DVD-ROM drive...what the _$@*_$*_@*$_!!!!

[Zugzwang152]

I have pioneer slot-loading 16x DVD-ROM. For some reason, all of a sudden, it causes my entire system to hiccup and then die...I insert a disc into it, drive starts spinning up, and then all of a sudden, bam, either the computer reboots (no BSOD), or just plain turns off. When it shuts itself off, the PWU needs to be turned off and left off for 10 seconds before the computer will turn back on. Tried the same discs in my CD-RW, and everything worked fine (except the DVDs, which can't be read anyway). Anyone have any ideas/fixes? Is my DVD drive toasted?

Specs:
athlon tbird 1ghz
512 pc133 ram
msi k7t turbo via kt133a

dvd on ide channel 2, master
cd-rw on ide channel 2, slave

 

[Zugzwang152]

bump for some help

 

[kursplat]

sounds like somthing in the drive could be shorting out the power supply. any chance of trying the drive in another comp ?
good luck

 

[Zugzwang152]

Update: turned off the system, moved around my power connectors...all the symptons indicate a PSU problem, but I can't figure out why a 1ghz athlon and gf2 pro with only 2 fans going could be pushing a 300 watt psu to the limits...

 

[amdskip]

What brand/model of power supply are you using?

 

[MWink]

It sounds like either something is shorting out inside the drive or it is overloading the power supply. I would start by trying it in another computer.

 

[Bovinicus]

If it is a cheap generic PSU, then you would be surprised how much lower the actual wattage output is compared to the rating. Anyway, did you make sure that it is connected properly to the PSU? On time I had a floppy drive connected to the PSU, but one pin was off. My system wouldn't even boot. Try using a different connector coming from the PSU as well.

 

[Zugzwang152]

did the connector swap thing already...hmm...well my PSU is made by Deer, Deere, or something Electronics, I consider that a generic brand, not sure if it is or not. This just started happening recently though, everything used to work fine. If it was a power issue, I used to have an overclocked 1.4ghz tbird running on the same PSU and mobo..I'm just not sure what caused the power issue to come up now...fired off an e-mail to Pioneer, hopefully I'm covered under warranty. And unfortunately I'm at school right now, not enough spare parts around here to put together another computer. Any more help would be awesome.

 

[Dulanic]

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
did the connector swap thing already...hmm...well my PSU is made by Deer, Deere, or something Electronics, I consider that a generic brand, not sure if it is or not. This just started happening recently though, everything used to work fine. If it was a power issue, I used to have an overclocked 1.4ghz tbird running on the same PSU and mobo..I'm just not sure what caused the power issue to come up now...fired off an e-mail to Pioneer, hopefully I'm covered under warranty. And unfortunately I'm at school right now, not enough spare parts around here to put together another computer. Any more help would be awesome.

Id say more likely your DVD has a problem... and yes Deer is generic quality. Playing a game would take alot more power from the PSU then would a DVD spinning up, a DVD spinning up doesnt take much power, putting load on the CPU and Video card would take more, so I really dont think its your PSU. So seeing as its only happening when you insert DVDs, Id say DVD problem.

 

[Megatomic]

You should also swap the CD-RW and DVD around. The burner should be the master device on a shared IDE channel. This will improve your performance in the future.

Oh yeah, make sure DMA is enabled (also improves performance).

 

[Zugzwang152]

Hmm, i always thought my DVD should be primary, because i use it for all reading, whether its CD's or DVDs. My burner is only used for burning...but could that be the cause of the crash problem? I've had it set up this way for over a year now...