CDROM drives disappeared. 2

[jhumbo]

When I go into My Computer my 2 cdrom drives aren't there. They worked just a bit ago. I think my BIOS detects them and I've tried switching IDE cables and such but it didn't help.

 

[drdebit]

Do they show as valid devices in device manager?

The drivers might have gotten corrupted somehow.
You could try unplugging the drives, booting up system, removing them from device manager, shutting system down, reconnecting drives, rebooting system and let it reinstall the drives.

 

[jhumbo]

The cdrom drives don't show up in the device manager and they are not detected by the Add New Hardware tool.

 

[drdebit]

You just went over my head! Somebody else have an idea?

 

[ANFPS26]

Check the registry with this procedure. This is for a hard drive problem, but it could also be the problem with your CD-ROMs.

http://www.infinisource.com/techfiles/msdos-compatibility.html

Jim

 

[jhumbo]

Neither of the registry entries were found in mine. Any other ideas? The devices showed up in the device manager in safe mode. I deleted them and booted normally with no avail. Please help as my computer is virtually useless with cdrom drives. Thanks

 

[ANFPS26]

What operating system?

Jim

 

[wolluf]

Have you tried with just one CD drive connected (try both on their own) - something may have happened to one, affecting both.

PS. DID you check the IDE cable is not damaged and is connected properly. Same for power connectors.

 

[jhumbo]

All of the hardware seems to work fine. I use win 98. The connect one but not the other doesn't help either.

 

[drdebit]

Other questions that might give someone a clue??

a: Have you been able to try the cd drives in another computer? This might give a better indication of whether it is the drive(s) themselves or other problems in the current machine.

b: Were you installing, uninstalling, downloading any software between time they last worked (just a bit ago) and the time the failure was noticed?

c: When you went to my computer, were you just wanting to use the drives, or was there some kind of machine symptom or error message that caused you to go look for the drives to see if they were still there?

 

[jhumbo]

A. I have no other computer to try them with.
B. Not that I am aware of.
C. I just wanted to use them.

 

[edfair]

What kind of hardware?

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[jhumbo]

Well a weird thing i noticed while removing the drivers: the 2 i used were on the same drive and some weird one was on F.

Real config:
?:_NEC NR-7700A
E:TOSHIBA_DVD-ROM SD-M1212
F:IDE-CD_R/RW 4x4x24

Device manager showed when i removed them:
E:TOSHIBA_DVD-ROM SD-M1212
E:IDE-CD_R/RW 4x4x24
F:_NEC NR-7700A

 

[jhumbo]

Actually maybe the NEC one is the one i do use for F; and the IDE one came out of nowhere?

 

[jhumbo]

I think I used to have the 4x writer in but took it out and installed this new 12x one. That was a very long time ago though, as in maybe a year.

 

[edfair]

Any problems show in mangler regarding IDE ports?
Did you have a M/B floppy with drivers?
You could try deleting the secondary IDE port from the mangler and let it reinstall on the next reboot. It may find them after the reinstall. It might require deleting the whole of IDE controller to get rid of the secondary, and it might only happen in safe mode.

You might also want to look on the board manufacturer's site to see if there are drivers for the board.

Ed Fair
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[drdebit]

two more thoughts hunting for clues
I don't know what should or shouldn't be in config.sys and autoexec.bat for this situation
but you might take a look at config.sys for lastdrive=something
and config.sys and autoexec.bat for anything that looks cd related. If you see things like that, post them back and maybe somebody can make a suggestion as to whether they're contributing to the problem.

 

[jhumbo]

Oh another thing, I can't restart to MS-DOS.

 

[jhumbo]

The screen stays black but I think i can type and execute programs.

 

[jhumbo]

Nothing in config.sys or autoexec.bat about cdrom stuff.

Ed, you want me to remove my ide controller?