[leoinlios]

I have a problem with either my DVD-Rom drive MS-8216.

I connected the DVD-rom drive as a Master in the Secondary IDE channel and a CD-ROM drive as slave in the same channel. I have a HDD as master in the primary Ide channel. All jumpers are set accordingly and correctly.

PROBLEM: While booting, it gets stuck at "Detecting Ide Drives", without allowing you to access the BIOS.

THINGS I TRIED:
If I disconnect the ide cable from the DVD-rom drive, the system boots normally, though the drive is not seen (obviously). Therefore the cable and IDE2 port seem to be working fine, as the CD-rom is seen OK.
If I plug the CD-rom in the master part of the cable and set its jumper as master, whithout the DVD-rom connected, it works notmally. Therfore the master part of the cable is not faulty.
If I set the DVD-rom as slave and CD-Rom as Master it boots, but neither the BIOS or Windows see the DVD drive.
If I plug the DVD-rom to a different 4 pin Molex connector, it still doesn't work. So it's not that particular PSU connector.
If I disconnect everything while leaving the DVD-ROM alone in the primary Ide channel as Master, the DVD-Rom is still not working.

The strange thing is that if I set it as Master, the "read" light of the dvd drive doesn't come on, as if it had no power. If I set it to slave the "read" light stays ON all the time. Neither way it works, nor the tray opens with the Eject button.

I have all the BIOS and Mainboard drivers up to date, I have tried clearing the CMOS, changing Ide cables, different PSU, to no avail.

Is there anything you would recommend trying? Could there be anything I must set up in the Bios?

THANKS A LOT GUYS. Leo

[turd]

WELCOME

It does sound like you have most everything covered.

One thing I would try is set the jumper to CS and try it alone or with the CD drive with the CD drive also set as CS. This is just in case this drive is sensitive to positional placement where on the IDE cable the Blue end is in the MB the grey is middle device and the black end is the master. I am not familiar with that drive, does it require an 80 wire cable, are you using one?

It seems like the next step is to pop that into another system and see if it then works. If not then it is bad.

[leoinlios]

Thanks turd,

I have tried that already and no luck. My cable is an Akasa IDE ATA-133 with 3 connectors. I don't know what you mean by 80 wire cable, sorry. However, please note that my drive worked in this setup in the past. So maybe it just went bust.

What's killing me is the fact that depending how I set the jumper, the read light stays ON or OFF. And also the fact that the tray will not open.

If I connect the DVD ROM to the molex connector and I unplug the other devices from the PSU and disconnect the IDE cable from the DVD rom, shouldn't the tray open when I press eject????

Thanks man.

Leo

[turd]

The Ide cables are 40 pin connectors. The older ones, usually the IDE 33 and 66, did have 40 wires-one to each pin. The newer standard is 80 wire, which just added a ground wire to each pin. This cut down data corruption from wires crosstalking to each other/signal noise, which would sometimes happen with the 40 pin. I thnk it also has something to do with how much data you can chunk and the new transfer speeds. I have heard that some drives do require this 80 wire cable. If you ever see the 40 wire one next to the 80 wire one the difference is noticable. Everything new is 80, has been 80 for a few years.

Yes, you should be able to power the tray with just the molex-PSU. Make sure you paperclip the little hole on the face under the tray and mannualy eject the tray. Do that to make sure there is not something stuck inside.

It does kinda sound like that drive is bad but you really need to pop it into another system to be sure.

[Electron Chaser]

Sounds like your DVD is on the way out, If it isn't already, However you can try this

just set one to Master on the secondary (I recommend the CD-ROM) and do not put a jumper on the slave drive, it will automatically default as a slave and you should be able to see it then if not then I would say you are SOL and need a new drive but it is worth a shot. Good luck.

[leoinlios]

Thanks guys, I have tried everything, and concluded that the drive is what's technically known as "knackered" (it's an English joke from a TV show). If I had another PC I would try it, but my only spare is a laptop ...

It's time to move on in technology and buy a DVD burner...