Subject: CD Drive N:\is not accessable,not being recognized,wont E

[Guest]

Hi
I've got an old PC (HP Pavilion 8756C) with Windows XP Pro, installed on top
of Windows ME 7 years ago. It's been kept in great shape. I never had a
serious problem with it until last week when I noticed that one of the CD
Drives is not loading up right as follows:
* When I start/restart Windows, all basic programs load up exept for one:
CD Drive N:\ [the secondary CD Drive] -most of the time- does not. Its not
being recognized as a system disk (Meaning, when I go to My Computer, Its not
there), I only see: LOCAL DISK (C, CD Drive M:\ , and the 3½ Floppy (A .
And, when it does load up, it could be seen on: 'My Computer' but, it either
causes my PC to 100% jammmed untill I shut it off, ( that happened 95 times
out of every 100 times I reboot my machine) or it wont be accessable, nor
available in many cases with many different error messages, and most of all
it wont eject (open and close). I tried in Safe Mode and I also tried a 'one
month old' good system Restore point. I checked the Volume for errors, I
defragmented Hard Disk twice, I also did SFC Scannow & Windows FileProtect.
Nothing of the above brought any good results. I also did all kind of
checking and searching for viruses, spyware or bugs,, nothing of that was
found. I also checked the hardware itself from the inside and made sure its
and all related wires are connected and plugged in good. Like I said, it only
loads up (without causing my system to jam) like 5 time out of every 100
times I reboot. In those good times It works perfect as used to, it gets
accessable, available, playable 'CDs and suff', and it could eject (open and
close). I know its tricky & funny, its not a one way problem to be diagnosed
and dealt with the right way.

CD Drive M:\ uses (MITSUMI CR 4804TE DVD/CD-Rom Drives) . I've got no
problem what so ever with CD Drive M:\. CD Drive N:\ uses (SAMSUNG CD-ROM
CS-148 DVD/CD-Rom Drives). I did Uninstall then Reinstall the driver.. I also
tried to see if there was an update for it, but unfortunately there was none
out there. I tried to trouble shooting the driver, but for some reason the
Trouble Shooting Wizard wouldn't start..
My Computer Bios Revision is : 2.05 09/12/00 ,, I know its kind of old, but
I don't know if a bios update is needed (anyway I couldn't find any Bios
update in HP site for it, but again under what O/S to look for that Bios
Update, XP or ME) and I don't know if a bios board cmos faulty setup can
cause CD Drive N:\ to fail everytime I reboot and not to start ide setting
between Master and Slave or none Master Drives parameters. I think I was
suposed to get a Bios update more than 7 years ago when I had Windows ME and
before I install Windows XP Pro on top of it, but I never did.
By checking my Computer System /PhoenixBios setup utility, I concluded that
the Bios theory isn't the case.. but I noticed that one item doesn't look
right!! where it shows that:
Installed O/S is : Win 98/ Win 2000 !!!!! It's weird !!!!! I've never had
either one of those,, so I don't know what to say here.. and if I should
correct that (and how?) or should I reset it to its original default
settings, under Windows ME !!! or the current Version Windows XP Pro?? I
don't know.
Well that's all,, I think its too much for me to say and for You to read...

I also took and uploaded some photos showing parts of the problem .. if
You're interested and have an other minute to spare, please go here, download
the zipped /photos file and tell me what You think :

http://www.freewebs.com/netzzz/CD Drive (N) Errors Photos.zip

thanking You for your Time and your Help..

Remay

 

[Paul]

Hi
I've got an old PC (HP Pavilion 8756C) with Windows XP Pro, installed on top
of Windows ME 7 years ago. It's been kept in great shape. I never had a
serious problem with it until last week when I noticed that one of the CD
Drives is not loading up right as follows:
* When I start/restart Windows, all basic programs load up exept for one:
CD Drive N:\ [the secondary CD Drive] -most of the time- does not. Its not
being recognized as a system disk (Meaning, when I go to My Computer, Its not
there), I only see: LOCAL DISK (C, CD Drive M:\ , and the 3½ Floppy (A .
And, when it does load up, it could be seen on: 'My Computer' but, it either
causes my PC to 100% jammmed untill I shut it off, ( that happened 95 times
out of every 100 times I reboot my machine) or it wont be accessable, nor
available in many cases with many different error messages, and most of all
it wont eject (open and close). I tried in Safe Mode and I also tried a 'one
month old' good system Restore point. I checked the Volume for errors, I
defragmented Hard Disk twice, I also did SFC Scannow & Windows FileProtect.
Nothing of the above brought any good results. I also did all kind of
checking and searching for viruses, spyware or bugs,, nothing of that was
found. I also checked the hardware itself from the inside and made sure its
and all related wires are connected and plugged in good. Like I said, it only
loads up (without causing my system to jam) like 5 time out of every 100
times I reboot. In those good times It works perfect as used to, it gets
accessable, available, playable 'CDs and suff', and it could eject (open and
close). I know its tricky & funny, its not a one way problem to be diagnosed
and dealt with the right way.

