CDROM isn't being detected

I'm working on an old computer that belongs to my bosses friend, and I've just been asked to do basic upgrades on the system. I've upgraded the RAM from 64 to 128MB and ran all sorts of updates on his OS(Windows 98SE). The computer had a CD-ROM drive in it that was manufactured back in 2000 but isn't being detected. I checked everything from jumper settings to the cable, and tried driver/firmware updates. I checked the BIOS settings as well.

Nothing works.

I swapped the cd drive out for another, and it refuses to detect any of the 10 or so I tried. The floppy drive and hard drive work just fine, and the hard drive is set up properly to allow for the cd devices.

Any tips? I'm at a loss and none of my coworkers know what's going on. Someone suggested throwing an older Cd drive in the computer, but I don't have access to anything older than 1999.

KG

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Comments

jacev1

KGhaleon wrote:

the hard drive is set up properly to allow for the cd devices. Any tips?

Do you mean the cd-rom drive is slave/cable select to the HD?

Is this a standard motherbaord with 2 IDE controllers? If so, have you tried using 1 IDE controller for each device? Did you swap IDE cables with a known good cable and known good power? Does the BIOS see the cd-rom drive? Maybe you need to flash the BIOS. How about nothing but the cd-rom drive connected? Did you boot into Safe Mode and checked for ghost drivers? How about installing the "bad" cd-rom drive in another computer to see if it works. That way you'll know if the drive is good. If the drive is found good, try removing the existing hard drive, install a test hard drive and reload the OS with a clean install.

If you did all of the above, tell your bosses friend to buy a Dell ...

KGhaleon

Yeah, I've tried just about all of those except for the one about ghost drivers. I suppose I could try that, but I doubt I'll be any luckier.

I've tried several different cd drives and I know the one that was originally in the system is good. I got more details about the computer this morning, and my boss forgot to mention that the CDROM drive stopped working after his friend installed Windows 98SE.

I was planning to upgrade to 2000, but I can't do much without the CDROM, and the computer has no network card.

Freaking weird.

Plantwiz

-What are your BIOS settings on the IDE channel(s)?
-Already asked above, but 1 or 2 channels?
-Power supply size (can it handle a CD-rom addition?)
-What happens when you view the status of the Atapi devices in Device manager? Any errors? Is it even listed?
-Have you tried to boot from the CD-Rom?

KGhaleon

Ah-ha, I got it working. Apparently it didn't like Windows 98SE, because I got the cdrom drive to show up in POST...but windows couldn't see it. I booted to a 2000 installation disc and replaced 98. Now the computer sees the CD-rom drive perfectly.

KG