internal dvd-writer in external firewire casing stopped working on latitude c840

Question

hi i bought a NEC ND-1300A DVD-Writer and installed it in a Sarotech FCD-524 casing. the case is connected via firewire to my latitude c840 running winXP SP1. everything worked fine. suddenly the drive didn't show up anymore in my Computer or anywhere else. it's like it isn't even connected to the laptop. it tested the drive and casing on a latitude c810 and everything worked fine. i tested my firewire port with the dell utility and the port seems to work as well. has anyone got a clue what happend and how i can get my drive working again?

Karell · Answer

Muellerm, Thank you for using the Dell Community Forum. The 1394 port on the system is a 4-pin firewire port. This means the port does not provide any type of power. Is the external drive self powered? Does it have it's own AC adapter?

muellerm · Answer

yes, it has its own power supply. the thing is, it once worked. but now, windows doesn't 'see' the drive anymore and there hasn't been any soft- or hardware changes.

mrdat · Answer

I'm sure you have rebooted with or without the drive connected... right?

muellerm · Answer

i booted with and without the drive, searched for new hardware, etc. the result was always the same. i tested the drive on a latitude c810 on win2000 (which worked perfectly). connected it over usb 1.1 and it got recognized (of course it didn't work because i would need usb2). how can i test my firewire drivers on winxp?

mrdat · Answer

I think you've tried enough... i would say need a replacement mb

muellerm · Answer

fantastic. but why did dell diagnostics tell me the port is ok? and how did i kill my mb?

muellerm · Answer

:-) i guess i'm calling dell tomorrow. i just hoped it was a software problem (you can never tell with windows). thanks for the help

mrdat · Answer

I do not believe 100% in diags unless they do fail... it's like taking your car to the shop and it not making that Wickity Wack Wickity Wack Wickity Wack  noise.

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