Won't reconize CD in drive

[TurboMike]

Windows XP Pro. Won't reconize any CD's... music or media or even a bootable CD. When you click on my computer it shows the CD as E: drive, but when you click on it, it acts like nothing is there. I tried a couple different drives, same things. Cable and power to the drives are good. Don't see anything in the bios wrong either. Any ideas?

 

[Deskstar]

Routine troubleshooting questions the I assume you have gone through so far include: If you can insert a CD into it then that means it is getting power (so the power to it is OK). Is the CDROM functional in a different machine (if not it is broken). Is this a newly installed CDROM ? (then, next double check that the IDE cable is installed correctly both at the CD and on the motherboard). No other magic up my sleeve on this one. Also verify that your master/slave/cable select is correctly set. I continue to assume that this is a newly installed CDROM, not one that has been working fine until suddenly it stopped. If it is a unit that had been working and stopped, then it may just be time to "renew" it with a new one. My CD-RW broke after 3 years. I don't think it is worth checking your windows files for repair before you do some verification of the status of the drive itself.

 

[TurboMike]

thanks for the reply. I tried flipping the cable over, but it don't even show the drive. I tried a different cable, no luck. here's a link to my MB http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/JABIL/4000590/400059006.shtml

tried two different CD drives, no luck.

 

[Deskstar]

So, please indicate if this is a new install for your machine or a drive that came with the machine.

And if you recently modified the machine yourself in any way, ie added a drive or other hardware.

Look at Device Manager to see if any conflicts exist (yellow exclamation points)
Have you run a full check for viruses with an updated AV program?
etc

Your MB specs indicate that it is an older Pentium II version. If your CD rom drive is original to that machine. then it could be just plain broken.

 

[TurboMike]

oops, sorry. Got 3 of these machines through a auction at our local college. So everything was already installed. Device manager says everything is working properly. It's acts just like a bad CD drive...

 

[Deskstar]

Great. If you got three of the machines, then if you feel comfortable delving into one of the "good" ones, then take out the good CDROM from of of the other machines that you know works and replace the questionable CDROM with the good one. If the good one works in that machine, then you know that you have a defective CDROM. Remember that the IDE cable and master/slave settings must be done correctly on any of the CDROMs. If you are not familiar with these items, then get someone to help you.

Good luck, I think that you have found your problem.

 

[TurboMike]

all three machines are doing the same thing. The CD drives I tried where spare I had extra that are known good. It seems somone has somehow disabled the CD drives...

 

[TurboMike]

anyone else have any ideas?