# Disk Drive Unable to Run Disk



## PCRYJ

I recently encountered a VERY troublesome issue with my disk drive where it is unable to run a CD or DVD.  The situation is that I put a disk into the drive, close the drive, it reads the disk but nothing happens.  Nothing pops up.  Everytime I put a disk into my disk drive, my computer semi-freezes.  I am able to open folders, but If I try to connect to the Internet or I am currently trying to go to my homepage and I put a disk into the drive, it will stop UNTIL I take the disk out of the drive.  Right when I open my disk drive, my computer goes back to normal.  Another thing, if I have a disk in my disk drive when I'm booting up my computer, my computer will stop at a black screen right before the Windows Vista Welcome Screen.  Again, until I open my disk drive, my computer will not load to my desktop.  

...So I bought a new disk drive thinking it's the drive's fault.  The new disk drive acts the same exact way as the old one.  So now I know it is some other hardware or software piece that is causing this problem.  
---If anyone knows how I can fix this problem, or if anyone has any helpful suggestions or solutions, it would be greatly appreciated! 

My Computer Specifications:

-Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
-Nvidia 8800GTX
-ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe Gaming Motherboard
-700W FSP Group PSU


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## PC eye

Is this an ide or sata type optical drive? For ide one likely problem would be the jumper setting on the drive itself being in the wrong position. That will pull a system down when going to use it. A bad cable can also cause a few problems as well.

If you are running the drive at the end of the ide cable it should be set as master there and slave on hte center. That would be the first thing to look at there.


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## PCRYJ

The drive is an IDE drive.  I tried using a different cable and I get the same issues.
- I will check the jumper settings.


*Also, what do you mean by running the drive at the end of the ide cable.  - What's the hte center?


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## PC eye

Is that set as slave to the hard drive on the first or mastered on the second ide channel? The end of a cable sees the jumper set to master or MA. M while the center of the ide cable is for the slave or SL, SA setting there. You'll have to excuse the slight typo made earlier. hte center being center connector = the center of the cable(oops!   )


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## PCRYJ

Ok, so I have the jumper in the middle, and I'm using the end IDE connector.


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## PC eye

On the drive's casing or at the rear right above or below or on one side of the opening where you see the two rows of pins there should be an indication for which position is for setting the drive as master. On many optical drives that would be a small diagram printed on label even. 

The letter M or MA refers to master where you need to set the small cap to. On some drives the master will be at the center while others see that at the end of the rows of pins. If set correctly and still seeing the same problem try slaving it on the other cable used for the other ide socket in case that is the problem. 

That would likely point to the socket or some othe board problem being seen. If you don't have any ide hard drive and that is on the primary try mastering it on the secondary cable. Two bad drives in a row? not so likely! Two bad cables? possible if they are old ones simply lying around and now hardened up. Bad contacts on the board? always possible.


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## PCRYJ

Here's my drive configuration:

- I have 2 harddrives, one's a master drive and the other slave. - both are SATA.
- I have 1 optical drive set as "Primary IDE Slave" occording to my BIOS. - this is connected to my motherboard by an IDE cable.  Also, on the back of this drive there are no markings to indicate which pins are Master and Slave.  All I know is that when I received the drive it came with the jumper in the middle.  

- I will get back to you after testing the drive configurations.


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## PCRYJ

Ok, so I found the markings on the top of the drive and I set the disk drive to Master.  I am also using a different cable and I get the same problems stated in my first post.


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## PCRYJ

I have tried the 6 possible disk drive configurations and each time I get the same problem.  

I tried:

1. Master - End of Cable
2. Master - Middle of Cable
3. Slave - End of Cable
4. Slave - Middle of Cable
5. Cable Select - End of Cable
6. Cable Select - Middle of Cable

Everytime I put the disk in, the drive reads the disk and it CONTINUES to read and read and read, but nothing happens.  When I try to right click on the drive icon in My Computer the waiting symbol that replaces the cursor continues until I open the drive.  
I'm not sure what else I can do, and I don't want to have to get a new motherboard to find out that it wasn't the factor causing the problem.


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## PC eye

First the end is always master while the middle is set to slave with optical drives. They are usually more fussy then ide hard drives depending on the board. In prebuilt systems the cable select position is used on hard drives there often. Drives generally are shipped set to cable select.

The specifications show that board has two not simply one ide connector on the board. You could try mastering the drive on the second slot to see how things go there. The Primary ide slave points to a drive on the middle connector on the primary ide channel. 

With the drive mastered at the end you should be seeing Primary master rather then that on the post screen. That's why the idea now would be trying it on the secondary to see if the board has a bad slot since drives and cables have been ruled out.


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## PCRYJ

Ok so I used the other IDE connector("SEC_IDE") on my motherboard and I put the drive into Master and everything works fine!
- Does this mean that the other IDE connector doesn't work and is broken? 

- Thank you so much for all of your suggestions and time!


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## PC eye

You could have a bad slot seen there. This was one reason for trying the secondary to see how things would go. Having tried different cables, drives, and jumper combinations that was the last place to look for a fault. 

On the cables you are using do you see a locking tab at the center of the plug? On some flat ribbon cables that seems to be missing at times. Those are usually there to insure plugging the end in one way only. But some are found without a locking tab. That would be about the only thing other then a bad socket to look at there.


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## StrangleHold

PCRYJ said:


> I recently encountered a VERY troublesome issue with my disk drive where it is unable to run a CD or DVD. The situation is that I put a disk into the drive, close the drive, it reads the disk but nothing happens. Nothing pops up. Everytime I put a disk into my disk drive, my computer semi-freezes. I am able to open folders, but If I try to connect to the Internet or I am currently trying to go to my homepage and I put a disk into the drive, it will stop UNTIL I take the disk out of the drive. Right when I open my disk drive, my computer goes back to normal. Another thing, if I have a disk in my disk drive when I'm booting up my computer, my computer will stop at a black screen right before the Windows Vista Welcome Screen. Again, until I open my disk drive, my computer will not load to my desktop.
> 
> ...So I bought a new disk drive thinking it's the drive's fault. The new disk drive acts the same exact way as the old one. So now I know it is some other hardware or software piece that is causing this problem.
> ---If anyone knows how I can fix this problem, or if anyone has any helpful suggestions or solutions, it would be greatly appreciated!
> 
> My Computer Specifications:
> 
> -Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
> -Nvidia 8800GTX
> -ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe Gaming Motherboard
> -700W FSP Group PSU


 
Go to your Control Panel- Systems- Hardware- Device Manager. Go down to your IDE Controllers, hit the + for the drop down and find the one that the drive is on and see what Mode its running in. It should be either running in DMA or UDMA/Ultra DMA. If its running in PIO Mode select DMA/UDMA and then reboot.


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## PCRYJ

Both cables had those tabs.  Do you think putting the cable in the wrong way could have damaged the pins?


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## PC eye

With both seeing the usual tabs you would have had problems plugging them in. Forcing a plug in would likely see pins bent. But you would have known right away with the plugs having the one way locking tabs. 

The sockets on the board itself have recesses for the tabs on the one side to prevent reverse plugging. The only way you would see a cable without a locking would be pulling an old cable out of a storage box where some old ide cables lacked it. Those were rare even several years having been made by 3rd parties not seen included with boards.


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## SBIGGS

I'm having the same proble, but it's with an old Compaq Presario 4550 P1 and I don't REALLY have to have it, but it would be nice for my kid to use, so I'm all ears.


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## PC eye

On an old system with the typical flat ribbon cables you may simply need to throw in a fresh one or pair. Thay get hardened up after so long and lose conductivity seeing intermittent or simply no results. 

Another thing to look at on any old system is simply the $2-$3 lithium battery on the board itself. Any time after a full year of use those can simply get weak and start seeing the loss of cmos information along with other things.

For new builds here in the last 3-4yrs. the substitution of flat ribbon for Antec's dual nylon covered ide cables allows taking them from one build to the next. The shipping costs equal the retail price for those however!


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