strange NEC CD-RW drive problem

Shep© wrote:

Cdrom drive shagged.Buy a new one.
HTH


Well, that's my current guess. I was hoping Gateway would
spring for the new one, but haven't managed to convince them
(yet). Still, buying a new one is going to be just as
expensive as sending the computer to Gateway for servicing.
I've got a few more experiments to do, and I'll post the
conclusions.

Mike

smh wrote:

Usually there's a something like configuration(?) rom that can be
refreshed by: power down, change jumper(s) on the motherboard; power up
and then down, and then re-jumper(s). Ask Gateway tech support about
this or they may have the info on their Web site.

I'm not sure what this configuration ROM is. The only thing
I see on the Gateway web site's info on my motherboard is a
mention of a BIOS Mode Jumper. One setting is Normal
Operations, one setting is for clearing the password, and
the third setting is for "recovering the BIOS configuration".
The (terse) description of this last setting indicates that
the BIOS compares the processor version and the microcode
version stored in the BIOS. It then reports if the two match."
I'm not sure that buys me anything. I'll see if the Gateway
Tech Support peope can tell me more about this next time I
talk to them.

Mike

Ed wrote:
In fact I have seen this problem, and it is idicitive of a Drive
failure.
You will need to replace the drive shortly.

Stear clear of gateway service, just replace the drive yourself, new
drives even good ones can be bought for $40-50. Save the shipping fees
and do the work yourself.

May end up doing that. I just thought Gateway might
just send me a replacement drive, but as yet, they haven't
been willing to, and their reasoning is that we can't
rule out the motherboard, etc. yet to conclusively
prove it's the drive.

As you have been told the warranty work is not exactly free.

Given that CD-RW drives can be obtained for around the
same price as the $50-$60 for shipping, I'd definitely
go out and buy myself a new drive - if I were convineced
that it's the drive and only the drive (and not a mobo or
power issue).

Live and learn.

Ed

Thanks for the suggestion(s).

Mike

Trent© wrote:

Could be...

1. CDRW is going bad...and needs more time to spin up to operating
speed than your system will allow.

2. Power supply is going bad...and causing the same problem.

I hadn't thought of that, although maybe Gateway's Tech Support
guy had that in mind when he suggested shipping the tower back
to them.

3. You've added equipment to the computer since you bought it...and
are taxing the power supply to do more than it was originally
intended.

Unless it came with 2 IDE drives, I doubt if its still under warranty.


Yep, I did add the second hard drive (10 months ago). I'd
mentioned to the Gateway Tech Support guy that it had a second
hard drive, but I'm not sure he noticed/realized it was not
original equipment. So there may be a power issue and it
may be that the additional hard drive has voided the warranty.
I'll have to find out more about that when I talk to Gateway
next.


Make sure you haven't voided the warranty before you ship it. You
sure wouldn't want to pay their repair rates...or have it simply
shipped back after 4 weeks and not repaired.

Get an estimate from a local shop. It shouldn't be that more
expensive to get it fixed locally...and forget about the warranty.

Well, I could probably buy a new CD-RW drive for $50 easily
and put it in myself.

Worse case scenario...what if it gets damaged or lost in transit?

Yeah. Certainly a risk, although I think the shipping
costs would include insurance. Still, with the actual shipping
cost + downtime + risk of loss/downtime due to damage or loss,
the total potential cost of shipping the thing back to Gateway
is considerably more than forking out for a new drive.

Make SURE you do a COMPLETE backup of both your drives before you take
it ANYWHERE for repairs. Stuff happens...and so does unauthorized
formatting!!

Curiously enough, trying to write my backup files to CD-R is
what prompted me to discover the drive problem. Luckily enough,
I can get the drive to work (by restarting), and will definitely
get my stuff backed up before letting the computer out of the
house (to Gateway or local).

Good luck.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Mike

Mike Walsh wrote:

A possible work around is to configure the BIOS to run a memory
test when booting. This will provide time for the drive to
become ready. I have done this to get around problems with hard
drives and CD drives.


Well, I did something like that, although without the idea
of providing more time for the drive. I'd wanted the BIOS
to display the POST test results to see if the BIOS had
detected any problems with the drive (in the failure
situations). I tweaked two settings in the BIOS: the
Quickboot setting (diabled it) and the Quietboot setting
(disabled it as well). Disabling the Quickboot setting was
supposed to allow additional tests to be run and disabling
the Quietboot setting was supposed to display BIOS information
(instead of the Gateway splash screen). As near as I can tell,
the only additional tests that non-Quickboot mode provides is
the DRAM tests, which take on the order of 30 seconds (for
386MB). Running the DRAM tests didn't make any difference.
The CD-RW drive failed with and without the tests. Oddly
enough, it looks like the CD-RW drive fails before the DRAM
tests are run - at least, the drive LED starts its woeful
constant blinking as soon as the power on occurs - at or
before the DRAM test starts.

BTW, disabling the Quietboot setting is what caused the BIOS
to display its information on the IDE devices, including the
CD-RW drive. It's what shows the "1.23 _NEC NR-7700A" when
the drive works and the "2.0 NEC CDROM DRIVE: IDE" when it
doesn't. I've since turned Quickboot back on, but left
Quietboot disabled.

Thanks for the suggestion. I may try some additional
experiments with increasing the initialization timing as a goal.
I'll post results if anything looks promising.

Mike

albert wrote:

I just went thru the identical problem, identical symptoms -- with an HP
CDRW about 3 years old.

