DRIVE TROUBLE

I've got a pc running xp pro. i've got to internal cd drives and an external dvd drive which is connected via usb. However, the the external drive seems to have been assigned the D drive and is working fine. The internal drives though to have been assigned E & F and they don't recognise any cds when inserted. Any help on this will be appreciated. Thanks.

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shednik

Well...

First what have you done already to troubleshoot the issue...

I would first try to isolate where the issues is coming from..

take one of the drives out, test another ide cable/controller...

maybe test the drive in the external enclosure..

let us know if you need any more help!

terminal

shednik wrote:

Well...

First what have you done already to troubleshoot the issue...

I would first try to isolate where the issues is coming from..

take one of the drives out, test another ide cable/controller...

maybe test the drive in the external enclosure..

let us know if you need any more help!

I've manage to double check the settings in the cmos as well as physically on the motherboard. The hard drive is on it's own controller, and placed only one of the cd drives on the other controller. I've set it all up to auto but the same issue still exits in that it still won't recognise any cd roms. Any ideas on how i can handle this? Its so frustrating.

blackmage439

shednik gives very good advice!

I agree with everything said. Here is how I would approach this:

First ask yourself these questions, and check the following things:

When did the drives begin malfunctioning? I.e. after a software install? After adding a drive?
Are the two internal drives on the same IDE cable/channel?
Are the most up-to-date drivers installed for each drive? Generic Microsoft drivers are never the best. I know it's silly, but we're only human.
Check the drivers for the individual drives. Are they manufacturer-provided, or generic Microsoft? Are the drivers digitally signed with Microsoft's approval? Are they up-to-date? The manufacturer's website is your best friend.
In Device Manager, check out the resource assignments for each drive. Make sure there are no conflicts, expecially with the internal drives.
Do the drives appear in your BIOS' boot menu choices? If they don't, this doesn't necessarily mean there's something wrong, but it's a good indication. The USB drive most likely won't show up in the list anyway.

Now on to the 'fun' stuff.

Remove the USB drive. Don't uninstall it, just unplug it from the system; preferably when the system is turned off, just to eliminate any conflicts that may be caused by the drive.
Test the two internal drives. If they work, there's something funky about the USB drive.
As I said above, if the two drives are on the same IDE cable, check the master/slave settings for the drives. This website has a great guide on IDE (http://www.techexams.net/technotes/apluscore/ide.shtml) if your IDE knowledge is a bit rusty, like mine.
If the above step doesn't solve the problem, and you have a spare IDE cable, put the drives on seperate IDE cables/channels. If possible, it's always better to have the drives on seperate IDE cables anyway.
Test the drives again. If you still get nothing, try removing one drive, and just having one drive in the system at a time. Most likely a resouce conflict is the biggest issue here.

If the drives still don't work after this, I'm not sure where to go next. This is about as detailed as I can think right now...

*EDIT: Oops. You posted while I was typing. Well, just ignore the stuff you have already done.

Plantwiz

I'd love to comment, but the guys have nailed down exactly what should be checked.

-note when the problem first was noticed.
-Remove each drive and test independently.
-check for mailware, rootkits, etc..
-re-install/attach the drives one at a time and see if this resolves the issue or not.

WIthout being on-site, and even if we were on-site...there are questions that have to be answered to move forward. I've never found a way to simply look at a PC and say..."WOW! I know what the problem is" I can reach this point with some questions and then testing, but when a system isn't your own, there is really not a way to do this without first gathering some information and looking at the connections, etc..

The problem may be as simple as a cable has crept loose inside...while a visual inspection the cable may appear 'ok'...experience will tell you to remove the cable and re-attach it. I just had a case with a young tech the other week who 'told me all was fine' so I was just about ready to hand him the new drive when I pulled the cable off and re-seated it...viola!

Point being, shednik covered it very simply. blackmage439 has reiterated the same with more detail.

