Trouble installing DVD drive.

mrgeorgedude

New Member
Out of all the computers ive put together, ive never been so stumped. My sister got a DVD burner for her Compaq comp and it had a CD burner in it before. I opened the thing up and put the new drive in place of the old one, but for some reason its not getting power or something.

The weird thing is that when the IDE cable is NOT plugged in to the computer, the drive does get power. Both drives are doing this too so im confused. I cant even get the computer back to the way it was...

To add on to the problems, when i hit the power buttton on the computer, it doesnt show up on the monitor. The LED lights on the computer are going and its obviously running fine, but no monitor....

So is there something im doing terribly wrong?
 
Something is pulling power to ground like the board itself seeing a fault. You most likely had something let go since everything uses a standard one way fit. Did you reverse the ide cable? That would stop the drive from working while the system should start otherwise. Nothing being seen? Do you hear any multiple audio beeps?
 
Something is pulling power to ground like the board itself seeing a fault. You most likely had something let go since everything uses a standard one way fit. Did you reverse the ide cable? That would stop the drive from working while the system should start otherwise. Nothing being seen? Do you hear any multiple audio beeps?

Im a little confused. I am pretty sure the IDE cable is in right. It fits in on the mobo towards the bottom and the part that has 2 plugs on one end of the cable is plugged in to the drive (hope that made sense)...would jumpers or anything like that be able to effect anything?
 
In some cases where you have two hard drives on the primary, mostly 98 saw that more, you would have to set both or the slave to the cable select position. Some prebuilt systems like eMachines especially the single hard drive goes in set to CS there. For optical it's a must to have it set to master(MA) if on the end of the cable or slave(SA or SL) if plugged into the middle connector. On some ide ribbon cables the locking tab is not seen.

You have to go strictly by the number one #1 pin/wire that has the red or white stripe on one side of the cable. If that was switched the drive itself would see problems like the disk tray suddenly coming out. That would be a little of a start at first but more of an annoyance without causing a major headache. The possibility of a fault being seen with the supply now not providing enough power while the lights still come on is another thought before assuming board or cpu failure there. Recheck all power connections.
 
I should probly also mention a detail i left out before...i dropped one of the screws that holds the DVD player in the case, and it went into the processors fan thing...so i took the whole thing off, processsor and all.

While examining it, I noticed some of the prongs got bent somehow on the processor, so i bent them back into position and it felt like it went back onto position. But whoever asembled it in the first place dumped too much of that goo (coolant stuff i think) and it was touching the back of the processors chip...i dont know how long its been like that either.

The drive that came with the computer had jumpers set to cable select...i have no idea if im supposed to move the new one into there, but trying either way i dont get power on the drive.

Thanks for the help..my dad and sister have been getting angry at me for all this so i really hope i get it solved..:( ...i cant help but stress about all of this.
 
If you have never taken a cpu and heat sink off before this you are in big... now! The "goo" you are talking about there is the thermal compound needed for transferring heat off of the cpu to the heat sink to keep the cpu from cooking! The "pins" handled improperly may have seen static off of your hand go into the cpu there. I hope you have a spare case ready. You'll need it!
 
I should probly also mention a detail i left out before...i dropped one of the screws that holds the DVD player in the case, and it went into the processors fan thing...so i took the whole thing off, processsor and all.

While examining it, I noticed some of the prongs got bent somehow on the processor, so i bent them back into position and it felt like it went back onto position. But whoever asembled it in the first place dumped too much of that goo (coolant stuff i think) and it was touching the back of the processors chip...i dont know how long its been like that either.

The drive that came with the computer had jumpers set to cable select...i have no idea if im supposed to move the new one into there, but trying either way i dont get power on the drive.

Thanks for the help..my dad and sister have been getting angry at me for all this so i really hope i get it solved..:( ...i cant help but stress about all of this.

The CPU should be fine if no pins broke and it went in fine, I have installed hundreds of CPUs and never shorted one out touching one:rolleyes: , you do need to replace the compound! You need to set it to master or slave, if theres another drive on the same cable just make sure one is master and one is slave, cable select is buggie at best!
 
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It's "quite common" to see prebuilt systems with drive jumpers set to the cable select position. :rolleyes: Improper handling of any cpu can result in damaging it being a sensitive component to begin with. When going to straighten out the pins what did you use? Using anything conductive like a pair of metal pliers would be ill advised there since that could short across multiple pins.

