Topic: installing an NEC DVD drive

[T.J.]

i have been trying to install a DVD-/+R drive in my computer and i can't figure it out. i got the hard part done, which for me was opening the computer and getting the drive in the tower.

a little background info so maybe someone can help:
the drive i am installing: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=Suggested&Description=27-152
CPU: DELL dimension 300
OS: Windows XP

i pluged the NEC drive into the computer assuming XP would automatically recognize the drive.
i didn't so i went to control pannel and tried to install new hardware. this doesn;t seem to work.
i tried rebooting the CPU. when doing this w/ the drive attached the CPU freezes on the startup screen. so i must disconnect  the drive to allow the CPU to reboot.

is it possible the drive is not compatible w/ DELL CPUs? i haven't seen any info supporting this.
i don't have any DVD-/+R software on my computer yet, but i don't see why this would disable me from installing the drive.
i believe my CD-R/RW drive is installed on secondary IDE 0. i think i need to install the DVD-/+R drive on the secondary IDE 1
this seems like a simple process, but i'm stuck.
any suggestions or advice is greatly appreciated.
thanks

[MattD]

First step: reboot and go into your BIOS. Do you see the drive there?

[T.J.]

First step: reboot and go into your BIOS. Do you see the drive there?

how do i get to the BIOS? sorry if this is a dumb question, but i've never done anything like this before. i did do a IDE drive diagnosis and didn't see it there

[MattD]

When you reboot, your startup screen should tell you what key to press. I forget what Dell uses, but it's either F1, F2 or Delete.

[T.J.]

When you reboot, your startup screen should tell you what key to press. I forget what Dell uses, but it's either F1, F2 or Delete.

can you elaborate a bit b/c i won't be able to post while checking. once i find this screen what should i look for? as i stated before, the drive is not connected so i assume it won't be listed anywhere.

[MattD]

oh ... connect it first. You should be able to get into the BIOS regardless of what's connected, though, as you found out, you can't always boot. When you boot, a screen comes up telling you what to press to get into the BIOS ("startup menu" - sometimes called).

In there, look at the devices recognized. Is the drive on there? If not, then something is wrong with the cable/jumper settings. You'll have to shut down and work that out. You can always unplug and reboot to ask another question. If it does recognize the drive in the BIOS, you have a software/driver problem. I think the first case is more likely.

[bconnolly]

While the computer is booting up, but before it gets into windows, hit either F2, F8, or Delete a bunch of times (or just cycle through all three) and it will bring up the BIOS.

In there you can see if the drive is being detected by your PC.

My advice is to check if the DVD is set as a proper slave or master.  If it's the second drive in your IDE chain (for instance, behind another optical drive on the cable) then you need to set it as a slave drive with the plastic jumper pin.  Alternatively, you can just set both of the drives to Cable Select (CS) and the computer will just use each one in the order that they're on the cable.

[T.J.]

While the computer is booting up, but before it gets into windows, hit either F2, F8, or Delete a bunch of times (or just cycle through all three) and it will bring up the BIOS.

In there you can see if the drive is being detected by your PC.

My advice is to check if the DVD is set as a proper slave or master.  If it's the second drive in your IDE chain (for instance, behind another optical drive on the cable) then you need to set it as a slave drive with the plastic jumper pin.  Alternatively, you can just set both of the drives to Cable Select (CS) and the computer will just use each one in the order that they're on the cable.

i think the CS option may be what i'm trying to accomplish. is there somewhere in windows XP to check. by the way guys, thanks again guys for the input and patience.

[bconnolly]

i think the CS option may be what i'm trying to accomplish. is there somewhere in windows XP to check. by the way guys, thanks again guys for the input and patience.

On the actual drive there is a diagram (on the top) that will tell you what setting to use for CS.  I have the same brand of DVD-RW drive so it should be the same.

[T.J.]

i think the CS option may be what i'm trying to accomplish. is there somewhere in windows XP to check. by the way guys, thanks again guys for the input and patience.

On the actual drive there is a diagram (on the top) that will tell you what setting to use for CS.  I have the same brand of DVD-RW drive so it should be the same.

okay i pulled the drive out of the CPU and i see the diagram you are talking about. it doesn't look like i have any connectors available to plug into either CS, slave, or master. it looks like i have 2 power connectors available to me and on I/O BUS connector. there is another connector which doesn't seem like it fits into the DVD-/+R drive. maybe this connector needs to go in the CD-R/RW drive?

[pfife]

look for the jumpers, which are a single wire connected to two peices of plastic that fit around some pins.

[pfife]

btw- I have a NEC drive with a Dell desktop - its fine.  My machine came w/ a cd rom and a cd-r, so I just removed the cd-rom and looked at the jumper config on the one I took out.  Matched that on the DVDburner, and it worked no problem.

[T.J.]

btw- I have a NEC drive with a Dell desktop - its fine.  My machine came w/ a cd rom and a cd-r, so I just removed the cd-rom and looked at the jumper config on the one I took out.  Matched that on the DVDburner, and it worked no problem.

which machine: your computer or the DVD-/+R drive? my Dell only came w/ one cd tray (a cd-r dvd readable drive).

[pfife]

btw- I have a NEC drive with a Dell desktop - its fine.  My machine came w/ a cd rom and a cd-r, so I just removed the cd-rom and looked at the jumper config on the one I took out.  Matched that on the DVDburner, and it worked no problem.

which machine: your computer or the DVD-/+R drive? my Dell only came w/ one cd tray (a cd-r dvd readable drive).

If you are replacing that one, read what the jumper position is on the cd burner, and mimic that on the dvd drive.  That's if you're taking the cd-r drive out.

[T.J.]

btw- I have a NEC drive with a Dell desktop - its fine.  My machine came w/ a cd rom and a cd-r, so I just removed the cd-rom and looked at the jumper config on the one I took out.  Matched that on the DVDburner, and it worked no problem.

which machine: your computer or the DVD-/+R drive? my Dell only came w/ one cd tray (a cd-r dvd readable drive).

If you are replacing that one, read what the jumper position is on the cd burner, and mimic that on the dvd drive.  That's if you're taking the cd-r drive out.

no i am planing leaving the existing one in and adding this drive. so i must need to either A. set this drive up as a slave drive or B. set it up using CS.