CD-ROM CDRW

On 10/11/2009 06:41 PM, philo wrote:
moe103 wrote:
It is not shown in Device manager.
How do I check if in Bios ?
Thanks



Since the machine is a Compaq


hit the F10 key soon after you turn it on...

there should be a flashing cursor in the upper right hand corner...

if the cdrom is not seen in the bios, it's either bad...jumpered wrong
or has a bad/loose data cable

This additional information may be of use [watch for line wrap]:

Jumper settings - Hard Disks and CD, CDRW, and DVD Drives
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...&product=93123
General BIOS Setup information
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...&product=93123

--
MEB
http://peoplescounsel.org/ref/windows-main.htm
Windows Info, Diagnostics, Security, Networking
http://peoplescounsel.org
The "real world" of Law, Justice, and Government
___---

"moe103" wrote in message
...

I have a Compaq Presario 5184, with Windows 98 OS and it has a Cd-rom
and writer installed . But I can not see either of these when I click
on MY
COMPUTER.I have checked all cables and connections but to no avail.

It is not shown in Device manager.
How do I check if in Bios ?

At cold boot, the BIOS displays sundry information
(including the key to halt the process and present the
BIOS Options menu, F2 in my system) such as a list
of all drives found, including CDs. (On some systems
this may be concealed beyind a showy brand name
display. This can itself be turned off in the BIOS
menu via / Startup Options or something like that.)

The BIOS=Basic Input Output System must be able
to "see" a (CD) drive before the Operating System can
do anything with it. Failure to see a drive suggests
either its connections are wrong or the drive has failed.
(CD drives fail fairly often and are cheap to replace.
It would be very unusual for two CD drives to fail
simultaneously -- but if both were on the same (IDE)
connector this would suggest the fault should be
sought first in the connector.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

"moe103" wrote in message
...

I have a Compaq Presario 5184, with Windows 98 OS and it has a Cd-rom
and writer installed . But I can not see either of these when I click
on MY
COMPUTER.I have checked all cables and connections but to no avail.

It is not shown in Device manager.
How do I check if in Bios ?

At cold boot, the BIOS displays sundry information
(including the key to halt the process and present the
BIOS Options menu, F2 in my system) such as a list
of all drives found, including CDs. (On some systems
this may be concealed beyind a showy brand name
display. This can itself be turned off in the BIOS
menu via / Startup Options or something like that.)

The BIOS=Basic Input Output System must be able
to "see" a (CD) drive before the Operating System can
do anything with it. Failure to see a drive suggests
either its connections are wrong or the drive has failed.
(CD drives fail fairly often and are cheap to replace.
It would be very unusual for two CD drives to fail
simultaneously -- but if both were on the same (IDE)
connector this would suggest the fault should be
sought first in the connector.)

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Hi All:After following Mart's instructions, I was able to get the E drive to
list the contents ,along with the following (Volume in E drive is MS-Ram
drive ) F drive I got an error message and nothing but error, failed.
I then tried to use the E drive to play a CD , but got the old error message
of Not Ready Reading Drive E.
Any place to go from here , or just to do a restore ?
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
Morris
--
moe


"Mart" wrote:

Bearing in mind the age of your Compaq Presario 5184, the chances are that
the CD&DVD-ROMs may have out lived their useful life, as philo alluded
elsewhere - although odd that they should both 'die' together. You say that
you've confirmed the IDE cables etc., and both trays work when their
respective push buttons are pressed.

Did they both disappear together? Perhaps the PC is 'new' to you and the
optical drives have never worked whilst in your possession.

If you're not too sure how to access and work in the BIOS (see philo's post)
and to eliminate Win98, you can also confirm that you can 'see' them in Real
Mode DOS. To do so, Boot, using your Win98 Startup (floppy) Disk in the A:
drive.
Select option 2 (I think). "Start computer with CD-ROM support."

Let the screen information scroll until you eventually see a couple of lines
which should report drive letters for the CD & DVD-ROMs - but note that they
may not necessarily the same letters as you would expect to see in Windows.

For example, you may see the CD & DVD-ROMs, becoming the E:and F: drives
(make a note), so the screen
would show:
Drive E:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 0
Drive F:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 1
Your CD-ROM Is Drive E

(Don't worry that you didn't also see a further line "Your CD-ROM Is Drive
F" - you won't, it will only show the one)

When the boot disk finally settles down, you will be presented with an A:\
prompt.

