inherited old(ish) system won't see CD-Rom in drive - Page 2

Chai · 24th Sep 2007, 08:47 AM

So you think it's a CD issue?

fiddler · 26th Sep 2007, 02:47 AM

Thanks for checking up on this thread guys

Well, now I just don't know

I switched the HD for an old 40GB one that had W98 on it. It booted fine. So I thought maybe I'll try loading XP on to that and see what happens. All started well, CD drive being read OK, so I aborted and put back the original HD. Fine - installed XP off the original Recovery CD from Evesham (now I've got an untouched version of XP SP2

), put boot order back to FD - HD - CD drive - installed a wireless adapter, d/loaded and installed AVG and ZoneAlarm and began Windows Update, whereupon every time it prompted to Restart, system would close, but then die, and only boot into Windows after several attempts at switching off and on, and then even BIOS wouldn't start sometimes, or would say it was in safe mode because settings might be wrong. Got SP2 installed finally in the end but the whole boot procedure is very flakey. I tried a different cable but no joy (although it's not exactly the same - this was from the W98 machine and has 40 pin holes rather than the 39 plus one blank as the other, but seemed to fit OK).....
now I've just returned after an hour or so leaving it off, plugged back the original cable and it booted up first time into XP - no BIOS safe mode warning or any of that crap. I'll try another reboot after supper - pasta with meat sauce cooked by Olly for us tonight

These kids have their uses I suppose - hope you're sowing the right seeds there Adrian

fiddler

Adrian Wong · 26th Sep 2007, 02:58 AM

Would be advisable to go with the newer 40-pin, 80-conductor cables. Many of the older 40-conductor cables are becoming quite flakey.

LOL!!! Well, I think I will hold off for now. Kids are EXPENSIVE!

fiddler · 26th Sep 2007, 07:15 AM

Trying all sorts of different ways of booting - what never works is to turn off and on again pretty fast. The latest successful boot was when I switched off, waited a bit, switched the power on at the back, waited for another 10 mins or so then powered on. But that may have been coincidence.
I've been googling a bit though - it seems that the Asus A7V333 doesn't like the AXP1900 (which I've now discovered is the installed CPU) - eg see response no 4 on
http://www.rock.computing.net/cpus/w...orum/1331.html
And some think that that these mobos need a healthy power supply - then some think that doesn't help.
It's a bit worrying that I get the "Updated ESCD successfully" message - that could be a precursor of the mobo failing altogether, as happened to someone on that discussion board.
Maybe I'll try updating the BIOS, something I've never done before because you hear scare stories...
Or maybe just get a new mobo. Then that means new CPU, and can I match a mobo to existing RAM....?

Ah well, time for a little wine, then bed.

fiddler

Chai · 26th Sep 2007, 09:13 AM

I don't know, could it be leaking capacitors?

Adrian Wong · 26th Sep 2007, 07:38 PM

Hmm.. Yeah, check the capacitors on the motherboard. See if they are bulging.. or even leaking.

Oh, don't worry about the Updated ESCD Successfully message. It's not an error message.

Ahhh.. Updating the BIOS, IMHO, is always a good idea. I fix many problems just by updating the BIOS. If you need instructions, we have them in this guide here - http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=93&pgno=0

fiddler · 26th Sep 2007, 10:38 PM

Checked the capacitors - all the tops seem ok, no discolouration, distortion, and nothing leaking at the board end.
Flashed the BIOS v 1005-1007 using the supplied CD-rom software; a very easy job, all on line; I didn't bother with a save to floppy or with Aflash.exe (

).
No apparent change in the symptoms.
Next thing to try is a more powerful PSU (current is 250W) I guess.
Thanks again for the support you guys

Hey have look at my amateurish website! Bits of music from much of the family for you to enjoy perhaps.
www.milesgolding.com

Miles/fiddler

jomuj · 26th Sep 2007, 11:01 PM

Just as a thought, have you tried deleting all the partitions and then reinstalling again? Sometimes it's the simple things that cause the most problems, some funny little setting here or there.

I know it's fairly generic advice, but you could try removing components from the system and replacing them one by one to see if any are faulty.

Also, if it's shutting down after a short period of time, could it be possible that it's an overheating problem? Take a look in your BIOS, there should be a hardware monitor in there somewhere.

fiddler · 27th Sep 2007, 04:13 PM

Thanks jomuj. When I first managed to access the drive I formatted it and made fresh partitions.
There's no problem once it's booted properly - there's no shut down issue.
That's a good idea to remove hardware and replace one by one. Probably unable to do that for a few days now.
BTW I ensured all the fixing points were used - some were empty - in case there was an intermittent shorting out problem or something.

fiddler

Adrian Wong · 27th Sep 2007, 10:43 PM

Oh, so it's working now?

