PC Pals Forum
Technical Help & Discussion => Self Building, Upgrading & General Hardware Help => Topic started by: AdamBoyle on November 21, 2006, 20:34
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Hello! Long time no see to everybody here :)
Im having a small problem with my new DVD drive. I have a Samsung V25 laptop, the cd-r drive for which has never really worked properly but as i never used it it didnt really bother me. As im going to Uni next year i decided to upgrade the cd drive to a DVD-RW drive, hoping just plugging it in would be enough. There is definately power to the drive, but it isnt recognised in windows and going through the whole "Add Hardware" procedure hasnt worked. The drive doesnt show up in Device Manager or My Computer or on any menu. Im stumped as to what to try next, any direction would be much appreciated as Google isnt throwing up much :embarassed:
Adam
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Hi Adam, nice to see that you are still ok :)
It sounds like its not enabled in the bios or that its set to the wrong mode.
Have a look and make sure that the scond IDE channel is enabled and/or that CD/DVD is and that its set to the correct mode, usually P10 I think.
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Great to hear from you too Sandra!!
The drive i have is a NEC AD-5540A-0B (http://www.microdirect.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?ProductID=15451&GroupID=0). I forgot the most important detail lol :D Ive had a look and cant find a way to change the mode or get the drive recognised in the BIOS.. Ive thought about flashing the BIOS, but my old drive is a bit dodgy so i dont want to flash it and it updates incorrectly giving me an even bigger problem ???
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Please excuse my ignorance regarding laptops, but are there still jumpers on a laptop drive? One of the more common reasons for a PC to not 'see' a new drive is that the jumper is set incorrectly. Is there a 'cable select' option? That is usually the most fail safe. Sorry if I'm barking up the wrong tree. This is just a semi-educated guess, using my limited knowledge of PC building.
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I thought it might be firmware but as far as i can find before you can update firmware you need to be able to see the drive in Windows. My old drive doesnt have jumpers on it but ill take this one out and see if i can find any on the new one :)
EDIT: No jumpers on the drive at all... Its not showing in the bios as far as i can see either!!
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I have never noticed a jumper on a hard drive or cd/dvd on a laptop but I havent had that many apart.
It definately sounds as if its not making a full contact Adam, as the bios has to identify it before windows can install it :(
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Thanks for your help Sandra! The drive definately has power because the light comes on during booting and i can eject it as usual by pushing the eject button. The CD light comes on on my laptop and the CD spins when i close the drive. Im unsure what to do next short of trying to flash the BIOS to a newer version and hope it will recognise it... ???
EDIT: If i start my laptop with my old drive in, then switch to the new one, then scan for hardware changes in device manager the drive shows up and installs. If i then restart the computer it disappears again. Even more strange ???