CD Re-Writer stalling hard drive

seanymac · 07-21-2004, 09:16 AM

Hi, I'm new to this forum but was just wondering if anyone has any idea why my cd re-writer just randomly starts to tick away every two minutes or so (even though its empty) and then temporarily freezing my screen for about a minute. It's weird because it only seems to do it when the machines been on for a while. Very very annoying. Pretty sure its not a virus, though I'm not what you would call a techy (just a lowly web animator I'm afraid). My machine is a

Packard Bell Pentium 4 Processor
GenuineIntel Family 15 Model 0 1.5
Bios: PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0, 06/08/01
Mem: 383 MB
HD: 20MB

Could it have anything to do with the temperature? The CD Drives are giving off a hell of a lot of heat. Got it all Antivirused-up and firewalls etc but I know sometimes that doesn't mean much. Don't want to come across as being totally stupid but anyone got any ideas? Would be really appreciated.

greyknight17 · 07-21-2004, 10:03 AM

Welcome to TSF.

Are the drivers installed correctly for the burner? I would go into your Device Manager to make sure. You might also want to remove it anyway and reboot. Then reinstall the drivers to see if it still runs for no apparent reason.

07-21-2004, 06:18 PM

Hi,

You need to take a look at ribbon cables and jumpers:

The master and slave jumpers must be set up correctly on your drives as displayed on the top of each drive.

DO NOT mix master and slave with CS (cable select) on the same ribbon cable. If one is Master the other MUST be slave. If one is Cable Select the other one on the same ribbon cable must be Cable Select. (Please note that the majority of hard drives are factory default as Cable Select)

Make sure the drive is placed correctly on the ribbon cable as shown below:

M
O
T
H ==Ribbon Cable=== Slave ===Master (end of cable)
E
R ..................................„» OR „º
B
O == Ribbon Cable==Cable Select==Cable Select (end of cable)
A ..............................( as Slave)……. ( as Master)
R
D

Ribbon Cables and colors of 80 pin cables look and are to be used like this:

Motherboard============Slave==============Master
………......Blue…..………….……..Gray.....……….………………Black
.
Make sure a master is always present, because you can not run a slave without a master.

Cables must be the 80 conductor cables and never any more than 18” long.

A friend recently told me that with Western Digital if it is the only drive on the cable, the jumper will need to be removed ( try removing the jumper and connect the drive by itself on the IDE channel ) I don’t have Western Digital so I can’t verify this, but might be worth a try

Please note thatt the floppy cable red mark is put on opposite as the regular hard drivers. Otherwise, the red mark faces away from you as you work in the case or you could say it faces the power source for the drive.

Please let us know if you have other questions or need more assistance.

07-21-2004, 09:16 AM	#1 (permalink)
seanymac Registered User Join Date: Jul 2004 Posts: 1 OS: 2000 Prof	CD Re-Writer stalling hard drive Hi, I'm new to this forum but was just wondering if anyone has any idea why my cd re-writer just randomly starts to tick away every two minutes or so (even though its empty) and then temporarily freezing my screen for about a minute. It's weird because it only seems to do it when the machines been on for a while. Very very annoying. Pretty sure its not a virus, though I'm not what you would call a techy (just a lowly web animator I'm afraid). My machine is a Packard Bell Pentium 4 Processor GenuineIntel Family 15 Model 0 1.5 Bios: PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0, 06/08/01 Mem: 383 MB HD: 20MB Could it have anything to do with the temperature? The CD Drives are giving off a hell of a lot of heat. Got it all Antivirused-up and firewalls etc but I know sometimes that doesn't mean much. Don't want to come across as being totally stupid but anyone got any ideas? Would be really appreciated.

07-21-2004, 10:03 AM	#2 (permalink)
greyknight17 Analyst, Security Team Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: New York Posts: 14,331 OS: Windows 98 & Windows XP Home/Pro My System	Welcome to TSF. Are the drivers installed correctly for the burner? I would go into your Device Manager to make sure. You might also want to remove it anyway and reboot. Then reinstall the drivers to see if it still runs for no apparent reason. __________________ Please do NOT PM me. Post whatever questions you may have in the forum and we will take a look at it when we get to it. If you have waited for more than 3 days, you may then and ONLY then PM me for assistance. I will take a look at it. Adaware :: CWShredder :: HijackThis :: Panda ActiveScan :: Spybot S&D Anti-Spyware Tutorial :: Spyware Prevention Tools

07-21-2004, 06:18 PM	#3 (permalink)
mark3567 Guest Posts: n/a OS:	Hi, You need to take a look at ribbon cables and jumpers: The master and slave jumpers must be set up correctly on your drives as displayed on the top of each drive. DO NOT mix master and slave with CS (cable select) on the same ribbon cable. If one is Master the other MUST be slave. If one is Cable Select the other one on the same ribbon cable must be Cable Select. (Please note that the majority of hard drives are factory default as Cable Select) Make sure the drive is placed correctly on the ribbon cable as shown below: M O T H ==Ribbon Cable=== Slave ===Master (end of cable) E R ..................................„» OR „º B O == Ribbon Cable==Cable Select==Cable Select (end of cable) A ..............................( as Slave)……. ( as Master) R D Ribbon Cables and colors of 80 pin cables look and are to be used like this: Motherboard============Slave==============Master ………......Blue…..………….……..Gray.....……….………………Black . Make sure a master is always present, because you can not run a slave without a master. Cables must be the 80 conductor cables and never any more than 18” long. A friend recently told me that with Western Digital if it is the only drive on the cable, the jumper will need to be removed ( try removing the jumper and connect the drive by itself on the IDE channel ) I don’t have Western Digital so I can’t verify this, but might be worth a try Please note thatt the floppy cable red mark is put on opposite as the regular hard drivers. Otherwise, the red mark faces away from you as you work in the case or you could say it faces the power source for the drive. Please let us know if you have other questions or need more assistance.