Dell optiplex wont recognize CD Rom

[chuppet]

I'm working on an old Dell Optiplex GXI for a friend. The CD Rom won't show up in My Computer or the bios. Ive tried 3 different ones to no avail, made sure all connections were not loose, tried several cables (Its on its own cable), switched the jumper to each location. It does show up in Device Manager and says its working properly. Its listed as: Generic IDE Disc Type 55. When I put a CD in, It won't do anything. My friend took it home for awhile and I tried to look at it again thinking I just overlooked something stupid. I opened My Computer and there it was!! I installed a game for her and when I rebooted the comp. it was gone again. Won't spin up, just opens and closes. Thats all. Any ideas?? Thanks, Chuppet

[osprey4]

OS is 98? Make sure you're using a CS cable and that the drive (and any other drive) is jumpered to CS and connected to the end connector (master position). Check system setup again.

You can also check around Predator's site for tips and troubleshooting ideas:
http://www.the-predator.com/

[chuppet]

It has been upgraded to Win. Me. What is a CS cable??

[osprey4]

If the IDE controller supports cable select, which all Dells do, you have to use a special cable as described here:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCS-c.html

Dell supply these with their systems. If you use a regular cable, then you must jumper master/slave.

[LeftCoast]

It has been upgraded to Win. Me. What is a CS cable??

CS is a mode to jumper your ide device with. There's master, slave, and cs. If you've gone the M-S route(to no avail), try putting the device(s) in CS mode. Osprey's saying you need to have BOTH devices in CS to work properly, not master-cs, or cs-slave; must be cs-cs.

[Krawler]

It has been upgraded to Win. Me.

You mean it had Windows 98 already on it and you used a Windows ME
upgrade CD to upgrade it to Windows ME?

I am asking because there are known problems, especially with recognizing the CDRom drive, after you UPGRADE from Windows 98 to Windows ME.

[chuppet]

I didn't upgrade it, but someone else did. osprey4, I was not aware you had to have a cs cable to use the jumper in the cs position. Exactly what does the cs cable look like? Thanks for that info. I'll check out everything again and make sure its all set up correctly. Thanks, Chuppet

[LeftCoast]

Here's a link from the one osprey4 posted, with a pictured comparison.

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/conf_Cable80.htm

[chuppet]

Thanks LeftCoast. If the 40 conductor cable is the cs cable then I have the right cable connected.

Chuppet
(Wow, your from Tampa......I was just there the other day)

[LeftCoast]

[QUOTE=chuppet]Thanks LeftCoast. If the 40 conductor cable is the cs cable then I have the right cable connected.
QUOTE]


With the 40 cable, you can't use the cable select; that's for the 80 cable only. With a 40, you need to use master-slave jumpers.

[osprey4]

Not true, there are 40-wire CS cables. My Dimension 4100 uses a 40-wire cable for the secondary IDE controller.

[Krawler]

On the back of the CDROM drive..are some jumpers.

They will be labeled MA/SL/CS

MA is of course the Master setting
SL is the slave
CS is cable select.

Dell computers DO recognize the CS setting, but you have to have
all devices on that chain to be set to CS.

You can use MA and SL with the Dell as well.

When you boot using a Windows98 or Windows ME startup diskette
and choose "Start with CDROM drivers", can you access the CDRom that way?

[chuppet]

No, I've tried to boot in that sequence and it didn't work.

[Krawler]

So..it does not work in DOS.

It's not a Windows issue.

Sounds like the motherboard is the culprit, either a problem with the
CMOS or more likely the ATAPI (IDE) controller is flakey.

You may be able to find a diagnostic program from support.dell.com
to run on the computer. Although this is not a catch all , it
may let you know what the problem is.

[LeftCoast]

For fun and experience, you may want to try flashing the bios as well, although I'm certainly not sure it'll help.

[chuppet]

Yea, thats kinda what I was thinking about the motherboard, although I'm definately no expert! Barely know what I'm doing really.
Why, though would it have not worked for the longest time then all of a sudden, it worked long enough for me to install that game, then it quit again?? It was visible in My Computer for the install then when I rebooted, it was gone again and it wouldn't work. Thats what blew my mind. All 3 internal cd-roms I tried didn't work at all except the one did for about ten minutes.
I just tried to install a external cd-rom drive to the computer and It's exactly the same as the internal. Visible in device manager and says it's working properly, but not visible in the bios or My Computer. Its the kind that connects with a parallel cable not USB. Well, I'm lost again, maybe I should give up on this old computer.
Thanks again everyone for all your help, Chuppet