Install CD Burner

I tried to install an internal cd burner to my computer, but I couldn't find any prongs on the belts to install. Ok, from the beginning, whew! I have a Compaq Presario. I'm running windows 98 se. I unhooked everything and went into the computer to install the burner. I understand about the master/slave thing and I made the burner the slave because I planned to hook it up to another drive belt (piggy back), but I couldn't find any pronged outlets on the belts. They were all females (as electricians put it and I needed the male) so I got frustrated and put everything back together and here I sit with a cd burner. It's bad enough with those stupid metal cases and no place to put anchoring screws. I have went into the computer before and I have installed more memory so I thought I could handle this, right? Wrong! There is also a wire and small plug that goes somewhere. I would appreciate any help because it seems that trying to get an external cd burner around here is very difficult. Duh, I feel so stupid, but at least I'm adventurous, right? As usual, thanks...

 

Hi, Liz

You must forgive me if I start asking what might seem like totally stupid questions, but...

Firstly, am I right in believing you are referring to a Presario PC rather than notebook? If so, I am a little confused as to the reference to the pronged outlets on the IDE ribbon cable. The IDE connectors should be female, and they need to connect to the motherboard and drives via male sockets. Depending on the age of the computer and motherboard, etc, you should have one motherboard connector and 2 drive connectors per IDE ribbon cable.

As regards the other wire and small plug, would this be referring to the audio output cable that connects the CD type drive to the motherboard to allow audio playback via the soundcard and speakers. If you already have another CD drive it may be connected via its own cable in this manner.

Hope this post wasn't a complete waste of your time.
Regards,
Joyous Monkey

 

It might be that the IDE cable you have has only 1 connector on it. I've seen many store bought computer like this. I've put a picture on the bottom in case you don't know what an IDE connector looks like. The one pictured is the type you need.

If that's not the problem, here's some questions that would help:

1. What is the model of your Presario (it would be on the case, not the monitor) ?

2. Are you replacing the CD-ROM that came with the system or adding another drive?

 

Yes that looks like the belt, but both ends are female and when I go into the computer to connect, all the other belts are female as well. Maybe, I am missing something, but I did follow all the belts and found nothing. As I said, maybe I missed something. I'll try again on Monday. I'll take the shell off and go through the process again. I talked to Staples and the man there said I should have the male prong on the hard drive belt. I didn't see it, but I'll look again. Where would I connect the wire with the small prong also attached to the cd burner? I didn't even think about that. Oh, the Presario is 5700N. I haven't had too much trouble with it. I am good about maintenance. My problem is the mechanical stuff. Thanks for your advice. Liz

 

IDE cables, or belts as you call them, only have female connectors. The male connectors are located on the motherboard and the drives themselves.

I've included another picture on the bottom as well. The picture shows the audio cable that hooks to the sound card on the left and the IDE cable in the middle. The power cable in not shown in this picture, but it is a white connector with 4 holes and has yellow, black, and red wires coming out of it.

I don't know if you already have a CD drive installed, but the audio cable should only be hooked to the CD drive that you plan to play audio CDs with. The only cables that MUST be hooked up are the IDE cable and the power cable.

BTW, did you try reading the manual of the burner to see how to install the drive? What brand and model is the burner?

If all else fails, I could try to draw some pictures that might help

 

Liz
The picture above will help. The flat wide cable is the data cable. The one on the other cd drive should have a second connector below it. This plugs into the pins in the back of the drive. If the one in there does not have a second connector you can get one at any computer store cheap. Once in a while there will be one that does not have the second one. To the right of the cable is where the power cable hooks up. On the data cable there should be a red or black stripe. this goes in toward the power cable. If you have to replace the data cable make sure you also get the stripe the same on the motherboard as the old one(Very Important). With the power cable and data cable hooked up you should be in good shape.

You will have to go into the bios and set the secondary slave to Auto Detect.

 

Ok, I got the cd-r drive installed and anchored. I attached the power cord, etc. I had to attach the cd-r to the hard drive. Only option available. Now, I get the message 1782 disk controller failure. I have two options when I get to this screen. One is to go to F10 and the other is to boot up. I went into the bios, but there is nothing in there about master/slave. I think the message could be because of the belt. I had to really stretch it to make it fit. Is there a way to adjust the slider. I assume there is because of the way it's made, but I didn't want to ruin anything. I made the cd-r the slave using the pin on the back of the writer. I assumed that was correct considering I was attaching it to the hard drive. So confusing this stuff. I guess it's easy if you know how. Thanks...

 

That is not a good message........

http://www.uktsupport.co.uk/compaq/faq/comppost.htm


1782 - Disk Controller Failure None Hard Drive Circuitry Error Run Computer Setup, Replace the HDD


Hopefully, running setup will fix it......you hit F 10 to access the bios setup......does the hard drive and cdrom appear there?

And I am a bit concerned about how you had to stretch the belt to make it fit.........perhaps you bent the hard drive pins?

 

Did you set the hard drive jumper to "Master with Slave Present"?

The IDE cable on the hard drive and CD burner should be connected such that the red wire is on the side closest to the power connector. The other end of the IDE cable connected to the motherboard should have the red wire connected to pin 1 which should be indictated on the motherboard by a 1 or a white corner. You will only be able to put the cable in one way if the IDE cable has a plastic piece in the middle of the connectors.

 

The picture below is about how the cables should look connected on the drives side...

(I'm assuming your hard drive is smaller than your CD drive.)

 

She didn't say that she had an old CD drive in the system. We don't even know if the system supports 4 IDE devices.

 

Yes, I do have a cd/dvd drive. That drive already has another device connected to it. The only place to connect the new drive was to the hard drive. Now I wonder if I should have made the new cd drive (pin on back) master because the hard drive boots up last. I don't believe the new cd drive showed up in the bios. I'll go back in and jot down what is there and how it is set up. There is no mention of master/slave there. I have a zip drive, disk drive, cd drive. and of course the hard drive. The new cd drive did come with an IDE cable but it is too short. I do have the tab on the cable so it will only fit one way. I know I should probably have had the professionals do this, but I'm stubborn and determined. Again, thanks...

 

You said you have another drive already hooked up with cd/dvd drive. If it is a cd-rom I would take it out an put the new drive there. The dvd and cd/rw drives both read cd's so need for three that I can see.