CD drives detected, but won't work...

[jeece]

CD drives detected, but won't work [update]

Hi all... I have a BIG trouble with my CD drives. I'll try and give as much details as I can. My computer always ran without major troubles for 2 years, except 1 failed RAM stick over a year ago. And now, this.

Here's my setup:
Duron 850, A7V133, 256 RAM, 40 and 60 Gb HDs, Yamaha CRW3200E burner (master), Asus DVD drive (slave), 350W power supply. All this has always been (surprisingly) well managed by Win2000 and 98SE.

Here's some recent changes to my system:
Added a cold cathode, 3 ultra-bright LEDs and a secondary 80mm intake fan, all of these drawing power from a splitter from my 2 CD drives power cables. These have been on for 1-2 weeks, without problems. I unplugged this setup when I got aware of the problem, but it solved nothing.

Also, I've installed Nero 6 two weeks ago in order to try it. I hated it (mosty, the fugly interface). I went back to Nero 5.x. After installation, I had to leave for school, so I shut down my computer... but left immediatly, so I couldn't make sure it turned off. When I got back from school, it was still running, but with a black screen (monitor was ON, power saving OFF.) My friends CTRL-ALT-DEL were unsuccessful. I reseted my computer. Booting was normal. Troubles were at the door, and I didn't know it yet.

Here's the "funny" part:
When I insert a data CD / CD-R in my DVD drive, Windows doesn't detect it. The Cd I mean. The drive appears in my Explorer though. The drive's light flashes, the drive runs (I hear it). After a while, it stops searching, as it does usually when not sollicited. But the CD name doesn't appear in my Explorer, it's still called L:. If I click on the drive icon, the drive winds up, searches, but still nothing in Windows, and it finally go back to idle speed. Not even a " Please insert CD" warning thing! Same with my burner, plus the "CD inside" LED on it doesn't even turn on when I insert a CD, only the "Power" LED. Another strange thing: upon inserting a music CD in the DVD drive, the drive icon in my Explorer changes for a CD with a music note on it... but by no means, I can reach data inside the CD... :grind:

I went to the Windows System Info thingie, looked up my CD drives infos... No warning

in sight! The CD inside property always says False. Windows Troubleshooting was (as in most cases) unsuccessful.

In Windows98SE, I was able to access data in DVD drive, but I *think* it took a bit longer than usual. I havn't have enough time to test the burner though.
Things I know:
Power is getting to the drives. (how could I open the trays, then? ) still, I unplugged-replugged all power wires, just in case.

IDE wiring is not really faulty. Drives are detected by Windows. Unplug-replug procedure here too.

Not totally hardware related (I hope). Win 98 could detect a disc, so why 2000 can't?

Solution(s)?:
When I,ll finally have some spare time (next Sunday afternoon, I hope... I'm working all weekend, with school+night job allweek long... :freak: ), I'll unplug both CD drives, and test each one of them individually in a master setup. I don't really know what else I should do... Any suggestions???

If all fails, guess I'll try a Format procedure... I wanted to re-partitions my HDs soon... when I get time.

Thanks all, sorry for the long post...

 

[jeece]

Okay... I ran a program to remove all of Nero's reg keys. I went in my BIOS and setted my secondary slave drive correctly (was blank ).

Now, get this: In my Windows explorer, I was able to see the content of a disc in my slave drive, which wasn't configured at all in my BIOS (all cables and jumpers are where they belong!), and I can't even access data on my Master CD drive (burner), which was configured correctly...

But wait, there's more...

I can't access any data from my burner, that includes CD-RW (can't even erase one, I'm told to insert a CD-RW). BUT, I can burn a CD-R...

Is there something fried in my burner/IDE cable/mb? Or is my Windows (98 and 2000) or BIOS having a bad trip?

p.s.: I tried the "Cable Selection" jumper setting on both drive, but it did nothing.

 

[jeece]

Now I've formatted and reinstalled my OS's (98se and 2000 + service packs) + drivers. My CD burner still can't detect some CDs.

BUT, when I insert a blank CD-R, I can burn data on it... But can't read on it afterward! As far as CD-RWs goes, I haven't been able to read on one yet, let alone burn it. As soon as there's data on the CD, I can't read it...

Is the hardware faulty? Did I fried something when I hooked my cathode/3 LEDs/80mm fan from a splitter on the CD drive power wires?

Anybody has some idea?

 

[Imaxle]

Wow, that is weird. The first thing I would do is plug in a different cd drive into your system and see if it works. If it does, then it is the drives. If it doens't work, then it is your motherboard.

I had something kind of similar happen, basically one day my mom's computer's harddrive wasn't detected. I found out that they had fried the harddrive controller on the mobo.

Hope this helps

Imaxle