Need pc help please

**100%** · 12-26-2004, 09:45 PM

i know this is the lounge and this should be in hardwareworld but its xmas so i thought the only people online are those in the lounge
any help would seriously be appreciatted

im sitting behind an old dell xps 300 pc running windows 98
and it doesnt seem to recognize the cd drive. My dad asked me to try and fix it - but cant seem to find a solution to it
there are no manuals\specifications nor any install cds
i generally work on laptops so the cd drive is automatically recognized

if you could give any advice it would be very much appreciatted.

here follow the specifications

Operating System System Model
Windows 98 (build 4.10.1998) Dell Computer Corporation Dimension XPS D300
Asset Tag: NDFW6
Processor a Main Circuit Board b
300 megahertz Intel Pentium II
32 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache Board: Intel Corporation AL440LX AA681533-401
Serial Number: IMAL82102567
Bus Clock: 66 megahertz
BIOS: Intel Corp. 4A4LL0X0.10A.0027.P09 03/26/98
Drives Memory Modules c,d
6,44 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
3,93 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

Generic floppy disk drive (3.5") 96 Megabytes Installed Memory

Slot '0' has 64 MB
Slot '1' has 32 MB
Slot '2' is Empty
Local Drive Volumes

c: (on drive N) 2,14 GB 554 MB free
d: (on drive N) 2,15 GB 1,28 GB free
e: (on drive N) 2,15 GB 2,10 GB free

Network Drives
None detected
Users Printers
No details available Brother MFC9060 on BRMFC:
Brother MFC9060 on BRMFC:
ScanSoft on LPT1:
ScanSoft on LPT1:

Controllers Display
Standaard-diskettestationcontroller
Intel 82371AB/EB PCI Bus Master IDE-controller STB Velocity 128 3D AGP (Nvidia Riva 128) [Display adapter]
Iiyama 14,9 [Monitor] (14,9"vis, augustus 2001)
Bus Adapters Multimedia
Intel 82371AB/EB universele host-controller voor PCI naar USB None detected
Communications Other Devices
CombiVox ISDN 2400 modem
CombiVox ISDN Fax [Modem]
CombiVox ISDN KPNMLPPP [Modem]
CombiVox ISDN KPNPPP [Modem]
CombiVox ISDN PPP-1 [Modem]
CombiVox ISDN PPP-2 [Modem]
CombiVox ISDN T.70 [Modem]
CombiVox ISDN V.110 [Modem]
CombiVox ISDN V.120 [Modem]
CombiVox ISDN V.23 [Modem]
CombiVox ISDN X.75 [Modem]
RVS ISDN Fax [Modem]
RVS ISDN Internet PPP [Modem]
RVS ISDN Modem analog
RVS ISDN V.120 [Modem]
RVS ISDN X.75 transparent [Modem]
Standaardmodem
Standaardmodem #2
AMD AM2100/AM1500t en compatibel
Externe-toegangsadapter
Realtek RTL8139/810X Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC
Network Card MAC Address: 00:50:FC:0C:23:FF
Network IP Address: 192.168.0.2 / 24 Standaard- (101/102 toetsen) of Microsoft Natural-toetsenbord [Keyboard]
PS/2 compatibele muispoort [Mouse]
USB Root Hub
Virus Protection
Norton AntiVirus Version 9.05
Virus Definitions Version 22-12-04 Rev 16

**Snee** · 12-26-2004, 10:23 PM

New drive? Or has it worked before on that mobo?

Do you have a brand or model number for the drive? Should be on a printed sticker on top of the actual drive.

If you posted it I'm sorry I missed it, bit slow today.

Have you set the jumpers right?

Maybe it's a pnp thing, is the bios set to look for new hardware? It shouldn't be possible for it not to but fiddling with any pnp settings might help.

Also since it's a dell computer it might be a bit quirky with certain brands of drive, could be an incompatibility thing.

**Spider_dude** · 12-26-2004, 10:29 PM

its a jumper setting. change the jumper at the back of the drive.

**DanB** · 12-26-2004, 10:31 PM

kick it

**Snee** · 12-26-2004, 10:33 PM

Originally Posted by DanB

kick it

Ignore my earlier post, this is the way to go.

**100%** · 12-26-2004, 10:41 PM

Thanks for help guys -
no
it worked a few hours ago when we where trying to install the sound card that also for some reason went missing.....(weeks earlier)
so no - none of the physical drives were put in by us, and yes they where working before. and they came with the system in the 90-s
i tried "discover" new hardware - no go
and im to much hardware noob to start opening the machine up. but will try to find the brand. We didnt uninstall anything...
Im not used to 98

**Snee** · 12-26-2004, 10:51 PM

Does it show up in BIOS at least?

There is always the possibility of a burnout, it is an old machine n' all. You might have an actually broken drive on your hands.

If you are sure it's still there tho', it might be 98 that's being screwy. I had the drivers for my mobo screw up 98 so bad it wouldn't even boot a couple of weeks ago. Before that things stopped working here n' there, I solved it by formatting and making a clean install as just reinstalling did nothing, in fact I also ended up reinstalling win2k, winxp, n' mandrake 'cos the bootsector couldn't be fixed for some reason.

**100%** · 12-26-2004, 10:56 PM

I pray its not that bad - but this machine is seriously slow
yes it does show it when it boots
you know you get the whole list of installed items - at the end it says toshiba cd drive and then the screen flips to 98 screen
weird thing is that just before i also installed a usb memory stik which did get recognized
this one also no longer shows
i will now reboot to see if i can see if it recognizes the cd drive in bios
pray...