Window 7 cant see my new DVD RW??

JethroUK

Just replaced a broken secondary DVD R with DVD RW (my primary is DVD RW) as per intructed

Windows 7 doesn't see it?

On start up, the first thing my PC does is spin the drive

it opens/closes fine

theres only one lead to it (power and connectivity), no switchers - so if the power is OK why doesnt it appear?

Basil1234

you did change the jumper on the drive to "cable select" position? if not the drive will think its the master and will result in pc not seeing it as has two master drives which it can not have.

JethroUK

Basil1234 wrote: »

you did change the jumper on the drive to "cable select" position? if not the drive will think its the master and will result in pc not seeing it as has two master drives which it can not have.

Thats what the instruction say but there is no jumper on it anywhere?

DatabaseError

JethroUK wrote: »

theres only one lead to it (power and connectivity)...

I'm pretty sure all of my drives have 2 leads to them, one carries the power (so the drawer will eject etc..) the other the data (so the computer can use it as something other than a cup holder)

JethroUK

DatabaseError wrote: »

I'm pretty sure all of my drives have 2 leads to them, one carries the power (so the drawer will eject etc..) the other the data (so the computer can use it as something other than a cup holder)

Only one lead & the drive only has one socket

GunJack

JethroUK wrote: »

Only one lead & the drive only has one socket

you sure?? how many does the other one have? SATA drives may look like one, but there's 2 halves to them..
edit:- the instructions you link to show the jumper and (IDE drive) with power connector only fitted, but referencing the data ribbon cable to the drive's other socket as you would expect

Johnmcl7

JethroUK wrote: »

Only one lead & the drive only has one socket

There should be two in most cases - it sounds like you only have power connected, if it's an older ide type drive there should be a wide ribbon cable for the data and a molex connector (white plug with four pins) for power. For newer sata drives the data connector should be a small black one with an L-shape inside and the power should be similar but a bit wider although it may use a molex connector for power as well.

John

Basil1234

johnmcl17 is correct
basically your existing drive that is working the ribbon cable plugged into that drive should have a further connecter down along the ribbon cable thats how they work that secondary connector needs plugging into you new drives comm's socket unless they have supplied with a sata drive in which case you will need another sata cable that is L shaped at drive end, anyway it would be helpful if you just took a picture put it up on photobucket to show us what you have got.
i suspect though it is and ide drive you haven't got a jumper on it thats prob no.1 and will never work till you do have one on the cable select i would suspect you take a jumper off you old broken drive thats what most people do.
issue no.2 then hook up the ribbon connector the second connector on the same lead as the first working drive up and it will work.
its not rocket science but if this doesn't work i suggest you just take it to a local computer shop as your not going to do it just be quicker its only a 5 min job.

Step 4. Attach the power and FLAT RIBBON cables to the rear of the drive.

though this picture shows master socket not the secondary slave connector


here you go good clear picture

now not being funny if you can't work it out now just give up and take to local computer shop but i hope this has made it crystal clear.
basil

Figment

Compare the rear of your old and new drives. Do they look the same? Are they both like the one pictured on the article you linked to?

If your drive is the same as the one pictured in the instructions, it is an IDE (PATA) drive with a long slot with 40 pins (one of which may be missing) in the centre, a white plastic power connector to one side and a set of pins with one or more jumpers to the other side. In this instance if the ribbon cable is already connected to another drive/CD/DVD then you need to connect the secondary connector of the ribbon cable to the 40 pin socket on the new drive and ensure the jumpers are either set to Cable Select (CS) or Slave (SL). Otherwise connect the primary connector to the new drive and ensure the jumpers are set to CS or Master (MA)

If it's not as pictured, then it's a SATA drive with two small 'L' shaped connectors on the rear. (The cable/plugs that connect to these may be joined together). There are no jumpers to set.

JethroUK

Figment wrote: »

Compare the rear of your old and new drives. Do they look the same? Are they both like the one pictured on the article you linked to?

Nope - nothing like the pictures

however - the connector (single) on the broken drive fits the new one perfectly

only difference i can see is the old drive has jumper pins (but no jumper fitted) and the new drive has no jumper settings what so ever

ill post some photos

Figment wrote: »

If your drive is the same as the one pictured in the instructions, it is an IDE (PATA) drive with a long slot with 40 pins (one of which may be missing) in the centre, a white plastic power connector to one side and a set of pins with one or more jumpers to the other side. In this instance if the ribbon cable is already connected to another drive/CD/DVD then you need to connect the secondary connector of the ribbon cable to the 40 pin socket on the new drive and ensure the jumpers are either set to Cable Select (CS) or Slave (SL). Otherwise connect the primary connector to the new drive and ensure the jumpers are set to CS or Master (MA)

If it's not as pictured, then it's a SATA drive with two small 'L' shaped connectors on the rear. (The cable/plugs that connect to these may be joined together). There are no jumpers to set.

It is sata drive - here it is

no worries Ill take the drive back out and see if there are any connectors floating around (albeit no where on the drive to plug it)

i think i will have to install this new drive as primary and maybe the original primary might have switcher on it

System

JethroUK wrote: »

i think i will have to install this new drive as primary and maybe the original primary might have switcher on it

With SATA you can only connect one device to one cable so all devices are masters/primary on their own SATA channel.

Is the device being identified in your BIOS? If not then try putting another device on that channel. If that is not identified in BIOS then you either have a problem with that SATA channel or the cables being used to connect to it. If the other device is being identified and the new device is not being identified on a different channel then it points toward a problem with the new drive.