CD Drive M:\ uses (MITSUMI CR 4804TE DVD/CD-Rom Drives) . I've got no
problem what so ever with CD Drive M:\. CD Drive N:\ uses (SAMSUNG CD-ROM
CS-148 DVD/CD-Rom Drives). I did Uninstall then Reinstall the driver.. I also
tried to see if there was an update for it, but unfortunately there was none
out there. I tried to trouble shooting the driver, but for some reason the
Trouble Shooting Wizard wouldn't start..
My Computer Bios Revision is : 2.05 09/12/00 ,, I know its kind of old, but
I don't know if a bios update is needed (anyway I couldn't find any Bios
update in HP site for it, but again under what O/S to look for that Bios
Update, XP or ME) and I don't know if a bios board cmos faulty setup can
cause CD Drive N:\ to fail everytime I reboot and not to start ide setting
between Master and Slave or none Master Drives parameters. I think I was
suposed to get a Bios update more than 7 years ago when I had Windows ME and
before I install Windows XP Pro on top of it, but I never did.
By checking my Computer System /PhoenixBios setup utility, I concluded that
the Bios theory isn't the case.. but I noticed that one item doesn't look
right!! where it shows that:
Installed O/S is : Win 98/ Win 2000 !!!!! It's weird !!!!! I've never had
either one of those,, so I don't know what to say here.. and if I should
correct that (and how?) or should I reset it to its original default
settings, under Windows ME !!! or the current Version Windows XP Pro?? I
don't know.
Well that's all,, I think its too much for me to say and for You to read...

I also took and uploaded some photos showing parts of the problem .. if
You're interested and have an other minute to spare, please go here, download
the zipped /photos file and tell me what You think :

http://www.freewebs.com/netzzz/CD Drive (N) Errors Photos.zip

thanking You for your Time and your Help..

Remay

Have you visited the computer BIOS screen ? The computer may be able to display
what drives are detected, in one of the BIOS screens. If the name of the drive
appears there, but not in the OS, then you could blame the OS or software install.

Another test, would be to try booting from the CD drive. Your BIOS may have a
boot order, and you could put that CD drive, before the hard drive in the
boot order. (It may be that way, anyway.) Then, any time you insert a bootable
CD at power up, it would try to boot from the CD. If it ignores the CD, then that
suggests the BIOS cannot use the drive either. My purpose in suggesting this test,
is to try to eliminate the OS as the source of the problem.

In terms of replacing stuff:

1) Try another data cable. Sometimes the cable goes bad, like where the data connector
crimps to the cable. If you've tugged on the cable a lot, a connection could
become flaky. I wouldn't expect it to work 5% of the time though, if this was
the case.

2) A bad source of power. Molex 1x4 connectors are pretty reliable, except for
a real cheap type I have here. I have a Molex in a USB enclosure, where the
the Molex comes in two pieces, and it pierces the insulation on the wires to
make connections. The Molex type that consists of crimp pins snapped into a nylon
shell (which is most of them) are pretty reliable.

3) The power supply could be bad, but then you'd have other symptoms, like the
other drive disappearing.

4) The drive itself could be failing, for example, ignoring the effects of a
cable reset signal. Open the drawer on the drive. Shut down the computer.
Start the computer up. Does the drawer close at the beginning of POST ?
That suggests the controller has received a RESET on the cable.

One of my diagnostic tests, would be trying to boot a Knoppix or a Ubuntu Linux
disk. But if the BIOS screen cannot list the CD drive as existing, then it
won't try to boot from it.

Replacing the drive is an option, but that would be the last thing I'd try. I
have enough spare data cables around here, that it wouldn't cost me anything
to test with a different cable.

