Problem Installing 5-1/4" Drives in Antec Sonata II Chassis

[Dave Hardenbrook]

I am working on a custom-built system in an Antec Sonata II Chassis, and
can't fot the life of me fit any CD or DVD drives into the 5-1/4" drive
bays! The instructions, which are vague and without any diagram, say to
"mount the drive rails onto the sides of the 5.25" drive. Fine. But
they don't say which screw holes in the drive to use -- the ones that
are near the bottom of the drive, or the ones midway bewteen the top and
bottom edges.

If I screw in the rails using the midway holes, then when I insert the
drive into the bay, there's a gap between the top of the drive and the
upper edge of the bay opening; and when using the bottom screw holes,
then the drive won't for love or money go into the bay, and I can't tell
what's stopping it from sliding in. I've tried this with several
standard CD-ROM and DVD drives with the same result.

If there's someone here who has built a system using the Sonata II case,
can you tell me what I may be doing wrong??

Thanks ahead.

 

[Paul]

I am working on a custom-built system in an Antec Sonata II Chassis, and
can't fot the life of me fit any CD or DVD drives into the 5-1/4" drive
bays! The instructions, which are vague and without any diagram, say to
"mount the drive rails onto the sides of the 5.25" drive. Fine. But
they don't say which screw holes in the drive to use -- the ones that
are near the bottom of the drive, or the ones midway bewteen the top and
bottom edges.

If I screw in the rails using the midway holes, then when I insert the
drive into the bay, there's a gap between the top of the drive and the
upper edge of the bay opening; and when using the bottom screw holes,
then the drive won't for love or money go into the bay, and I can't tell
what's stopping it from sliding in. I've tried this with several
standard CD-ROM and DVD drives with the same result.

If there's someone here who has built a system using the Sonata II case,
can you tell me what I may be doing wrong??

Thanks ahead.

Have a look at the side view of this PC:

http://www24.brinkster.com/gerbil3/a8neSide.jpg

It looks like the purple slider is screwed to the bottom
of the optical drive housing. The purple slider fits
between the rows of circular holes. There are four
rows of holes, providing constraint for three sliders.
Some kind of 3.5" tray gadget fits into the bottom of
the assembly.

Some cases have poor mechanical tolerances, and I've
had cases where the optical drives are a tight fit.
I don't really like to have to push hard on them,
but the only other option would be to sand down the
sliders or something.

By holding the purple slider up, so that it fits between
the holes, and then hold the drive up, so it would fit
in the appropriate offset from the top of the case, it
should be pretty clear which screw holes to use.

I'm sure you'll have solved this before I even finish
posting

Paul

 

[TVeblen]

I am working on a custom-built system in an Antec Sonata II Chassis, and
can't fot the life of me fit any CD or DVD drives into the 5-1/4" drive
bays! The instructions, which are vague and without any diagram, say to
"mount the drive rails onto the sides of the 5.25" drive. Fine. But they
don't say which screw holes in the drive to use -- the ones that are near
the bottom of the drive, or the ones midway bewteen the top and bottom
edges.

If I screw in the rails using the midway holes, then when I insert the
drive into the bay, there's a gap between the top of the drive and the
upper edge of the bay opening; and when using the bottom screw holes, then
the drive won't for love or money go into the bay, and I can't tell what's
stopping it from sliding in. I've tried this with several standard CD-ROM
and DVD drives with the same result.

If there's someone here who has built a system using the Sonata II case,
can you tell me what I may be doing wrong??

Thanks ahead.

I have a Sonata I and a Sonata II. Both use the same drive rail system. No
problems mounting several different 5 1/4 devices. Assuming your drive cage
isn't bent of damaged the drives can be installed easily.
The purple rails normally go in the bottom holes on the drive. The holes in
the rails are oval to make fine adjustments for final fit. The purple rails
are mounted so the flat side is against the drive (and the release tangs
point outward). The purple rails slide into the flat area between the
oval/round punchouts in the drive cage. It is really quite simple if you
think about all the pieces long enough.

 

[Dave Hardenbrook]

I have a Sonata I and a Sonata II. Both use the same drive rail system. No
problems mounting several different 5 1/4 devices. Assuming your drive cage
isn't bent of damaged the drives can be installed easily.

Thanks -- I concluded that the drive bays were warped or something and
exchanged it for an identical Sonata II. Got the drives into the new
case okay, but within 24 hours the Power supply fan failed! So I have
to lug it back to the store *again*! Is Antec not as terrific as I
thought, or am I just having bad luck? What other PC cases are good?
(I need one with at least a 450W PSU.)

 

[TVeblen]

Thanks -- I concluded that the drive bays were warped or something and
exchanged it for an identical Sonata II. Got the drives into the new case
okay, but within 24 hours the Power supply fan failed! So I have to lug
it back to the store *again*! Is Antec not as terrific as I thought, or
am I just having bad luck? What other PC cases are good? (I need one with
at least a 450W PSU.)

That is a strange run of bad luck, or you are shopping at a bargain outlet
that got a really good deal on some "seconds".
The case is one of the best you will find. The power supply is average to
good. Personally, I switch out the power supplies and upgrade to Seasonic,
then sell the Antec supply on E-bay.