24th Sep 2007, 08:47 AM	#11 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 26,669 Reputation: 3984 Rep Power: 72	So you think it's a CD issue? __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

26th Sep 2007, 02:58 AM	#13 (permalink)
Adrian Wong Da Boss Join Date: 10 Oct 2002 Location: In front of my BenQ Joybook 7000 notebook! Posts: 29,961 Reputation: 2958 Rep Power: 65	Would be advisable to go with the newer 40-pin, 80-conductor cables. Many of the older 40-conductor cables are becoming quite flakey. LOL!!! Well, I think I will hold off for now. Kids are EXPENSIVE! __________________ Dr. Adrian Wong Tech ARP \| Blog @ Tech ARP \| The Free Trade Zone DYKT : The only offshore account I have is at the sand bank? Keep Tech ARP free! Visit our sponsors! We need PROGRAMMERS and TECHNICAL WRITERS! Contact us if you are a hot shot programmer or technical writer! My items for sale : 50x SD Card \| Memory Stick PRO \| Cyclone Energy Saver \| Seiko SS watch \| Tiger/Carlsberg beer jugs \| Travel Speakers \| Motorola V600 \| Nokia N90 SOLD! \| New Lowepro Mini Trekker AW Other items for sale @ the FTZ : Zalman CNPS9500 LED @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7700 Cu @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7000 Cu @ $20 \| Swarovski bracelet watches \| Dell 17" LCD \| Hi-Fi speakers \| English DIVX movies \| HP LaserJet toners! \| Office chairs

26th Sep 2007, 09:13 AM	#15 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 26,669 Reputation: 3984 Rep Power: 72	I don't know, could it be leaking capacitors? __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

26th Sep 2007, 07:38 PM	#16 (permalink)
Adrian Wong Da Boss Join Date: 10 Oct 2002 Location: In front of my BenQ Joybook 7000 notebook! Posts: 29,961 Reputation: 2958 Rep Power: 65	Hmm.. Yeah, check the capacitors on the motherboard. See if they are bulging.. or even leaking. Oh, don't worry about the Updated ESCD Successfully message. It's not an error message. Ahhh.. Updating the BIOS, IMHO, is always a good idea. I fix many problems just by updating the BIOS. If you need instructions, we have them in this guide here - http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=93&pgno=0 __________________ Dr. Adrian Wong Tech ARP \| Blog @ Tech ARP \| The Free Trade Zone DYKT : The only offshore account I have is at the sand bank? Keep Tech ARP free! Visit our sponsors! We need PROGRAMMERS and TECHNICAL WRITERS! Contact us if you are a hot shot programmer or technical writer! My items for sale : 50x SD Card \| Memory Stick PRO \| Cyclone Energy Saver \| Seiko SS watch \| Tiger/Carlsberg beer jugs \| Travel Speakers \| Motorola V600 \| Nokia N90 SOLD! \| New Lowepro Mini Trekker AW Other items for sale @ the FTZ : Zalman CNPS9500 LED @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7700 Cu @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7000 Cu @ $20 \| Swarovski bracelet watches \| Dell 17" LCD \| Hi-Fi speakers \| English DIVX movies \| HP LaserJet toners! \| Office chairs

26th Sep 2007, 11:01 PM	#18 (permalink)
jomuj Official BOG Supporter! Join Date: 30 Aug 2007 Location: The Restaurant At The End Of THe Universe Posts: 39 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	Just as a thought, have you tried deleting all the partitions and then reinstalling again? Sometimes it's the simple things that cause the most problems, some funny little setting here or there. I know it's fairly generic advice, but you could try removing components from the system and replacing them one by one to see if any are faulty. Also, if it's shutting down after a short period of time, could it be possible that it's an overheating problem? Take a look in your BIOS, there should be a hardware monitor in there somewhere. __________________ Coolermaster Wavemaster Case - Asus A8V-Deluxe - PC P&C Silencer 610w - AMD Athlon 3500+ @2.51ghz - Tuniq Tower CPU Cooler(Lapped) - 2gb Crappy Generic DDR-RAM - Sapphire ATi Radeon x1950 Pro 512mb @ 661/756 - Audigy X-Fi Platinum - 19" Viewsonic VX922 - 1 x Western Digital Raptor, 2 x Maxtor 200gb HDD & My Trusty Razer Copperhead Computer upgrade at the end of the Year Hopefully Last edited by jomuj : 27th Sep 2007 at 05:26 PM.

