Cdrom drive help... Pretty please???!!!

[phkat]

Hi there. You are the most knowledgeable folks I know when it comes to computers so I'm guessing that someone here will be able to help me with this problem.
My son's computer is an HP8533z and the cdrom drive is no longer being recognized by the system. He uses it for schoolwork (we homeschool) and for games. I don't know if the system locked up during a game or what. All I know is that it thinks there is no cdrom drive.
School starts again tomorrow so I'm getting desperate. I vaguely remember that there is somewhere in the system that one can go in and retell it to recognize the cdrom, but I just can't recall where.
Anyone willing to help this poor desperate mom????
You can email me directly if you would like, at
phkat@camasnet.com
Thanks you in advance!!

 

[Burnedhardware]

Most sold CD-roms are ATAPI. these are recognised during system boot. The screen will tell something like "Found CD-rom"

if it doesen't check IDE cables in the system (big flat gray cable) and power cable of the cd-rom (white plug with 4 cables attached)

if this is not the problem check your bios for IDE secundry chanel (in pheriphicals?) it must be "on" (I know secundry IDE can be switched off in some systems, i dont know the bios name for it.) you could use the "load default settings"- option

If you have SCSI cd rom, remove later installed devices & check SCSI is working properly

otherwise, use $40 to buy you a new drive

 

[chriscraft]

There is nothing for you to do to get windows to see the CD-Rom if everything is hooked up correctly, and if your hard drive controller(s) are set correctly, with the proper drivers...

I'm not familiar with HP systems, so I don't know what CPU or chipset M/B is in that system...but they all work basically the same...

If you have the correct Ide busmaster drivers installed, and they aren't corrupted, you should have no hardware conflicts with your hard drives..therefore the correct IRQ's are assigned to the primary and secondary IDE controllers....(14 & 15)

What I'm trying to say is that if you have a software problem,(Windows), it is with your hard drive controllers, when they are right, the CD-Rom is recognized correctly assuming it's functional, jumpered correctly, and the cables are connected...

If you have changed nothing in the system at all... it could very well be a defective CD-Rom...


Do this to check the IDE Hard drive controllers...

1. Start>Settings>Control Panel

2. once in control panel, double click on "System", (near bottom of icon listings

3. once in "System", single click on "Device Tab"

4. look down the list and find "Hard Disk Controllers", double click on it to open up

5. double click on "Primary IDE Controller", notice message in the "Device Status" box

6. do the same with the Secondary(if there), & the Bus Master PCI IDE controller

If all three device status's say "this device is working properly", then your problem is probably with the CD-Rom itself... just buy a new one and change out...$30 - $40

Note, when everything is working right, your CD-Rom will also show up in the "Device Manager" of your "Control Panel", It's usually the 1st, sometimes the second thing listed..

Also, look closely at startup screens, turn your monitor on 1st, let it warm up a little, so you don't miss seeing some of the startup screens...

after the memory check, a screen should come up showing what is found in the Primary Master, Primary Slave, Secondary Master, and last, Secondary Slave controllers...

Your CD-Rom should show up as either a Primary Slave, or a Secondary Master, assuming you have no other hard drives or IDE devices in your system..

 

[phkat]

Thank you so much. I'll print this out and do it step by step.
Thanks a bunch!

 

[donna4456]

turn unit off wait 15 seconds and turn back on when you see the blue hp screen hit F5 about 20 times. this will take you into bios and then press F5 and then enter, then press F10 and enter, and after pressing the last enter start to press F8 to take you into the windows start menu, choose option 3 (safe mode. say ok to safe mode notice that comes up on the desk top, then right click on my computer icon the left click the word properties and system property window apear, click on device manager, go down to cd rom and double click on cdrom and the file will opent and high light the cdrom then click remove then say ok to the warning, also under hard disk controllers remove the pci bus master. Then reboot the system and windows should re detect the cdrom removal that was just done and windows will re install the drivers for the cd rom. you have set the device up in bios and removed and re installed the device drivers for the cd rom, and if the lights are coming on then it is getting power. You might want to take out your recovery application disk 2 or 2 or 3 or 3 and insert it and see if it boots up. just some ideas. good luck

 

[phkat]

Ok. I'll try these suggestions now. The other stuff hasn't helped. I do notice that in control panel, it does SHOW the cdrom drive. When I tell it to eject it does open the door. But thats all. Other than that it says "drive not accessible".
Onward and upward. (I'm going to try everything I can because at this point I sure don't have the money to go buy a new cdrom drive.
Man! This sucker was hard to get apart to even get in to check the connections!
Keep the suggestions coming folks. It 'aint solved yet!

 

[chriscraft]

If it shows up in the control panel, windows is already seeing it....

the hardware is probably bad...it happens...

open windows explorer, do you see the cd-rom here also??

if you do,then windows is OK

change out the cd-rom...

it sounds like a lot to do...it's really not,

 

[phkat]

Oh big bummer.sigh. All right, I guess there's no getting around it. Huge bummer. hummmm... now where to find the money?
Thanks to all of you for all your help!

 

[chriscraft]

Sorry, wish I could help ya more...in a normal tower type system it's about a ten minute job, from start to finish....in a desktop it could take awhile longer...... a forty dollar part..

and being that you've had it apart already, your half way there..when you do change it, just make sure the new one is jumpered the same way as the old one...

If the CD-ROM is on a seperate cable than the hard drive, then the jumper should be "Master", if your CD-ROM is on the same ribbon cable as your hard drive, then it needs to be "Slave".. you should find a jumper,(near the connector for the data cable), on the back of the CD-ROM... there are usually three settings...master, slave, and cable select, just put the jumper on the one you need

good luck