Now put a CD into the first CD-ROM and at the A:\ prompt, type "E:" (no
quotes and note the colon after the letter E) Then Press Return.

Now, at the E:\ prompt, type "DIR /P" (no quotes and note the space) Then
press Return.

You *should* see a listing of the CD contents.

Try again with the CD in the other drive, this time typing "F:" at the
"E:\" prompt to change drives and at the F:\ prompt type "DIR /P" for the
listing.

Come back with your results. Give EXACT errors reports - if any

Mart



"moe103" wrote in message
...
I have a Compaq Presario 5184, with Windows 98 OS and it has a Cd-rom and
writer installed . But I can not see either of these when I click on MY
COMPUTER.I have checked all cables and connections but to no avail. Both
slides open when the button is pushed .
Anyone know how to correct this ? Is there something missing I am
overlooking.
The hardware was installed by the manufacturer .
Thanks for any help or suggestions .
Moe

--
moe

Hi All:After following Mart's instructions, I was able to get the E drive to
list the contents ,along with the following (Volume in E drive is MS-Ram
drive ) F drive I got an error message and nothing but error, failed.
I then tried to use the E drive to play a CD , but got the old error message
of Not Ready Reading Drive E.
Any place to go from here , or just to do a restore ?
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
Morris
--
moe


"Mart" wrote:

Bearing in mind the age of your Compaq Presario 5184, the chances are that
the CD&DVD-ROMs may have out lived their useful life, as philo alluded
elsewhere - although odd that they should both 'die' together. You say that
you've confirmed the IDE cables etc., and both trays work when their
respective push buttons are pressed.

Did they both disappear together? Perhaps the PC is 'new' to you and the
optical drives have never worked whilst in your possession.

If you're not too sure how to access and work in the BIOS (see philo's post)
and to eliminate Win98, you can also confirm that you can 'see' them in Real
Mode DOS. To do so, Boot, using your Win98 Startup (floppy) Disk in the A:
drive.
Select option 2 (I think). "Start computer with CD-ROM support."

Let the screen information scroll until you eventually see a couple of lines
which should report drive letters for the CD & DVD-ROMs - but note that they
may not necessarily the same letters as you would expect to see in Windows.

For example, you may see the CD & DVD-ROMs, becoming the E:and F: drives
(make a note), so the screen
would show:
Drive E:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 0
Drive F:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 1
Your CD-ROM Is Drive E

(Don't worry that you didn't also see a further line "Your CD-ROM Is Drive
F" - you won't, it will only show the one)

When the boot disk finally settles down, you will be presented with an A:\
prompt.

Now put a CD into the first CD-ROM and at the A:\ prompt, type "E:" (no
quotes and note the colon after the letter E) Then Press Return.

Now, at the E:\ prompt, type "DIR /P" (no quotes and note the space) Then
press Return.

You *should* see a listing of the CD contents.

Try again with the CD in the other drive, this time typing "F:" at the
"E:\" prompt to change drives and at the F:\ prompt type "DIR /P" for the
listing.

Come back with your results. Give EXACT errors reports - if any

Mart



"moe103" wrote in message
...
I have a Compaq Presario 5184, with Windows 98 OS and it has a Cd-rom and
writer installed . But I can not see either of these when I click on MY
COMPUTER.I have checked all cables and connections but to no avail. Both
slides open when the button is pushed .
Anyone know how to correct this ? Is there something missing I am
overlooking.
The hardware was installed by the manufacturer .
Thanks for any help or suggestions .
Moe

--
moe

In message , moe103
writes:
Hi All:After following Mart's instructions, I was able to get the E drive to
list the contents ,along with the following (Volume in E drive is MS-Ram
drive ) F drive I got an error message and nothing but error, failed.
I then tried to use the E drive to play a CD , but got the old error message
of Not Ready Reading Drive E.
Any place to go from here , or just to do a restore ?
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
Morris

The boot floppy will let you use the CD drive with a data CD; I don't
think it provides audio CD playing (or even sound drivers, for that
matter). Trying to read an audio CD would indeed probably give the not
ready message.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
** http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC/JPGminPC.htm for ludicrously
outdated thoughts on PCs. **

If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished!