For reinstalling the thermal compund you will need a good one like Artic Silver 5 and have to run the system and shutdown after so many hours to see the bonding process between the cpu and the heat sink begin there. With stock coolers you would need the replacement for the thermal pad in some cases as well. You put about a raisin sized bead of compound at the center of the cpu after cleaning all of the old paste off in a stirring motion with the tip of the applicator tube to see the silver mix back in with the rest of the compound.

Then simply lower the hsf down evenly to it spread the thin layer needed. Run the system a good 3 to 4hrs. and then shutdown for several like an overnight period of time. Hopefully the cpu is still good.
 
I just used my long fingernails to push them back into position. Could the problem im seeing be the CPU anyways? Like would it make sense cuz im pretty sure its working fine. I really hope i didnt break it cuz then id have to replace it and i really dont want to have to pay for trying to help out my sister. Is this type of thing under a warranty?
 
If the cpu simply dropped in without force you may have gotten away with it there. But generally holding a cpu is done by grabbing the edge only while laying your arms down on the frame of the case for a common ground. That prevents or discharges any esd. When you have the power on can you open the new drive by pressing the button. If you don't see the light come on now and the bay doesn't open that could from a bad controller card on the drive itself.

Generally optical drives are set to master or slave but prebuilt systems seen with cable select are done for "their" reasons. This is often so you have to buy any replacement parts from them or the equivalent. If you are still seeing problems try the CS anyways to see how things go.
 
If the cpu simply dropped in without force you may have gotten away with it there. But generally holding a cpu is done by grabbing the edge only while laying your arms down on the frame of the case for a common ground. That prevents or discharges any esd. When you have the power on can you open the new drive by pressing the button. If you don't see the light come on now and the bay doesn't open that could from a bad controller card on the drive itself.

Generally optical drives are set to master or slave but prebuilt systems seen with cable select are done for "their" reasons. This is often so you have to buy any replacement parts from them or the equivalent. If you are still seeing problems try the CS anyways to see how things go.

I tried that. I put the new drive in and set it to all 3 jumpers and changed the IDE cable in both ways. Still nothing. Weird thing is that the old drive doesnt work with it either now (did before..obviously).

The thing i think is the weirdest is that when the power cord is the drive, it gets power (opens and closes), BUT when the IDE cable is plugged into the computer, it does not get power. So the only way it gets power is when there is no IDE cable plugged in. This happens for both drives (new DVD and old CD drive). So this makes me think it has nothing to do with jumpers or the drive itself.

And thanks for sticking around and helping me PC eye :)
 
If you don't have the ide cable reversed somehow I hope you didn't see something give out on the board. That sounds like the power is going to ground when the cable is plugged in meaning a fault on the board rather then a bad drive. Or the cable needs to be tossed. Do you another cable to try out for this?
 
I just tried my computer's IDE cable. Still doesnt work. :(

And shouldnt the BIOS still show up with a drive or without? Cuz nothing shows up on the monitor
 
If you go back step by step what power connections did you unplug through all of this? Did you unplug the 12v four wire cpu feed? That will stall a system right there for booting as well as conducting the post tests. For the drives to fail to work when plugged in suggests a possible failed ide controller? The thought here is the problem seems more board of cpu related like a pin on the cpu not making the proper contact in the socket or something giving out?
 
If you go back step by step what power connections did you unplug through all of this? Did you unplug the 12v four wire cpu feed? That will stall a system right there for booting as well as conducting the post tests. For the drives to fail to work when plugged in suggests a possible failed ide controller? The thought here is the problem seems more board of cpu related like a pin on the cpu not making the proper contact in the socket or something giving out?

Ya if i had to guess what my problem here is, id have to say something about the CPU. Im pretty sure all the pins went in, but i could be wrong since i cant see in there once its in...well duh.. I would test my CPU on it, but i have a 939 CPU and the compaq is a AM2.

Right now im thinking about our warranty we have on it. Im pretty sure I didnt necessarily break anything myself...and i have no idea what else to do with it.
 
Once you took the hsf and cpu out you just voided any warranty for sure! The main problem from the start was not taking anything apart with a factory warranty on it unless you know precisely how to do things. You put yourself in a bind there. Having "them" install the drive would have prevented the problem you now have. It would be in one of "their" authorized service centers.
 
alright i think im just going to buy a new CPU then. is there any way to prove 100% this is my problem? i dont want to waiste 60-100 bucks on this if its not. would anything else have fried posibly from this too?
 
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