26th Sep 2007, 02:47 AM	#12 (permalink)
fiddler Warming up Join Date: 27 Jan 2006 Location: Herts, UK Posts: 111 Reputation: 570 Rep Power: 8	Thanks for checking up on this thread guys Well, now I just don't know I switched the HD for an old 40GB one that had W98 on it. It booted fine. So I thought maybe I'll try loading XP on to that and see what happens. All started well, CD drive being read OK, so I aborted and put back the original HD. Fine - installed XP off the original Recovery CD from Evesham (now I've got an untouched version of XP SP2 ), put boot order back to FD - HD - CD drive - installed a wireless adapter, d/loaded and installed AVG and ZoneAlarm and began Windows Update, whereupon every time it prompted to Restart, system would close, but then die, and only boot into Windows after several attempts at switching off and on, and then even BIOS wouldn't start sometimes, or would say it was in safe mode because settings might be wrong. Got SP2 installed finally in the end but the whole boot procedure is very flakey. I tried a different cable but no joy (although it's not exactly the same - this was from the W98 machine and has 40 pin holes rather than the 39 plus one blank as the other, but seemed to fit OK)..... now I've just returned after an hour or so leaving it off, plugged back the original cable and it booted up first time into XP - no BIOS safe mode warning or any of that crap. I'll try another reboot after supper - pasta with meat sauce cooked by Olly for us tonight These kids have their uses I suppose - hope you're sowing the right seeds there Adrian fiddler

26th Sep 2007, 07:15 AM	#14 (permalink)
fiddler Warming up Join Date: 27 Jan 2006 Location: Herts, UK Posts: 111 Reputation: 570 Rep Power: 8	Trying all sorts of different ways of booting - what never works is to turn off and on again pretty fast. The latest successful boot was when I switched off, waited a bit, switched the power on at the back, waited for another 10 mins or so then powered on. But that may have been coincidence. I've been googling a bit though - it seems that the Asus A7V333 doesn't like the AXP1900 (which I've now discovered is the installed CPU) - eg see response no 4 on http://www.rock.computing.net/cpus/w...orum/1331.html And some think that that these mobos need a healthy power supply - then some think that doesn't help. It's a bit worrying that I get the "Updated ESCD successfully" message - that could be a precursor of the mobo failing altogether, as happened to someone on that discussion board. Maybe I'll try updating the BIOS, something I've never done before because you hear scare stories... Or maybe just get a new mobo. Then that means new CPU, and can I match a mobo to existing RAM....? Ah well, time for a little wine, then bed. fiddler

26th Sep 2007, 10:38 PM	#17 (permalink)
fiddler Warming up Join Date: 27 Jan 2006 Location: Herts, UK Posts: 111 Reputation: 570 Rep Power: 8	Checked the capacitors - all the tops seem ok, no discolouration, distortion, and nothing leaking at the board end. Flashed the BIOS v 1005-1007 using the supplied CD-rom software; a very easy job, all on line; I didn't bother with a save to floppy or with Aflash.exe ( ). No apparent change in the symptoms. Next thing to try is a more powerful PSU (current is 250W) I guess. Thanks again for the support you guys Hey have look at my amateurish website! Bits of music from much of the family for you to enjoy perhaps. www.milesgolding.com Miles/fiddler

27th Sep 2007, 04:13 PM	#19 (permalink)
fiddler Warming up Join Date: 27 Jan 2006 Location: Herts, UK Posts: 111 Reputation: 570 Rep Power: 8	Thanks jomuj. When I first managed to access the drive I formatted it and made fresh partitions. There's no problem once it's booted properly - there's no shut down issue. That's a good idea to remove hardware and replace one by one. Probably unable to do that for a few days now. BTW I ensured all the fixing points were used - some were empty - in case there was an intermittent shorting out problem or something. fiddler

27th Sep 2007, 10:43 PM	#20 (permalink)
Adrian Wong Da Boss Join Date: 10 Oct 2002 Location: In front of my BenQ Joybook 7000 notebook! Posts: 29,961 Reputation: 2958 Rep Power: 65	Oh, so it's working now? __________________ Dr. Adrian Wong Tech ARP \| Blog @ Tech ARP \| The Free Trade Zone DYKT : The only offshore account I have is at the sand bank? Keep Tech ARP free! Visit our sponsors! We need PROGRAMMERS and TECHNICAL WRITERS! Contact us if you are a hot shot programmer or technical writer! My items for sale : 50x SD Card \| Memory Stick PRO \| Cyclone Energy Saver \| Seiko SS watch \| Tiger/Carlsberg beer jugs \| Travel Speakers \| Motorola V600 \| Nokia N90 SOLD! \| New Lowepro Mini Trekker AW Other items for sale @ the FTZ : Zalman CNPS9500 LED @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7700 Cu @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7000 Cu @ $20 \| Swarovski bracelet watches \| Dell 17" LCD \| Hi-Fi speakers \| English DIVX movies \| HP LaserJet toners! \| Office chairs