Basically, I hooked up a new Western Digital EIDE 160 gig hard drive(WD Caviar SE - 7200 RPM, if that matters at all)
I put the disk into the CD drive that includes software to help partition the hard drive and such, and it works fine. I restart the computer, and when it turns on, the hard drive is working fine and dandy and all that good stuff. But a little while later, I put the cd in to install a couple more pieces of software, and it gives me the error messege: "Please insert disk in drive D:"
Oh noes!
I've tried CD roms, music CD's, and stuff like that. Nothing works. I did at one point knock the cable off of the back of the CD drive that goes to the CD in plug on the motherboard (On my bytespeed, it's right behind the built in audio port. Microphones, speakers, etc.) so I plug that in, and it still didn't work. I've tried pretty much every logical mixture of jumper shunt positioning and such, but no luck. When I go into the disk manager, it shows how much space on the hard drives, says they're healthy, etc, etc, but all it shows for the CD drive is :
CDROM 0
CD rom (D: )

online

I've tried re-installing the drivers for it, and that didn't work.
If it matters, here's the IDE cable layout:
Master(original) hard drive-->slave(new) hard drive--> primary IDE port on motherboard (black)

CD drive--->secondary IDE port on motherboard (white)
And... after working on it for six hours, that's pretty much all the info I can remember.

Open the case and double-check that IDE cable for starters. Make sure that it is correctly aligned and seated at both ends, and that no pins are bent/broken on the mobo and drive connectors.

Nope, it's not that. All the pins are in working condition on the motherboard and the CD drive. It's also not the IDE cable. I've used several differant cables with it (including the one that's now plugged into the hard drives) and it hasn't made a differance.
I just remembered a couple more things.

When I go into My Computer it shows the CD drive as being connected. I'll put a CD in, and it will start spinning, but won't read it. Is it possible that there's a problem in the cord from the CD drive to the CD in plug on the motherboard?
Yes. I HAVE tried multiple CD's, before anybody asks. Some were CD roms, and some were audio.

Nope, it's not that. All the pins are in working condition on the motherboard...

I'm confused. I just got an email notification which indicated that you had posted the following:

-_-v; I thought I'd checked that...
one of the pins on the motherboard broke, and is stuck in the IDE cable going
to the cd drive.
brilliant..

I don't see that post reflected here, though. Any idea what gives?

Sorry about that, I got really confused for a couple minutes. I edited the post after about thirty seconds.

About WHY I got confused.. just... nevermind.

Eh, fixed it. The reader simply got stuck.

About WHY I got confused.. just... nevermind.

Ooooo....kay. Probably don't want to know anyway.... :mrgreen:

The reader simply got stuck.

Do you mean the assembly that the laser travels on got stuck; that it wasn't sliding in and out on its rails? Just curious.

Y'know... I'm not sure. It slid on the rails well enough... but somehow still got stuck.
The same thing happened in my PS2 and an old macintosh. They slid on the rails just fine, but managed to get stuck in the position closest to the slider. And every time it's happened, it's cost me about five hours of my time...

And you're absolutely correct. You don't even want to know. For being one of my schools little techies, I sure make some really stupid mistakes...

It slid on the rails well enough... but somehow still got stuck....managed to get stuck in the position closest to the slider.

Yeah, that's their "idle" position; sometimes they need a little nudge to get them up and moving.

Yeah. It was kinda funny when my dad asked if I used the hammer, and I got to honestly say that it might have helped...

Well, anyway, case closed. Thanks for the help.

Right-o then; don't swing that hammer too hard......

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