Replacing DVD/CD drive

Yes, you can set the jumper on the Pioneer to the Master position if the drive is
placed on the end of the IDE cable.  Then you need to set the jumper on the NEC
drive to the Slave position and it goes in the middle of the IDE cable.

 

If you cannot find the model of your system on the case, you should find it in the

Set-up (BIOS).

I've been checking the Properties of the Samsung and NEC drives, before I replace the Samsung. The Samsung (drive D) is actually the Master drive, and the NEC (drive E) is the Slave drive. I called up the BIOS to check for the model, and looked at the settings while I was there. Also, in Properties, the Samsung is Location 0 (0) and the NEC is Location 1 (1). Since you say the DVD writer should be the Master, was my system set up wrong? Could that have been the cause of the problem I am having with the NEC creating coasters?

Also, the Dell documentation for removing/installing a DVD drive on my system doesn't mention jumpers, and the pictures don't show jumpers. Does this mean the drives I currently have are always on Cable Select? If that's the case, should I set the jumper to Cable Select for the new Pioneer drive?

Sorry for all the questions. I just like to make absolutely positively sure I understand what I'm doing to my system before I do anything :)

BTW, the BIOS simply says Dell - Dimension XPS Series. I finally figured out that when I'm selecting Product Line and Product Model in the support section on the Dell web site, that I need to choose 'XPS Desktop' instead of 'Dimension' for the Product Line, and then I can choose XPS (without any modifiers) in the Product Model listbox. Of course, I usually just type in the Service Tag, but the discrepancy I was having with Product Line & Product Model was bothering me, and I wanted to figure it out :)

Dell uses the Cable Select feature, thus they do not care which
is which.  All Dell system have the optical drive jumpers set to
Cable Select.  It is easy for them to built systems that way.

From experience, I have found that DVD Burners (non-Dell) like to
be the Master.  I have also found that Pioneer drives, most of the
time, like the jumper set to Master. 

My recommendation:  Jumper the Pioneer as Master and place on the
end of the IDE cable.  Jumper the second drive as Slave and place
on the middle of the IDE cable.

See how it works out and we will go from there.

Skybird wrote: >> My recommendation: Jumper the Pioneer as Master and place on the end of the IDE cable. Jumper the second drive as Slave and place n the middle of the IDE cable. <<

Since the Samsung had been the Master, and I was replacing that with the Pioneer, that made the install easier :) I left the NEC drive in it's slot. There are no diagrams in the documention for the jumper settings on the NEC, but I figured it should be like the Pioneer jumpers and moved the switch to Pin #2 on the NEC. The Pioneer has the switch on Pin #1. Removing the Samsung, moving the drive rails to the Pioneer, and installing the Pioneer wasn't too hard. Everything appears to be working fine. I was able to play a music CD, browse a data CD, and watch a DVD movie with the Pioneer. I don't have anything to write to CD or DVD right now, until I do another backup, so haven't tested that yet, but am hopeful there won't be a problem. The Pioneer drive is a LOT quieter than the Samsung was :)

One last question (I hope, hehe)... I use Roxio Easy CD & DVD Creator 6 (I upgraded from 5) for writing to discs. There is a Recording tab in the drive Properties for the recordable cd/dvd drives. Do I need to check the box for 'Enable CD recording on this drive' if I use the Roxio software, or is that only for using Windows to write data to the drive?

Thanks for the help :)

**EDIT: I was wrong, I have another question... I was surprised to see that the Samsung and NEC drives didn't have an audio cable. How is the sound getting played without the audio cable? Does it go through the IDE cable?

The Recording tab in the drive Properties is for the Windows XP
built-in writing program.  You can check the box for 'Enable CD
recording on this drive' even if you use a third-party software.
They will co-exist well togather.

The sound is digital and is transferred along on the IDE cable.
The audio cable was used in the past because the sound was analog.

 

Alrighty, thanks for the info :) You've been very helpful, answering my questions, and I really appreciate it :robotvery-happy: