PLS HELP!!! Two CD-RWs having identical problems...installation mistake???

[jinjen]

Masters,

A real computer novice having problems...

I am in the midst of installing, for the first time, a cd-rw in my Dell 4550.
The first cd-rw that I tried was a cendyne(lite-on) 40x12x48. The 4550
had a dvd-rom pre-installed by dell, so I installed the IDE cable coming
out of the dvd-rom(second connector) which eventually goes to the MB's
IDE socket. (the only other IDE socket is occupied with the HDD)

Now, my ignorance kicks in:

I put the little plastic clamp(?) at the back to auto detect for the dvd-rom
and to 'master' on the cd-rw. Correct? Wrong??

Now, when I play a cd from the cd-rw through windows media play,
the music is jumpy and cranky(the time counter jumps randomly as does
the music) and eventually freezes the computer. Similar results when playing
through Dell's music player though a bit smoother, but still cranky. The cd plays
fine through the dvd-rom. I randomly switch the clamps at the back to slave/master
on both the drives, but again, with same results.

I thought is was an isolated problem with the cd-rw and tried installing another
cd-rw(Khypermedia 48x). SAME PROBLEM. So, now I know it must be an install
issue or a connection issue. BTW, I get same results regardless of connecting the
audio cable from the cd-rw to the sound card (sound blaster)

PLS, PLS ADVISE WHAT TO DO....I AM TRYING TO SELL THIS COMPUTER, BUT MUST
HAVE THIS PROBLEM FIXED.

Thanks in advance.

 

[mechBgon]

You're on the right track, here's info that may help... you want one drive to be set as the master, the other as the slave. I would try the CD burner as the master, and the DVD as the slave, for starters.

The next thing is to get Windows to treat them right. You want them to be using DMA mode. Get into Windows Device Manager (ask Windows Help if you're not familiar with how to access it, I don't use WinXP so I don't know the exact way of getting there in WinXP). Now look for the IDE/ATA controller listing, pry that open, and double-click the Secondary controller, which I think is the one your optical drives are hooked up to.

In the Advanced Settings tab, switch them to DMA mode if they're set for PIO Only, and reboot and go back in to make sure the setting stuck. Now try your media playback again and see if it behaves when the drives are in DMA mode.

If the drives refuse to stay in DMA mode, try shutting down again and swapping the Master/Slave assignments and then repeat the routine I described. Hope it works out for you

 

[jinjen]

Thank you so much for your concerns and input.

I have done everything you guys recommended, but in vain.
My system is running exactly as you suggested.

Finally, I got so frustrated, I called Dell tech support
to bark at them to relieve some of the rage.

Guess what?????

It was such a simple solution, I wanted to hang myself. However,
none of the solution was in the Dell manual. According to the
Dell tech rep, after going into the bios mode (hitting F2 ?) when booting,
I had to hit alt 'F' (you hear a beep sound) and then hit alt 'B'.
This is done whenever after installing a new hardware(?) to get
back into the factory reset. (i think that is what he said...)

He also mentioned that this is UNIQUE to Dell computers. WTF ?????

Oh well, at least I got it to work...wondering if no one else ran
into this problem...

Anywyas, thanks!

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: jinjen
Thank you so much for your concerns and input.

I have done everything you guys recommended, but in vain.
My system is running exactly as you suggested.

Finally, I got so frustrated, I called Dell tech support
to bark at them to relieve some of the rage.

Guess what?????

It was such a simple solution, I wanted to hang myself. However,
none of the solution was in the Dell manual. According to the
Dell tech rep, after going into the bios mode (hitting F2 ?) when booting,
I had to hit alt 'F' (you hear a beep sound) and then hit alt 'B'.
This is done whenever after installing a new hardware(?) to get
back into the factory reset. (i think that is what he said...)

He also mentioned that this is UNIQUE to Dell computers. WTF ?????

Oh well, at least I got it to work...wondering if no one else ran
into this problem...

Anywyas, thanks!

That's great, though, I learned something because you documented the solution for us It will undoubtedly come in useful down the road, especially if they don't tell you that in the manual!