Help Me Please I'm Lost In This !!!!

[jameshoppe8]

I have a COMPAQ FS740 series 5000. My problem is my DVD/CD-Rom disapears on me this time I can't seem to find it. I'm running Windows XP and go to the control panel to find it in the systems part and all it shows is the disk drives and no DVD/CD-ROM. it used to show it but now it is gone bye,bye. On my icon it says DirectCD, No supported drive. Neither drive works and I can't even run a system reboot disk. I'm confused and STUPID when it comes to getting deep into computer lingo. All I know how to do is type and click !!!! lol

[NooNoo]

Welcome to Windrivers james

It is possible that the drive went bye bye... go into bios (press f10 when you see the _ flash on the top right hand side during the first compaq logo display) The cd drive should be listed in there - is it?

[confus-ed]

.. The cd drive should be listed in there - is it?

I'd have to observe that not all bioses by a long way actually show up cd/dvd's (then again you may just happen to know that this particular model will!) ..

..and I can't even run a system reboot disk..

- that'd depend on you 'tinkering' in bios most likely, boot order gets set in bios, & to make it startup from cd you often have to make changes there, so that windows tries to look at the cd at least.

DirectCD is a 'packet writing' application (makes your cd/dvd work as if it were a hard disk) & these are can be most troublesome, to say the least, if you sucessfully figure out how to test your dvd outside windows (by either booting from it, or using a dos boot disk plus drivers {see the 'sticky' at the top of this section, for more}), first thing I'd try is uninstalling this for a bit .

[jameshoppe8]

this is what I found when I hit f10. I did see it I think this is what it had
System ROM 686P9 v1.04
Hard Disk
IDE Primary 0 40020 MB, WD400EB-11CPFO

CD-ROM
IDE Secondary 0 Compaq DVD-ROM DVD-117
Firmware - 1.03
Serial Number- none
Cable type- 80 conductor
Help guys I'm at my wits end !!! O thanks for the input need all I can.
Quiet Drive Performace
Transfer Mode Max UDMA

[NooNoo]

OK now change the boot order in bios so it boots from cdrom first then try to boot from cdrom.

[jameshoppe8]

O.K. got CD-ROM first and tried that but It still doesent work.

[NooNoo]

Then it is quite likely it died. If you have another machine that is the same age or younger you can swap them out and test the unit on its own. Bios can detect a drive when the laser has gone.... annoying I know, but you cannot replace the laser. There is a small chance that the read laser has got dirty and could be cleaned - but for the price of a cleaner you can nearly buy a new cdrom drive.

[jameshoppe8]

I think I forgot to tell you that both drives dont work at all. If that matters or it still could be the laser. I have a younger one but different model and it still dident work. Would it matter that it was from a different computer. I have no idea !!!!

[xpuser357]

When you swapped from younger computer did you notice what the jumper on drive was? I am talking about Master. Slave,and cable select. you are probably sharing harddrive and cd rom on same IDE cable or Both cdroms
on IDE cable. You could put both cdroms on cable select if they are on same IDE cable.

[NooNoo]

James can you tell us - do you have a big wide flat cable (IDE) going to the hard drive and a separate one to the cd? How many cd drives have you got fitted at the moment? Are both cd drives attached to the same ide cable? Do they both have a power connector attached? And as XPuser has said - did you see the jumpers on the back of the cd units?

This picture shows a blue jumper fitted next to where the IDE cable is plugged in and is set to master. Your unit should be set to master if it is the only drive on an ide cable or set to slave if it is attached to the same cable as your hard drive. If you have 2 cd units on the same ide cable, one must be master, the other slave.

[confus-ed]

..You could put both cdroms on cable select if they are on same IDE cable.

..you can try this, but cable select isn't supported fully on all drives, or controllers, & some devices also need a special cable instead of a standard ide cable for it to work this refers (& it also covers what Noo is talking about above, in a touch more detail ).

[jameshoppe8]

I'll have to open it back up !!! Don't really have time now 'working crazy shifts this week. but i will holla at ya'll when I figure it out. Thanks for the help