In message , moe103
writes:
Hi All:After following Mart's instructions, I was able to get the E drive to
list the contents ,along with the following (Volume in E drive is MS-Ram
drive ) F drive I got an error message and nothing but error, failed.
I then tried to use the E drive to play a CD , but got the old error message
of Not Ready Reading Drive E.
Any place to go from here , or just to do a restore ?
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
Morris

The boot floppy will let you use the CD drive with a data CD; I don't
think it provides audio CD playing (or even sound drivers, for that
matter). Trying to read an audio CD would indeed probably give the not
ready message.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
** http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC/JPGminPC.htm for ludicrously
outdated thoughts on PCs. **

If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished!

OK Moe, a slight mystery here :-

... (Volume in E drive is MS-Ram drive )

My guess - and hope! - is that you mean the RAM-Drive is (temporarily)
labelled the D drive.
NB. the RAM-Drive is NOT a physical drive, but rather - as its name
implies - a section of RAM, temporarily earmarked as a 'drive' (probably the
D drive) used only whilst working with the Win98 Startup (floppy) Disk.

(If the RAM-Drive really does show as the E: Drive, then you either have
more than one Hard Drive - or your Hard Drive has more than one partition)

But more importantly, according to your report, DOS has apparently
recognised the (temporary labelled E) D: drive, which is one (probably the
first) of the two optical drives. And, by the way, as J.P.G has suggested
elsewhere, in this mode, you will not be able to play audio CD's - although
you should be able to see a 'file' for each of its tracks when you use the
DIR /P command described earlier. (You are best using data CD's for these
tests)

But then you give misleading reports, as you appear to confuse your drive
letters.

Just to recap, during the boot process (using the Win98 Startup (floppy)
Disk) you should see mention - on the scrolling screen - of the RAM Drive
being designated the D: (or some such letter) drive, then a little later,
you should see something like :-

Drive E:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 0
Drive F:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 1
Your CD-ROM Is Drive E

Do you see these (or similar) reports? If not, describe exactly what you
see.

Mart



"moe103" wrote in message
...
Hi All:After following Mart's instructions, I was able to get the E drive
to
list the contents ,along with the following (Volume in E drive is MS-Ram
drive ) F drive I got an error message and nothing but error, failed.
I then tried to use the E drive to play a CD , but got the old error
message
of Not Ready Reading Drive E.
Any place to go from here , or just to do a restore ?
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
Morris
--
moe


"Mart" wrote:

Bearing in mind the age of your Compaq Presario 5184, the chances are
that
the CD&DVD-ROMs may have out lived their useful life, as philo alluded
elsewhere - although odd that they should both 'die' together. You say
that
you've confirmed the IDE cables etc., and both trays work when their
respective push buttons are pressed.

Did they both disappear together? Perhaps the PC is 'new' to you and the
optical drives have never worked whilst in your possession.

If you're not too sure how to access and work in the BIOS (see philo's
post)
and to eliminate Win98, you can also confirm that you can 'see' them in
Real
Mode DOS. To do so, Boot, using your Win98 Startup (floppy) Disk in the
A:
drive.
Select option 2 (I think). "Start computer with CD-ROM support."

Let the screen information scroll until you eventually see a couple of
lines
which should report drive letters for the CD & DVD-ROMs - but note that
they
may not necessarily the same letters as you would expect to see in
Windows.

For example, you may see the CD & DVD-ROMs, becoming the E:and F: drives
(make a note), so the screen
would show:
Drive E:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 0
Drive F:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 1
Your CD-ROM Is Drive E

(Don't worry that you didn't also see a further line "Your CD-ROM Is
Drive
F" - you won't, it will only show the one)

When the boot disk finally settles down, you will be presented with an
A:\
prompt.

Now put a CD into the first CD-ROM and at the A:\ prompt, type "E:" (no
quotes and note the colon after the letter E) Then Press Return.

Now, at the E:\ prompt, type "DIR /P" (no quotes and note the space)
Then
press Return.

You *should* see a listing of the CD contents.

Try again with the CD in the other drive, this time typing "F:" at the
"E:\" prompt to change drives and at the F:\ prompt type "DIR /P" for
the
listing.

