Optical drives

[Jamico7]

I am building my first computer and I am running into a few problems. First, my DVD-rom and CD-rom drives don't get power when I connect the IDE cables into them, however, they do get power when the IDE cables aren't connected. Does this mean my IDE cables faulty and i need to buy new ones or am i missing something?

 

[jackschmittusa]

Never seen this one before. Do you have the data cables with the pin1 stripe (red or blue) oriented toward the molex power connector? Are they on the same channel, jumpered master/slave?

 

[deathwalker]

this definately sounds like either a ide cable connection problem or the drives improperly jumpered. If they are on the same controller...they must be either jumpered master/slave or both set to cable select..you can not mix the selection options. such as..one being cable select and the other either master or slave. also as previously stated..ide cable red stripe toward the 4 pin power connector.

 

[Jamico7]

Thanks for your responses, I put both of the drives on cable select. Not sure what you mean by
"Do you have the data cables with the pin1 stripe (red or blue) oriented toward the molex power connector?" Thanks again for your help.

 

[Tsaico]

All cables have a "pin 1". To signifiy this, the manufacturer puts a red or blue line on one side of the ribbon. This side should always be towards the power plug, which is called a molex connector.

 

[Jamico7]

Thanks for clarifying. There is a white line on the side of the ribbon and yes it is connected towards the molex connector. And both of the drives are in cable select. Also, i dont think my hard drive is spinning either, so if this is true then none of my drive are working. However, when i turn on the computer all the fans work and im assuming my cpu is working. Also, im not sure if my video card is working because when i plug it into the monitor with my DVI cable there is no signal. However, the fan runs on the vido card.

I think I am missing a big step here cause this is my first time. Any suggestions?

Another question. Is it necessary to plug in the HD audio or the AC'97 into the motherboard from the case if i have a PCI sound card? Thanks for the help.

 

[Tsaico]

So wait, you are saying you do not have ANY output to ANYTHING? That is a little different from what you origionaly described. You push power and nothing happens to anything other than fans spin up? No video, no drive activity, no beeps of anykind?

 

[Jamico7]

Sorry, i when i turn on the psu, the motherboard LED turns green, so the motherboard is powered. Then i turn on the power button for the computer and the front LED goes on and all of the fans spin. There is no sign of drive activity, video or any beeps. However, i was able to power my optical (not hdd) drives when no IDE cables were connected to them. Sorry for the ambiguity. I will list my specs so you can see them...

Motherboard
ASUS M2N-E Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131022

Processor
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103747 AM2

Hard Drive
WD Raptor 74 GB 10,000 RPM

Memory
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145590

Video Card
eVGA e-GeForce 7900 GT KO PCI Express 256MB DDR3 Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130033

Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119047

Power Supply
Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103937

Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic 7.1 Channels
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102188


Monitor
Hanns?G HW-191DPB Black 19" 5ms Widescreen
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824254005


DVD/CD Read/Write
BenQ Black DVD Burner With exclusive SolidBurn Technology
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827101010

CD drive
BenQ Black 56X CD-ROM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827101666

I think I am going to start over and reconnect everything. If you have any other input, feel free post. Thanks for the replies.

 

[Tsaico]

hmm not bad.

And I would agree with disconnecting everything. Try just the ram, video, cpu and mobo. Nothing else. See if you get any video output then. You should at least get to the post and then the system telling you it cannot find a valid boot drive.

Also try manually setting one to master and the other to slave. long shot, but perhaps the system is having a hard time finding your devices. (master should go on the end of the ribbon with slave in the middle).

Good luck.

 

[Jamico7]

Well, i ran it with just the ram, video, cpu and mobo on two different 2 DVI monitors and both couldnt receive a signal. Is it likely that my video card or motherboard could be defective?

 

[jackschmittusa]

Are both the 24 pin and 4 pin power connectors plugged into the mb, and the 6 pin to the vid card?

 

[Jamico7]

Originally posted by: jackschmittusa
Are both the 24 pin and 4 pin power connectors plugged into the mb, and the 6 pin to the vid card?

Yeah, i double checked. All of those are plugged into the right spots...

No beeping upon start-up means my CPU is messed up right?

 

[Jamico7]

Well I did an "out of the box" start-up with only my mobo, video card, 1 stick of ram and cpu and i still got no signal. Therefore, one of these items has to be faulty. I'm thinking it is the motherboard, as this would explain the optical and hard drive not working when connected to the motherboard. I will call Asus tomorrow and hopefully i can RMA it through newegg.