# [SOLVED] Optical drives not detected



## pillar (Mar 29, 2008)

Hello, 

I recently had some come computer issues, which i was able to resolved by first running chkdsk then doing a repair install of windows xp, then reinstalling all the windows updates except SP3 (gave me some issues last time around).

When i tried to burn a dvd last night, i realized it was only detecting one out of two dvd drives. I then powered down and opened up the side and tinkered around with a few things and now its not picking up either drive!

I unplugged the offending drive, powered up, then powered down to reinstall the drive.

I have two dvd drives, one sata and one parallel. When i did my repair install it seems to have knocked out the parallel drive, but then when i tried to fix it i somehow messed up my sata drive too!

One last thing - before i somehow disabled my only working dvd drive, i would always get 'detected new hardware' on boot, but windows was unable to install the device, and it came up as 'unknown device' in the device manager.

Here are my obligatory system specs:

Gigabyte P35 DS3R
Cire 2 Duo E6750 2.66 GHz
2 GB Ram
320 GB Seagate Barracuda HD
EVGA nVidia 8800 GTS 320 MB

Thank in advance for some help!


----------



## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

power supply
brand
wattage
check the cables have not come loose to the drives
check if they are listed in the bios ok


----------



## pillar (Mar 29, 2008)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

Antec 500W power supply

Cables have not come loose, as i checked them before posting

The bios lists: 

IDE Channel 1 Master: ST3320620AS (my hard drive)
IDE Channel 4 Master: Liteon DVD-RW SHW-16 (this is my dvd drive with wide, flat cable, that hasn't worked since i repaired windows)

I am not sure where the other dvd drive should be listed, but i am guessing it should be near the hard drive, since it is a sata DVD drive and the hard drive is also SATA.

Other bios settings that may be relevant:
SATA RAID/ACHI node: Disbaled
SATA Port0-3 Native Mode: Disabled
Onboard SATA/IDE Devices: Enabled

Thanks for your help!


----------



## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

try setting this to enabled
SATA Port0-3 Native Mode: Disabled
your psu should be up here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005&Tpk=corsair+650w


----------



## pillar (Mar 29, 2008)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

I just tried changing that setting, but there is still no mention of my dvd drives under my computer.

Do you know of anything else i can try?

Thanks


----------



## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

try removing the filters

remove the upper and lower filters
scroll down to how here
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;314060&x=12&y=13#


----------



## pillar (Mar 29, 2008)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

That link was dead, so i tried to do the steps here http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060 but the upperfilter entry is not there. There is one called '(default)' and it says "dvd/CD-rom drives".

Please advise of next step


----------



## pillar (Mar 29, 2008)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

I was able to delete 'lowerfilters' but that had no effect on the problem after i restarted.

Please advise of next step


----------



## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

are they listed correctly in the bios


----------



## Spectating (Sep 24, 2008)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

.....


----------



## pillar (Mar 29, 2008)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

No change in the bios either, it only displays the Lite-On drive like before.


----------



## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

see if you can borrow a larger wattage psu to try in it


----------



## pillar (Mar 29, 2008)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

Problem solved.

I had some hard drive issues so i bought and installed a new drive, now i can see all my dvd drives. I have no idea why this fixed it, but it did! So i am happy.

Thanks for all your help.


----------



## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

glad you have it sorted did you have 
daemon tools or incd installed on the drive you lost


----------



## pillar (Mar 29, 2008)

*Re: Optical drives not detected*

Not to my knowledge


----------

