This post is more than 5 years old
14 Posts
0
17949
Dimension 4600 can't recognize CD/DVD drives
My 4600 running Windows XP (and now dual botting with Ubuntu) can't read my two CD drives. One is the original drive. What I did was put in a hard drive from an older dell and it runs OK. At one time it did recognize the drive, after I did a regedit. But then I swapped that drive out for a DVD burner, which wouldn't work. Swapped back and the original wouldn't work. Now I have both in there. The jumpers are right, the ribbon cables are connected tight. Both have power, but the computer BIOS won't recognize them and neither will Windows. I removed anything that might conflict, like Nero and Power DVD. I'm stumped. Anybody?
rdunnill
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
8.8K Posts
1
August 28th, 2012 00:00
The tech at CompUSA needs some remedial training -- I had a Gigabyte H67 microATX with Core i3 CPU installed in a Dimension 3000 chassis. (The B110/1100/2400/3000/4600/4700 all share the same chassis and front panel wiring.) And, to finish it, I modified the front audio connector to fit a standard 2x5 header. To top it off, I had the 2tb hard drive set up for a Windows 7/OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard/Ubuntu triple boot. (Yes, I had what was probably the world's only Dell Dimension 3000 Hackintosh.)
The main concern is that the cables are short and may not reach the headers on some boards. The Gigabyte 1155 board (with UEFI BIOS and solid capacitors) I used didn't have that problem.
Skybird
10.9K Posts
0
August 24th, 2012 20:00
To what position are the jumpers on the optical drives set to?
Skybird
10.9K Posts
0
August 25th, 2012 09:00
Cable Select is the correct position. Did you try each drive alone with that drive connected to the end connector of the IDE cable? The fact that nothing shows in the BIOS could indicate one of the drives is bad or the IDE cable may be a problem.
lloydb
14 Posts
0
August 25th, 2012 09:00
Both are set as CS, which is what all the material I have read recommends for most products but especially Dell.
lloydb
14 Posts
0
August 25th, 2012 10:00
I amsure both work and have tried both drives individually at the end connection. I even updated to the latest BIOS. The setup does says no CD installed and does not give me an option to boot to one. I'm also thinking cable at this point and I'm getting ready to go to Radio Shack, which is nearby. Not sure they will even carry old gear like that. I can get it online for 50 cents but probably $5 to ship. Thanks for the response.
Skybird
10.9K Posts
0
August 25th, 2012 10:00
I agree with trying the cable since the drives do not show in the BIOS. Let us know your progress.
lloydb
14 Posts
0
August 25th, 2012 12:00
Well, the $5 cable from Radio Shack didn't help. According to Device Manager PCI Simple Communications Controller is missing a driver and doesn't work. I think that has something to do with the drives, but I don't know where to get a driver. I have an external CD and could install it if I had one. I'm getting a headache.
Skybird
10.9K Posts
0
August 25th, 2012 12:00
I don't know how that affects CD drives. Do a search for 'PCI Simple Communications Controller'. You will find a number of downloads for this.
My Bing search found ........ www.bing.com/search
lloydb
14 Posts
0
August 25th, 2012 14:00
I don't think it is the PCI driver. And I can find XP drivers for CD drives. But how can I install a driver if the Device Manager can't even see the drive? I don't think it is a driver problem. I'm darned if I know what it could be. I can't fathom how a motherboard and BIOS can "lose" a device it used before. I don't care that much about Windows because I may wipe it anyway but It is a problem if Ubuntu can't find and use the drives. (On the other hand I probably could buy an IDE burner cheap and put it in but if it doesn't recognize that either, then what/) What really perturbs me is that Dell makes their cases so that you can't replace the mother board. What's up with that, anyway?
rdunnill
6 Professor
6 Professor
•
8.8K Posts
0
August 26th, 2012 15:00
The 4600 motherboard is micro-ATX, although the chassis front audio port connector is of the Soundblaster type. (The port itself is standard Intel HD.)
lloydb
14 Posts
0
August 27th, 2012 03:00
But can you replace it with a micro board from Asus or Broadcom or whatever? I was told you can't. Only Dell motherboards will fit in Dell cases. (That came from a tech at CompUSA)
lloydb
14 Posts
0
August 28th, 2012 06:00
Thank you. In that case, they ripped me off so that I would buy a $40 case from them. It will be the last thing. I could have saved a lot of time and money putting my new Asus motherboard and AMD FX4100 processor in the old Dell case, which already had all the drives I need. I also combined what was left of the 4600 with a 3100 so that I have a spare Ubuntu computer that dual boots with Windows XP. That is the one with the CD drive recognition problems. Again, thanks rdunnill and others