[RESOLVED] CDRW drive appears as CDR and won't write.

[noet]

I've installed CDRWs on several computers and have never encountered anything like this:

I have a generic desktop PC with AMD 450 processor and SiS atx motherboard with 96MB RAM. It's a Win98se machine. The base system had a standard CDR and has worked beautifully for months. When I tried to install a CDRW drive, it sees it only as a CDR. I can read data or play audio CDs, but no writing is possible, despite the presence of Adaptec's Easy CD software & DirectCD. DirectCD reports that the CDRW drive is "not present."

Sometimes, the Adaptec software seems to momentarily recognize it as a CDRW, but then it suddenly "flicks off" again.

Also, when the CDRW is installed, I occassionally also have problems using the CDR drive. The CDR starts to act flaky, such as not reading a CD.

When this first happened, I returned the CDRW to the retailer and got a totally different one from a different manufacturer. Same problem. Then, I tried installing an HP 8501i -- same problem. Obviously, it must be something in my motherboard or bios settings, although in each case, I have followed all the manufacturer's specs to the letter.

I'd appreciate any and all suggestions!

Thanks,
Noe Torres,
Edinburg, TX

[noet]

I guess I'm my own best tech support :-). As a result of having posted my earlier message here, I began focusing on motherboard issues, and it turns out that since my motherboard has onboard IDE, I looked for updated IDE drivers and found them at:
http://www.sis.com.tw/support/utility.htm

Lo and behold, updating the onboard IDE solved all my problems!

Thanks anyway everybody!

Originally posted by noet:
I've installed CDRWs on several computers and have never encountered anything like this:

I have a generic desktop PC with AMD 450 processor and SiS atx motherboard with 96MB RAM. It's a Win98se machine. The base system had a standard CDR and has worked beautifully for months. When I tried to install a CDRW drive, it sees it only as a CDR. I can read data or play audio CDs, but no writing is possible, despite the presence of Adaptec's Easy CD software & DirectCD. DirectCD reports that the CDRW drive is "not present."

Sometimes, the Adaptec software seems to momentarily recognize it as a CDRW, but then it suddenly "flicks off" again.

Also, when the CDRW is installed, I occassionally also have problems using the CDR drive. The CDR starts to act flaky, such as not reading a CD.

When this first happened, I returned the CDRW to the retailer and got a totally different one from a different manufacturer. Same problem. Then, I tried installing an HP 8501i -- same problem. Obviously, it must be something in my motherboard or bios settings, although in each case, I have followed all the manufacturer's specs to the letter.

I'd appreciate any and all suggestions!

Thanks,
Noe Torres,
Edinburg, TX

[This message has been edited by noet (edited July 24, 2000).]