Please do let us know what steps you have taken and what the results are for you. How long have you had the three drives installed? You stated you have two internal drives and one external USB drive. Is this USB drive a new addition? Have you recently added one of the two internal drives? What else has physically changed on your system? As mentioned, what software installs have you done? How old are your drives and what have you used them for? Opitcal drives can die after a time especially with a lot of use or lack of use...has your drive had a firmware upgrade that you need to look into? Which OS Service Pack do you have installed?

HTH

terminal

Firstly, thanks guys/ladies for all the info. What i can say is that I've had them connected this way for quite a while. Would like to also mention that there not heavily used neither are the dormant. Nothing comes to the top of my head in terms of new software installed-its pretty much only used for surfing the web. I've got the usual basic programs installed, but like i said not been done recently. What i'm guilty of is getting into the cmos settings to set up wake on lan stuff. I indeed at one time restored the cmos settings to the default which is my guess may have triggered something. I have now done all the simple steps in checking the connectors, master/slave settings, put the hard drive on it's own controller, a single cd drive thats working on the other controller. I've completely disconnected the usb drive together with the other cd drive but find myself back to square 1. I've been through the device manager which states everthing in order. By the way, I'm running windows xp pro with no service pack included.

shednik

terminal wrote:

I have now done all the simple steps in checking the connectors, master/slave settings, put the hard drive on it's own controller, a single cd drive thats working on the other controller. I've completely disconnected the usb drive together with the other cd drive but find myself back to square 1. I've been through the device manager which states everthing in order. By the way, I'm running windows xp pro with no service pack included.

Ok

Here's where i would go from here...

First let's look at it from a hardware issue..

Boot up the PC with both CD Drives on the same IDE channel but with a new IDE cable

....no change ok...then take one drive out....then the other as needed

Still no luck then i would swap channels...and see if the PC boots up correctly

If you have the hard drive on the current channel and it boots up fine you can rule out a bad IDE channel...

If you get past this point, if possible throw the cd drives into the external enclosure and test from a point you know does work.

Still no luck?? Maybe its software related...

Goto the device manager and uninstall both devices and find the latest drive for each and install again.

Let us know how it goes!

shednik

Any luck?

terminal

shednik wrote:

Any luck?

Hi,

I'm still working on it. I literally stripped the whole pc and rebuilt it with a different hard drive and operating system and minimal gadgets. It was so frustrating as the same thing happen. My conclusion is that both the cd drives are messed. I can't believe it as there could be no other explanation and what could be the chances of both drives going at the same time. What I was wondering though, would the power supply have been a contributing factor? Does it really matter whether you share the leads?

eliquel

terminal wrote:

shednik wrote:

Any luck?

Hi,

I'm still working on it. I literally stripped the whole pc and rebuilt it with a different hard drive and operating system and minimal gadgets. It was so frustrating as the same thing happen. My conclusion is that both the cd drives are messed. I can't believe it as there could be no other explanation and what could be the chances of both drives going at the same time. What I was wondering though, would the power supply have been a contributing factor? Does it really matter whether you share the leads?

Have you had past issues with the power supply? I fixed a machine with a fried supply, it took the rom with it so I replaced both. I would borrow a friends cd-rom for a day, seems like you've tried everything else... anyway.
Good luck

Sie

Do the internal drives show in the BIOS? (maybe i missed this if you said earlier)

Have you tried each CD-ROM in turn on the known working channel? (As in slave to the HDD)

Have you been able to test each drive in another machine or as mentioned in post above have you tested a known working CD-ROM in yours?

Silly question but you do have the power and IDE cables plugged in the correct ways right?

Have you swapped the power cables to a known working on or tested with another power supply?

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

terminal

Sie wrote:

Do the internal drives show in the BIOS? (maybe i missed this if you said earlier)

Have you tried each CD-ROM in turn on the known working channel? (As in slave to the HDD)

Have you been able to test each drive in another machine or as mentioned in post above have you tested a known working CD-ROM in yours?

Silly question but you do have the power and IDE cables plugged in the correct ways right?

Have you swapped the power cables to a known working on or tested with another power supply?

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

I've done all of the above except a known working cd-rom...unable to get my hands on one and not to keen on investing on one......got 3 already.
As for the woodchuck, the answer lies in the question.