Win 98 Desktop Loses CD&DVD Drives

My cd and dvd drives power up during the post and open when the button is pressed but they do not run cd's and do not appear in My Computer. They are in device manager but only the cd drive reports it is working. The dvd has a ! and reports no driver. I have deleted both in Device Manager and rebooted. It appears that windows sees both devices as new hardware and installs drivers, but the problem remains. Any suggestions would save what little hair I have left at this point

Hi bagelanne Should we believe that both Drives have functioned correctly in the recent past, but have recently failed? Since Win98 does "find" the hardware and attempt to install drivers, it is unlikely that the IDE ribbon connector has vibrated loose, or that the power connectors have done the same. But it may be worth checking them. You've taken the correct first steps in problem-solving. At present, I'm presuming that the CD-ROM shows "Functioning correctly" and that the DVD-ROM still has a (!) warning displayed in Device Manager? Are either of these Drives R-W (Read-Write) capable, or are they simply ROM (Read only Memory) for playing but not writing to CD or DVD disk? I'd next look in BIOS to determine, not only that they are each being Recognized, but that they are being recognized accurately. Each/both should be recognized as either "Auto-Detect" or as "Auto". Other options for detection that you WOULD NOT Want: (None) (ATAPI removable) (User) Some of the Configuration options that you may see in BIOS - Advanced - IDE Configuration inclued: (auto) (ATAPI Removable) (CD-ROM) (IDE Removable) (Other ATAPI) (User) The most desireable detection would be (Auto), such that the BIOS will read from the CD/DVD devices and set the appropriate configuration according to what the Device itself has listed in its firmware. Other "possible" detection configurations "might" be (CD-ROM) (Other ATAPI) (User). However, these settings will require that you know the required settings for the device and enter them manually. What is needed at this point is the actually "current" configuration setting" description You should see something like the following: to display these settings Go into your BIOS -Advanced- IDE Configuration - IDE Controller PRIMARY MASTER - IDE Device - (your hard drive) PRIMARY (SLAVE) - IDE Device - (if you have a second Hard Drive) SECONDARY MASTER - IDE Device - (either your CD-ROM or your DVD) SECONDARY (SLAVE) - IDE Device - (either your CD-ROM or your DVD) Click on the device listing for your CD-ROM and write down the current setting descriptor Click on the device listing for your DVD and write down the current setting descriptor. (include this information in your next reply her in this thread) Specifically about your DVD Device. Win98 will "recognize" a DVD Device, but install it as CD-ROM hardware. To activate the "DVD" functionality, the owner/user must install additional driver software that came with the DVD Device, or which is on the Device Support CD that may have come with your machine. DVD Devices have a variety of DVD driver software. Two possible brands are InterActual, and PowerDVD. You must install the one that goes with your DVD unit in order for it to have DVD functionality. If either of your optical devices also has RW Read-Write capability you will have to install the appropriate software to enable that functionality (examples: EasyCreator 5, Nero, Sonic) Please keep us posted with your progress. Best Regards Click

Thanks so much for answering my SOS. I want to answer the questions and issues you raised but first need to say that business will take me out of town until Sunday. I hope you will bear with me until I return.
You wrote:
Should we believe that both Drives have functioned correctly in the recent past, but have recently failed?
Yes, the dvd and cd worked until someone brought a cd of photos to show me on my computer and nothing would work.
You wrote:
IDE ribbon connector has vibrated loose, or that the power connectors
Yes I have reset both
You wrote:
Are either of these Drives R-W (Read-Write) capable,

The cd is read only but the dvd is read/write
You wrote:
I'd next look in BIOS to determine
That is one of the problems. During the POST I see the bios sees the HD and CD-ROM, but I cannot get into the bios beyond that display because it is apparently passwork protected (not by me)

One other thing I noticed that may be relevant, when I look in Device Manager, he drives are not listed under cd drives. They are listed as 2 ide devices with an ide controller under the heading of "Drives"

BIOS is Password Protected, and apparenty not by you??? Yikes. This will change the picture of our approach significantly. Have a nice "away time" until Sunday, and please consider who might have done that service of Password protecting you BIOS for you. If you can obtain the password, it will help immensely, now and in your future use/maintenance of your machine. Best Regards

Hi BagelAnne,

That is one of the problems. During the POST I see the bios sees the HD and CD-ROM, but I cannot get into the bios beyond that display because it is apparently passwork protected (not by me)

One other thing I noticed that may be relevant, when I look in Device Manager, he drives are not listed under cd drives. They are listed as 2 ide devices with an ide controller under the heading of "Drives"

Both "optical devices" are ATAPI and not IDE Drives. They should be listed in Win98 Device Manager under CD ROM.

Question: Regarding the supposed "password protection" of BIOS. Have you identified the Keyboard key input that is listed during POST to enter BIOS Setup? Usually it's F2 or F12, or Esc, or DEL. Does pressing one of those keys immediately during post take you to BIOS Setup? Do you actually get a screen asking you to enter a PASSWORD? If you leave it empty and just select - Enter, can you get further into BIOS.


So, What to do?

Well, if it were me, I'd physically disconnect the IDE ribbons and power supply connectors from both optical devices. I'd then Re-boot my machine (without the optical drives connected) so that the machine "experiences" that there are no optical drives. I'd then turn off the machine again and re-connect just one of the optical drive's IDE ribbons and power supply connectors. Then I'd Re-boot so that BIOS would "see" new hardware, and Windows would then "find new Hardware" and "install drivers for new hardware". If that was successful, I'd repeat the process for the second optical drive.

Please keep us posted with your progess.

Best Regards