HDD access light won't go out

[davo53]

Compaq Presario 5900z 600mhz...dual HD's, DVDROM and CD Writer. The DVDROM went out and I replaced it with a Sony DDU1621. Now the HDD access light won't go out. I don't believe the drives are really being accessed. When I unplug the DVD things work properly. Plug it back in and the light comes back on. Everything SEEMS to be running normally but I'm not sure. The access light staying on is very annoying. Any Ideas? Anyone?

 

[PeterGriff]

Sounds like the jumpers arent set correctly. This often happens if you have two masters or two slaves on the same cable (sometimes cable-select on one). Check the jumper on the rear of DVD - you will most likely find that it has the same setting as the hard drive. Change it to the alternate position and you should be fine.

Peter G

 

[davo53]

Thanks Pete...

The two hard drives use one cable.
The DVD and CD Writer use the other.
I DID fool around with the jumpers when I installed the new DVD. Seems like I used every available combination and nove of them fixed the problem. In a couple of cases the bios didn't see either one. I finally settled on the position that was recognized and let it go at that. Like I said I don't BELIEVE the HDD's are really being accessed. Is there a way to check that?
Thanks for responding, Pete. I WILL fool around with the jumpers some more and if there's anything I might be able to help YOU with don't hesitate to ask.
Davo

 

[PeterGriff]

Hi Davo, I hope you have had some success. If taking out the DVD allows the PC to boot then it and the CD-RW on the same cable must be conflicting, or one of them is faulty. Forgive me if I am oversimplifying things: the positions of the jumpers are fairly standard between CD-ROM drives - the master is usually closest to the IDE cable, then Slave, then cable select. Make sure that your CD-RW is master and the DVD-ROM is slave (or visa versa) and avoid CS altogether. Also check the IDE cables are plugged in the correct way - both on the motherboard and on both drives. The red stripe indicates pin 1 and is always closest to the power plug on hard drives and CD drives. On the mb you have to try and read the text or code, but the other cable is obviously OK so use that as a guide. Most cables are keyed so they can only go in one way, but some dont have any key, some can be forced in incorrectly and I once found a floppy cable that was reversed so its worth stopping and double-checking for yourself.
The only other thing to check is that the BIOS is set to auto for all drives.

Hope that is some help

Peter G

 

[Bobg1]

If all else fails and the machine is working ok (other than the lite) just unplug it from the mobo. That way it won't be liting up and bothering you.

 

[davo53]

Pete, I tried every concievable combination of jumper and cable. I think that's about a million different possibilities. Not really, but it seemed like it. Frustrated, I put it all back together and am thinking about taking Bobg1's suggestion. The problem is, there DOES seem to be problems with my computer now. I've had Scandisk find mbr problems and printer drivers disappearing into thin air. Programs and games with missing files. Norton tells me there are no viruses present, but it's just been acting a bit squirelly since all this started. Thanks for splitting a few hairs with me, though. I'll keep looking.
Davo
p.s. thank you, too, Bob.