DVD Drives Not Recognised By Computer

[Kidderman]

I've installed a replacement DVD Writer as well as a replacement DVD ROM drive. I believe that I've installed each drive correctly and have configured the jumper settings as per the diagrams on the drives. (I've tried slave/master, master/slave and cable). However, my computer doesn't recognise either drive when booted up. There is no listing under Device Manager for DVD or CD drives. Neither drive appears under My Computer. The drives are a Sony DDU 1613 DVD ROM and a LG GSA-4120B DVD writer. Both drives came without driver discs and I've downloaded firmware from manufacturer's websites. Can anyone suggest how I go about tackling this problem? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[billcmh]

Is there any other IDE device on that IDE chain? Put your DVD drive as the only drive on that cable and see what happens.

 

[Kidderman]

Thanks for your response. On the chain are also two hard drives. There hasn't been a problem with these drives. The previously-installed CD writer and DVD ROM worked fine on the same chain as the hard drives. I disconnected the new DVD writer, leaving the DVD ROM as the only device on the chain other than the hard drives. When I booted up, there was still no sign of the DVD drive in Windows XP. Do you have any further advice?

 

[cdogg]

Make sure the secondary IDE controller isn't disabled in the BIOS.

Also try replacing the cable. If you don't have an extra one, swap the primary and secondary cables as a test.

Until you get it fixed, only leave one of the drives connected as master at the end of the IDE cable (the middle connector is generally reserved for slave drives).

By the way, a driver is not needed. The drive's firmware is loaded on the drive itself, which is read by Windows.



~cdogg
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