Slightly OT - Where's that HD and CD Player gone?

PeterWright wrote on 5/23/2014, 3:55 AM

Sorry to ask another PC question, but this forum is the best source of advice I have!

My latest problem is that the computer I'm writing this on (the one that recently lost contact with its PCI sound card, causing me to use the motherboard audio) has now "lost" its CD Rom, and it's second internal hard drive - they just don't appear in "My Computer".

I have opened the case, pulled out and re-connected all power supply and data leads, but they're both still missing in My Computer.

One thing is, they don't have a common connection :

The CD player is on EIDE, along with the Boot drive, which thank goodness is working. It's power supply is ok, because the tray opens and closes ok.

The second HD is connected to a different circuit - a smaller yellow lead (?SATA?)

Before I take the machine to an "expert", I'd like to know - is there a way, with the BIOS or otherwise, to force the PC to scan all attached devices.

Again, any advice is much appreciated.

Thanks.

Peter

EDIT - see my post below, I was wrong above, the SATA drive is in fact my Boot drive and is working, so my problem is all EIDE based ....

Comments

Dexcon wrote on 5/23/2014, 4:10 AM

Under Folder Options / Views, is "Hide empty drives" checked or unchecked? If checked, uncheck that item - all available drives should then appear on My Computer.

Also, do the missing drives appear on Disk Management (available from the Computer Management selection under Administrative Tools)? If the drives appear on these 2 displays, they should be available.

If the drives do not appear under both these displays, it at least drills down the problem to something more basic like BIOS. If it is a BIOS issue, I'm sure that there is somebody more knowledgeable than me on this forum, about sorting out BIOS settings.

PeterWright wrote on 5/23/2014, 4:25 AM

Thanks Dexcon - before checking that out, I have been doing some more checking, and I have found that I was under a huge misapprehension - the SATA drive is in fact my Boot drive, and is working ok ...

so, my question is now - How do I get my EIDE back? - the second HD and the CD are both on this circuit, and in BIOS the EIDE devices are "Not Detected", so there is almost certainly a common cause.

PeterWright wrote on 5/23/2014, 6:02 AM

... well I may or may not be getting closer, I found that the CD became visible when I put a disc in, and I have now unchecked "Hide Empty drives".

But - the missing EIDE drive was in one of those old "Caddies" - a removable device I never use now, so I deduced there may be a communication breakdown within the Caddy connectors ...

So I removed the drive from the Caddy and mounted it in the main case. Because this now put it "below" the CD Player where it was previously above, I had to connect the EIDE ribbon in such a way that the connector which previously went into the CD is now in the HD, and the previous HD connector is now in the CD,

But now they are both still "missing". It crossed my mind that there may be a Master/Slave situation I have to reverse with jumpers, so I'm switching off to look into this.

Like Arnie, I'll be back ...

diverG wrote on 5/23/2014, 8:14 AM

You mention a ribbon cable. From memory I seem to recall that IDE connected devices had to be set master or slave. Not sure whether this also had to match their location on the cable. Master/Slave was set by jumpers alongside the main IDE connector. .

Maybe if you reposition your devices on the cable they would 'reappear'.

Best of luck

PeterWright wrote on 5/24/2014, 4:55 AM

Thanks diverG,

As my repositioning of devices brought no success, I have reverted to how they originally were, returned their jumpers to original positions, but they are both still missing, HD and CD Writer/Player, in My Computer.

The next variable I'll try is a different IDE ribbon - I'm sure I have one or two in an old drawer somewhere, but not sure where ...

ushere wrote on 5/24/2014, 6:50 AM

peter what motherboard are you using that still requires ide - or is it old drives?

larry-peter wrote on 5/24/2014, 1:58 PM

Another easy thing to check, if your BIOS allows, is to take a look at the voltages your PSU is supplying to the motherboard, and see if they meet your MB's spec and that there's no wild voltage fluctuations when you do something like open the door of the CD drive.

I've had system-wide oddities like this start happening when my power supply was failing.

VidMus wrote on 5/24/2014, 5:49 PM

Some motherboards have a separate controller for IDE and they tend to fail. I have an old one that did this with the same results you have. So you may now need a new motherboard OR a card that can plug into whatever type of empty slot your motherboard has.

PeterWright wrote on 5/24/2014, 9:28 PM

Thanks guys for the questions and information.

My MB is an ASUS P5G41T-MLX

I couldn't find any voltage information in BIOS, but I think I'm going to work on the assumption that my IDE circuit is no longer working.

I have 3 vacant SATA slots so I propose getting a SATA CD Burner/Player to replace the current one - I'll get Blu-ray if they're available, and then retrieve the data from the second drive by putting it in an external USB/Firewire case, of which I have several.

I'm not sure if I will have to do any BIOS adjustments to recognise a new Boot situation.

I don't have any vacant PCI slots, so a PCI/IDE card is not an option.

It's Sunday morning, so I'll go and see what Dick Smith Electronics has to offer ....