[SOLVED THE HARD WAY] CDRW Installation problem - please help

Can anyone help on the following problem - pretty please?

I recently brought a new base unit (AMD Duron 800) with hard disk and cd rom already fitted. Eveything is working fine but I have come to put in my cdrw from my old base unit (Intel pentium 3) and have come across the following problem.

The BIOS detects my cdrw as a cdrom on the secondary master but when i save settings and exit it reboots and either freezes after checking the primary devies (master = hard disk slave = cdrom - factory fitted) or it says Secondary master ATAPI incompatable press f1 to resume.

If I press f1 it loads windows but cdrw is present? I installed if the same way as on my old pc and it worked fine - the only difference was the cdrom was slave to the cdrw?

The CDRW is a LiteOnIt LTR-12102c

Please please can some one help!

 

Hi aj_247, welcome to TSG.......

Did you move the jumper on the CDRW so it's set for master?

In the bios setup, do you have it set to "AUTO" in the area where the drives are recognized? And when you set everything in the bios setup, are you exiting and saving the changes prior to a restart?

 

Hi, thanks for the reply the jumper was set as master but i have tried it in different positions.

I am saving settings when exiting but will try having everything set as auto now and will post an update shortly.

 

Hi all,

I have tried setting all the drives to auto detect in bios then saved and exit and when the pc reboots it detects pri master as my hdd pri slave as atapi cdrom and sec master also as atapi cdrom

BUT then it gives more details on hdd (such as s.m.a.r.t compatable etc) then details version and type of cdrom set up as my pri slave then pauses fpr 2 mins before saying sec master is atapi incompatable press f1 to resume

I press f1 and windows loads okay but no cdrw drive showing!!!!

Bring back typewriters!!

P.S. I have double checked all the jumpers and cable connections and all r ok and secure

 

I’ve read your post a couple of times and it is confusing. You indicate that you have the burner as secondary master. You also say ” I installed if the same way as on my old pc and it worked fine - the only difference was the cdrom was slave to the cdrw?” Could you have perhaps meant ‘is slave to the cdrw” instead of “was”? If the old system “was” set up with the CD-ROM slave and the new system is different then the jumpers have to be wrong somewhere.

Confirm the burner is jumpered to master and the CD-ROM to slave. Also confirm that the CD-ROM was not configured to cable select – some oddball manufacturers do that.

I’ve read that if you use an 80 wire ATA 66 cable you have to have the master device on the end connector even if the devices on the cable are not ATA 66 or 100. Might be one of the many myths going around.

Some burners like to be the master and others slave. Try swapping them around.

 

Hi slipe,

In my old machine the cdrw was sec master and cdrom was sec slave in my new machine the manufactures have put the cdrom as primary slave with the hard disk as pri master therefore i am installing the cdrw as sec master. I have double checked the jumpers and tried both ends of the cable? I am starting to think that my cdrw is bust as the reason i brought the new base unit is because my old one went bang (power supply started to smoke) and after changing power supplies the processor wasn't working at all.

 

UPDATE! I have just swaped my cdrw for my old crdom set the jumpers the same and left the bios on auto detect and low and behold it detects it loads windows and there it is as drive E!!!!!

So i try my cdrw again - same settings and same problem as above?

Does anyone know if my cdrw is not atapi compatable? the LiteOnIt website doesn't tell me much?

 

It is definitely ATAPI compatible and plug and play. You should be able to plug it in and have Windows install it completely on boot. It might have gotten damaged when the PS fried your old computer.

The only thing you haven’t tried is to change the jumpers on the burner to slave and try it as slave to the old CD-ROM on the secondary. If you don’t have two connectors on the cable try it as slave to the HD on the primary. That isn’t the optimum setup but it is about the last thing to try.

 

Message for slipe.

I have tried your last suggestion and i still get the same problem - i have also been in touch with the guys who i brought my new bvase unit off and they agree the cdrw is fried (100 pounds down the drain) Oh the joys of computers.

Thanks very much for all your help and advice - you have been really kind to take the trouble to reply to my posts.

I hope someday i can return the favour

Regards

AJ