How to set up a Dimension 4700 XPsp2 with new hard drive and 2 DVD Burners ?

Question

I have recently installed a 500 gb Seagate hard drive and a new Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-112D. I installed Win XP sp2 and most of my backed up programs. These seem to work well on the hard drive. But when I right click on either DVD drive in My Computer I most often wind up with a frozen My Computer 'not responding.' Clearly something is wrong. Question is what? I am a real neophyte. I set up the Pioneer DVD as the master and the Philips that originally came with the system (Philips DVD+-RW DVD8631) as the slave. They appear in setup, and I can play video and audio on both of them. I have also burned some backup files on the Pioneer drive, but it seemed rather slow. In trying to psyc this out I clearly have learned that I don't know what I am doing. Is there a guidebook or some such that can walk me through setting up drives so there is more clarity in their operation? For example, I don't know what SATAs and PATAs and IDEs and Drive 0s, etc. are. Anyone have any thoughts as to why my computer freezes?   are.

Ignoramus001 · Answer

Jeff, thank you. One last question? How do I enter the BIOS ....F12?

Ignoramus001 · Answer

Thanks for your response, Jeff. The Pioneer is in the top with jumpers set to master and the Philips below it with jumpers set to slave. Should I simply reset the jumpers on both to Cable select?

Predator · Answer

Hi Ignoramus,Dell uses the Cable Select jumper feature, not Master/Slave, so the original 8631 would be on CS, did you change it to Slave? And where is each drive, Top/Middle bay?Best Regards God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,the good fortune to run into the ones I doand the eyesight to tell the difference. CD/RW Link

Predator · Answer

Try that for now, then enter the BIOS and verify that both drives are turned on.

Best Regards

God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do
and the eyesight to tell the difference.

CD/RW Link

Predator · Answer

Hi Ignor,Yes, F2 is correct. Scroll down to Drives; Drive 0 through 3.The 4700 series has only one IDE channel and your hard drive should be on SATA 0, since the IDE channel should have the latter two, Drive 2 and Drive 3 but honestly the specs page on the motherboard is showing the SATA ports listed as SATA 0, SATA 2, skipping SATA 1 for some reason; if this is correct, then the IDE channel would be Drive 3 and Drive 4.Sorry for the confusion but Dell`s Manuals lately have some misleading information.Best Regards God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,the good fortune to run into the ones I doand the eyesight to tell the difference. CD/RW Link Message Edited by Predator on 11-13-2007 09:02 AM

Ignoramus001 · Answer

Thanks again, Jeff. Is the BIOS what I enter when I press F2 (system setup) on start-up? If so, how do I know if the drivers are turned on? If I can see the hardware listed? If not, how do I enter the BIOS as you suggest and know the drivers are on? Feeling better thanks to you, Ignoramus 001

Predator · Answer

Sorry for the delay Ignor, having a little problem accessing Dell`s Manual.

Here you go:
4700 series

Best Regards

God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,
the good fortune to run into the ones I do
and the eyesight to tell the difference.

CD/RW Link

Message Edited by Predator on 11-12-2007 10:06 PM

Ignoramus001 · Answer

Hi Jeff; I did as you suggested, putting both DVDs on select, reinstalled them, checked the drivers. Both DVDs show up in my computer. I can right click on the top (Pioneer Drive) and get its menu, but when I right click on the Philips drive 'My computer' freezes to the not responding state. I note that its light is on (blank DVD inserted). Noticing that we are using both SATA and PATA hookups, I changed the Drive Controller from 'normal' to 'compatible'. Initially the two drives did not show in My Computer. And hardware had yellow ! on the DVDs. Troubleshooting said the drivers couldn't load because they were still in memory (38); so I uninstalled them and restarted. The DVD drives show up, but the same result. It must be something else. Any other thoughts?

Predator · Answer

Hi Ignor,One quick question, when you reinstalled your Operting System, did you install the Intel Chipset drivers? If not, then please do so; If you did, then we move on.Verify that both drives are running in DMA mode, (UDMA-2) and not PIO mode. Section 15, articles 14 & 17 of the CD/RW link in my post. If they are in DMA mode, then......Lets start fresh, if the drives are showing up in Device Manager, select one click Uninstall; then select the other, click Uninstall, shutdown. Disconnect both drives from the IDE cable, leave them off and restart Window, let Windows load normally, then shutdown once more. One of my peers mentioned having a Pioneer Drive and they seemed to have better luck using the Master jumper than Cable Select, but when trouble shooting since Dell recommends/uses the Cable Select feature we tend to go their route. For now, since it is on Cable Select, attach the 'End' connection of the IDE cable to the drive and leave the 8631 off.Turn the system on and test the Pioneer. Does the drive work OK?Next test the 8631 drive as the only device on the IDE cable cable 'End' connection.I just had a recent thread where another Member had a drive die just as he was replacing one. Does the 8631 drive work OK?Best Regards God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,the good fortune to run into the ones I doand the eyesight to tell the difference. CD/RW Link Message Edited by Predator on 11-13-2007 09:16 AM

Ignoramus001 · Answer

Thanks again, Jeff; My device manager shows two IDE Channels....both say Primary. That seems strange but what do I know? Perhaps because they are on the same cable? The info on them when I right click and select properties Advanced Settings may tell us something... is as follows:   First one - Device 0 Device Type                          (Auto Detection greyed out) Transfer Mode                       DMA if available Current Transfer Mode          Ultra DMA Mode 5   Device 1 Device Type                           Auto Detection Transfer Mode                       DMA if available Current Transfer Mode           Not Applicable   No tab for Resources     Second One - Device 0 Device Type                           (Auto detection greyed out) Transfer Mode                        DMA if available Current Transfer Mode           Ultra DMA Mode 2   Device 1 Device Type                           (Auto detection greyed out) Transfer Mode                        DMA if available Current Transfer Mode           Ultra DMA Mode 2   Resources - Shows I/O Range and IRQ setting   O.K. - Now I have removed the IDE cables and rebooted. It said it found new hardware and installed something? It had me restart it. Then I shut it down and hooked up the Philips drive. It hung up. (I have always suspected that drive; it is going in the trash.) The new Pioneer drive seems to work well; so I'll stick with that one just for the time being. Thank you again for your help. I suspect that the Philips was a lemon from day 1 (about 3 years ago) Ignoramus001

Predator · Answer

Hi Ignoramus,The first listing is your Hard drive, looks good.The Second listing is for the optical drives and both are running in UDMA-2, which again is good.Glad the Pioneer is working fine. As for the 8631 drive, Also if you are out of warranty or do care about the 8631, there is a hacked firmware update that converts the Philips to a BenQ.If you like to tinker, same CD/RW link, Section 5-1 and review the steps from Dave.If you decide to give it a try, I would disconnect my Pioneer from the IDE cable and flash the 8631 as the only device, old saying better safe than sorry ;) !!Best Regards! God, grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,the good fortune to run into the ones I do and the eyesight to tell thedifference. CD/RW Link

Storage, Drives & Media

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