShaneOhMac]

have you got all of the BIOS upgrades for your system and are the cables all good there, anotherthing I would check to see if a different CD-Rom will work

 

[Guest_imported]

all the BIOS stuff is current from the MSI official site. the cables were new with the board.
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i don't have any extra cd rom drives. and because the drive has "magically" come back in the past, i fear it is something deeper than a mere hardware malfunction. it's like the mainboard is ignoring the drive for some reason.
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no one i've spoke with has ever had this problem to this degree. all of their mainboards seem to see everything, but i can't determine what my board isn't doing to find my cd drive sometimes.
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thanks for all the thinking so far........ - TX Dave -

 

[Guest_imported]

arrgh... the drive suddenly came back without me doing anything. i told you this was random. but i know i'm not out of the woods until the *source* of the disappearing cd drive is exposed.
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i hope it lasts at least until monday. i also re-installed the soundcard with no problems.
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thanks for everyone's continued pondering..... -TX Dave-

 

[Guest_imported]

arrgh... the drive suddenly came back without me doing anything. i told you this was random. but i know i'm not out of the woods until the *source* of the disappearing cd drive is exposed.
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i hope it lasts at least until monday. i also re-installed the soundcard with no problems.
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thanks for everyone's continued pondering..... -TX Dave-

 

[Guest_imported]

Just how often does this disappearing trick take place? Once an hour/day/week? If you can live without the soundcard for a while, I'd physically remove it from the PC and see if your CD problem goes away. Ditto the modem. Can you temporarily try a different video card? Also, try connecting the CD-ROM onto the Primary IDE interface, and of course you'll need to alter jumpers, HDD to Master with slave, and CD-ROM to Slave.

What happens when the CD-ROM disappears, and you continually reboot the machine. Does the drive eventually appear, or do you have to turn it right off for a while? Can you open the tray when the drive is "missing"?

Try changing the power connector on the CD-ROM drive - the PSU often has several spare connectors.


ROGER - GØAOZ.

 

[Guest_imported]

this is actually the 2nd generic modem i've used since the problem began, and the 1st one was around for the other disappearances. the cd drive used to be a slave before i switched it to master, thinking that was the problem back in may.

the most times i've tried to consecutively reboot the machine (with no results) is three. sometimes, the drive has returned just by a normal shut down and a reboot later that day, or the next day. sometimes it doesn't return after a couple of days. it has never come back after a same-incident reboot moments after.

see-- the machine locks up first; then the drive disappears. it's not like it vanishes silently. that's what leads me to guess it's some interal incompatibility between X & Y. but the only thing that's different about all the involved hardware is my new MSI board and new AMD processor. the cd drive never disappeared with my old ASUS board. the power supply was exactly the same one.

i can't open the tray with the eject button when the pc can't see the cd drive.

""Try changing the power connector on the CD-ROM drive - the PSU often has several spare connectors."" you mean those big multicolor wire plugs labeled P5, P7, etc?

thanks to all.... -TX Dave-

 

[Guest_imported]

Well if you can't open the tray then it might be worth checking for a power problem... You will usually have upto 3 connectors on the back of the CD-ROM drive. 1. Data (ribbon) cable IDE 40-pin connection, 2. audio connector, usually grey wire with small black flat 4-pin connector 1cm wide and, 3. is the power connector approx 2cm wide with four wires into it, one red, one yellow, and two black which has small chamfers on two corners to prevent incorrect orientation. If changing the power connector over (assuming you have an unused plug), doesn't appear to solve it, I would have to say it's either a conflict on the motherboard with one or more of your peripherals or the board's faulty.

A rather "skull and crossbones" method of deciding if it's power or interface, is to wait until you get the "no CD" problem, then whilst the PC is still running pull out the ribbon data cable from the CD-ROM. Now try opening the tray. If it still doesn't open and you are sure power is ok, then it's the CD-ROM, if it does open then suspect IDE interface or on-board mobo conflict. Turn off PC before re-connecting the cable. I have used this method myself many times without problems, but you do it at your peril!

Good luck!


ROGER - GØAOZ.

 

[prajapat]

Seemingly it is power problem or loose IDE cable. Just change the 4 point connector (middle two wire black) with available free one and press the IDE (wide grey cable) hard against drive. Also check sitting of cable on M/b.

 

[Guest_imported]

I have the same problem as you do after manually rebooting the drive magically stops working and will only work when it wants to and now has stopped working period windows will not accept that it is there even though it has power opens and closes and spins the cd. At first i had to dissassemble the drive and manually take out the cd but now it opens and closes when i press the button.

 

[Guest_imported]

in reply to prajapat i switched ide and power cables with my hdd the hdd drive worked fine.

 

[Guest_imported]

through searching the net i have found that a heap of people have had problems with this drive go figure . If you go into a program in start>programs>accessories>systemtools>
i think it is system something or other (I cannot access this feature while i am at school so i cannot remember). You can find a list of drivers that you are missing theoretically once you have these you should be fine I gotta try it.

 

[Guest_imported]

through searching the net i have found that a heap of people have had problems with this drive go figure . If you go into a program in start>programs>accessories>systemtools>
i think it is system something or other (I cannot access this feature while i am at school so i cannot remember). You can find a list of drivers that you are missing theoretically once you have these you should be fine I gotta try it.

rhys@cookiemonster.com

 

[Guest_imported]

I'm having a similar problem, although I don't get any error messages or warning signs. My PC has begun to systematicaly forget that it has a CD-ROM drive at all. If this happens while the computer is on, as soon as the computer tries to access the CD-ROM everything freezes and I have to cut to power to reboot. Normally, however, the problem is aparent from start-up. Interestingly, I've noticed when the drive isn't working that starting with the moment I turn the machine on, my hard drive indicator at the front of my machine (but not the internal one on the hard-drive itself) stays lit permanently. If I disconnect the CD-ROM, the light starts to work normally (lighting only when the hard drive is in use).

Windows '98 does not see the CD-ROM drive at all, but the drive still gets power (the drawer opens, and it self-tests). I've tried switching the power cables to the drive, but there's no difference.

Occasionally, the drive will resume working normally again (at startup) for a limited period.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Guest_imported]

I have a similar problem with the CD-rom drive and the CD-r/rw drive. But it started acting when I uninstall Roxio Easy CD creator. From Gateway (the supplier) they asked me to remove the 2 drives from the Hardware manager (control panel - system - device manager tab) and reboot the computer for Windows to reload the original drivers. It still didn't work.
Do anybody have a solution?

 

[dangrdsk]

Try setting the IDE channel to PIO 4 in the cmos. That auto setting just seems to confuse the plug and pray aspect of Windows.