If you owned two computers, you could always try swapping CD drives between
machines, and see if the symptoms follow the drive or not.

You could use a multimeter, to check that the supply voltages are within 5%
of nominal, but not everyone is set up to do a test like that. Operating
a multimeter takes some knowledge of electricity and what not to do. (On
a multimeter, you don't want to use the "amps" hole on the meter, if
checking voltage levels. That would be a bad thing to do, and would pop
the fuse on the multimeter.)

None of these options are a lot of fun, because you have to muck about inside
the machine, and some machines are jam packed inside. I know in my computer,
the CD drive in the top bay is the devil to get out of the machine. A lot of
cables are coiled up in that area (the ones not being used).

Paul

 

[sandy58]

Hi
I've got an old PC (HP Pavilion 8756C) with Windows XP Pro, installed on top
of Windows ME 7 years ago. It's been kept in great shape. I never had a
serious problem with it until last week when I noticed that one of the CD
Drives is not loading up right as follows:
* When I start/restart Windows, all basic programs load up exept for one:
CD Drive N:\ [the secondary CD Drive] -most of the time- does not. Its not
being recognized as a system disk (Meaning, when I go to My Computer, Itsnot
there), I only see: LOCAL DISK (C, CD Drive M:\ , and the 3½ Floppy (A .
And, when it does load up, it could be seen on: 'My Computer' but, it either
causes my PC to 100% jammmed untill I shut it off, ( that happened 95 times
out of every 100 times I reboot my machine) or it wont be accessable, nor
available in many cases with many different error messages, and most of all
it wont eject (open and close). I tried in Safe Mode and I also tried a 'one
month old' good system Restore point. I checked the Volume for errors, I
defragmented Hard Disk twice, I also did SFC Scannow & Windows FileProtect.
Nothing of the above brought any good results. I also did all kind of
checking and searching for viruses, spyware or bugs,, nothing of that was
found. I also checked the hardware itself from the inside and made sure its
and all related wires are connected and plugged in good. Like I said, it only
loads up (without causing my system to jam) like 5 time out of every 100
times I reboot. In those good times It works perfect as used to, it gets
accessable, available, playable 'CDs and suff', and it could eject (open and
close). I know its tricky & funny, its not a one way problem to be diagnosed
and dealt with the right way.

CD Drive M:\ uses (MITSUMI CR 4804TE DVD/CD-Rom Drives) . I've got no
problem what so ever with CD Drive M:\. CD Drive N:\ uses (SAMSUNG CD-ROM
CS-148 DVD/CD-Rom Drives). I did Uninstall then Reinstall the driver.. I also
tried to see if there was an update for it, but unfortunately there was none
out there. I tried to trouble shooting the driver, but for some reason the
Trouble Shooting Wizard wouldn't start..
My Computer Bios Revision is : 2.05 09/12/00 ,, I know its kind of old, but
I don't know if a bios update is needed (anyway I couldn't find any Bios
update in HP site for it, but again under what O/S to look for that Bios
Update, XP or ME) and I don't know if a bios board cmos faulty setup can
cause CD Drive N:\ to fail everytime I reboot and not to start ide setting
between Master and Slave or none Master Drives parameters. I think I was
suposed to get a Bios update more than 7 years ago when I had Windows ME and
before I install Windows XP Pro on top of it, but I never did.
By checking my Computer System /PhoenixBios setup utility, I concluded that
the Bios theory isn't the case.. but I noticed that one item doesn't look
right!! where it shows that:
Installed O/S is : Win 98/ Win 2000 !!!!! It's weird !!!!! I've never had
either one of those,, so I don't know what to say here.. and if I should
correct that (and how?) or should I reset it to its original default
settings, under Windows ME !!! or the current Version Windows XP Pro?? I
don't know.
Well that's all,, I think its too much for me to say and for You to read....

I also took and uploaded some photos showing parts of the problem .. if
You're interested and have an other minute to spare, please go here, download
the zipped /photos file and tell me what You think :

http://www.freewebs.com/netzzz/CD Drive (N) Errors Pho...

thanking You for your Time and your Help..

Remay

Remove & re-connect (one at a time) all your IDE connections. Often
the actual connection pins & sockets, over a period of time, don't
make a good contact. Then as suggested by Paul, replace the IDE
ribbons. Then, if necessary, continue your process of elimination.
Good luck