Come back with your results. Give EXACT errors reports - if any

Mart



"moe103" wrote in message
...
I have a Compaq Presario 5184, with Windows 98 OS and it has a Cd-rom
and
writer installed . But I can not see either of these when I click on
MY
COMPUTER.I have checked all cables and connections but to no avail.
Both
slides open when the button is pushed .
Anyone know how to correct this ? Is there something missing I am
overlooking.
The hardware was installed by the manufacturer .
Thanks for any help or suggestions .
Moe

--
moe

OK Moe, a slight mystery here :-

... (Volume in E drive is MS-Ram drive )

My guess - and hope! - is that you mean the RAM-Drive is (temporarily)
labelled the D drive.
NB. the RAM-Drive is NOT a physical drive, but rather - as its name
implies - a section of RAM, temporarily earmarked as a 'drive' (probably the
D drive) used only whilst working with the Win98 Startup (floppy) Disk.

(If the RAM-Drive really does show as the E: Drive, then you either have
more than one Hard Drive - or your Hard Drive has more than one partition)

But more importantly, according to your report, DOS has apparently
recognised the (temporary labelled E) D: drive, which is one (probably the
first) of the two optical drives. And, by the way, as J.P.G has suggested
elsewhere, in this mode, you will not be able to play audio CD's - although
you should be able to see a 'file' for each of its tracks when you use the
DIR /P command described earlier. (You are best using data CD's for these
tests)

But then you give misleading reports, as you appear to confuse your drive
letters.

Just to recap, during the boot process (using the Win98 Startup (floppy)
Disk) you should see mention - on the scrolling screen - of the RAM Drive
being designated the D: (or some such letter) drive, then a little later,
you should see something like :-

Drive E:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 0
Drive F:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 1
Your CD-ROM Is Drive E

Do you see these (or similar) reports? If not, describe exactly what you
see.

Mart



"moe103" wrote in message
...
Hi All:After following Mart's instructions, I was able to get the E drive
to
list the contents ,along with the following (Volume in E drive is MS-Ram
drive ) F drive I got an error message and nothing but error, failed.
I then tried to use the E drive to play a CD , but got the old error
message
of Not Ready Reading Drive E.
Any place to go from here , or just to do a restore ?
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.
Morris
--
moe


"Mart" wrote:

Bearing in mind the age of your Compaq Presario 5184, the chances are
that
the CD&DVD-ROMs may have out lived their useful life, as philo alluded
elsewhere - although odd that they should both 'die' together. You say
that
you've confirmed the IDE cables etc., and both trays work when their
respective push buttons are pressed.

Did they both disappear together? Perhaps the PC is 'new' to you and the
optical drives have never worked whilst in your possession.

If you're not too sure how to access and work in the BIOS (see philo's
post)
and to eliminate Win98, you can also confirm that you can 'see' them in
Real
Mode DOS. To do so, Boot, using your Win98 Startup (floppy) Disk in the
A:
drive.
Select option 2 (I think). "Start computer with CD-ROM support."

Let the screen information scroll until you eventually see a couple of
lines
which should report drive letters for the CD & DVD-ROMs - but note that
they
may not necessarily the same letters as you would expect to see in
Windows.

For example, you may see the CD & DVD-ROMs, becoming the E:and F: drives
(make a note), so the screen
would show:
Drive E:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 0
Drive F:= Driver MSCD001 UNIT 1
Your CD-ROM Is Drive E

(Don't worry that you didn't also see a further line "Your CD-ROM Is
Drive
F" - you won't, it will only show the one)

When the boot disk finally settles down, you will be presented with an
A:\
prompt.

Now put a CD into the first CD-ROM and at the A:\ prompt, type "E:" (no
quotes and note the colon after the letter E) Then Press Return.

Now, at the E:\ prompt, type "DIR /P" (no quotes and note the space)
Then
press Return.

You *should* see a listing of the CD contents.

Try again with the CD in the other drive, this time typing "F:" at the
"E:\" prompt to change drives and at the F:\ prompt type "DIR /P" for
the
listing.

Come back with your results. Give EXACT errors reports - if any

Mart



"moe103" wrote in message
...
I have a Compaq Presario 5184, with Windows 98 OS and it has a Cd-rom
and
writer installed . But I can not see either of these when I click on
MY
COMPUTER.I have checked all cables and connections but to no avail.
Both
slides open when the button is pushed .
Anyone know how to correct this ? Is there something missing I am
overlooking.
The hardware was installed by the manufacturer .
Thanks for any help or suggestions .
Moe

--
moe