I tried all sorts of stuff before I solved the problem. (the thread was in
this newsgroup -- titled: "problems with atapi (?) IDE controller (?) and
cd-r and dvd operation"..... July 26 --- note that to establish that it
was the unit rather than something else, I finally swapped in an old plain
CDROM that I knew worked -- and all the weirdness, flashing lights, etc.,
ended.)

It turned out to be solved simply by installing a new CDRW -- bought a
Memorex
at Circuit City for about $50, with a $20 mail-in rebate
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.js...qp=0&oid=94063

HTH

albert

Just went back and read that thread. I'm glad you got your
machine to work (replacing the drive). Replacing the drive
is likely what I'll end up doing.

However, there was a posting in that thread (by Paul Murphy)
that suggested a power supply issue (or at least a power
consuption issue). With that in mind, I'm going to try an
experiment sometime in the next day or so where I remove my
second hard drive (to reduce total power consumption) and see
whether that affects things. If the CD-RW drive still fails
in the same way, then the problem is most likely the CD-RW
drive. If the CD-RW drive starts working properly again,
then there's probably a power issue. Then I'll need to figure
out whether the power supply is degrading somehow (and get it
replaced) or whether the non-original equipment I've added to
this computer (just the extra hard drive and a 256MB DIMM)
are too much for the existing power supply (doesn't seem too
likely).

I'll post the results when I've done this experiment (and the
one or two others that various people have suggested).

Thanks for the ideas.

Mike

wrote in message
...
albert wrote:

I just went thru the identical problem, identical symptoms -- with an HP
CDRW about 3 years old.

I tried all sorts of stuff before I solved the problem. (the thread was
in
this newsgroup -- titled: "problems with atapi (?) IDE controller (?)
and
cd-r and dvd operation"..... July 26 --- note that to establish that
it
was the unit rather than something else, I finally swapped in an old
plain
CDROM that I knew worked -- and all the weirdness, flashing lights,
etc.,
ended.)

It turned out to be solved simply by installing a new CDRW -- bought a
Memorex
at Circuit City for about $50, with a $20 mail-in rebate

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.js...qp=0&oid=94063

HTH

albert

Just went back and read that thread. I'm glad you got your
machine to work (replacing the drive). Replacing the drive
is likely what I'll end up doing.

However, there was a posting in that thread (by Paul Murphy)
that suggested a power supply issue (or at least a power
consuption issue). With that in mind, I'm going to try an
experiment sometime in the next day or so where I remove my
second hard drive (to reduce total power consumption) and see
whether that affects things. If the CD-RW drive still fails
in the same way, then the problem is most likely the CD-RW
drive. If the CD-RW drive starts working properly again,
then there's probably a power issue. Then I'll need to figure
out whether the power supply is degrading somehow (and get it
replaced) or whether the non-original equipment I've added to
this computer (just the extra hard drive and a 256MB DIMM)
are too much for the existing power supply (doesn't seem too
likely).

I'll post the results when I've done this experiment (and the
one or two others that various people have suggested).

Thanks for the ideas.

Mike


Mike --

BTW, my old CDRW was doing everything you described -- right down to the
variable self identification to the system -- e.g., your NEC's being
identified with different characters -- 1.23 or 2.0 I think you posted above
in this thread. In my case, sometimes it showed up in the BIOS, sometimes
not, and sometimes it showed up in Windows ("properties") with parts of its
description mangled or missing. So, presently, I'm betting a new CDRW will
solve your problem -- definitely do post back. I'd like to know how it
turns out.

albert

On Mon, 02 Aug 2004 18:22:53 GMT, lid wrote:

Just went back and read that thread. I'm glad you got your
machine to work (replacing the drive). Replacing the drive
is likely what I'll end up doing.

However, there was a posting in that thread (by Paul Murphy)
that suggested a power supply issue (or at least a power
consuption issue). With that in mind, I'm going to try an
experiment sometime in the next day or so where I remove my
second hard drive (to reduce total power consumption) and see
whether that affects things. If the CD-RW drive still fails
in the same way, then the problem is most likely the CD-RW
drive. If the CD-RW drive starts working properly again,
then there's probably a power issue. Then I'll need to figure
out whether the power supply is degrading somehow (and get it
replaced) or whether the non-original equipment I've added to
this computer (just the extra hard drive and a 256MB DIMM)
are too much for the existing power supply (doesn't seem too
likely).

I'll post the results when I've done this experiment (and the
one or two others that various people have suggested).


Try just disconnecting the 40-pin ribbon cable. Then if the drive
light blinks on power-on, the problem is the drive.

Thanks for the ideas.

Mike

lid wrote:

Grinder wrote:


They're probably counting on that. Be firm with them. Explain that
you computer is vital to you, and that they need to send out a
replacement CD-RW which you will install. This may well fix the
problem, but at a minimum, should diagnose the problem.

For added leverage, you should swap the cable and/or drive yourself
indentify the faulty component. Hopefully you have a friend that has
a CD and cable that you can use for a short period of time. With this
diagnostic down, you can be more specific in what you require from
Gateway.

Yep, I plan to swap the cable sometime in the next day or so.
I'll try the drive as well (if I can borrow one from somebody),
but that probably won't conclusively isolate the problem to the
drive. (I.e., it could still be a mobo issue with the
particular drive or could be a system power issue that isn't
stressed by the newer (possibly lower power) drive.) I'll post
what happens when I run my next set of experiments.

As it is, it is most likley a bad CD/RW. (I'm not an actuary.)
Swapping the problem away would be *strong* if not absolute supporting
evidence. If that is the case, though you might want to keep in mind
that Gateway is going to charge you shipping, and the nefarious
handling, for (probably) another 12X/10X/32X drive, when you can buy a
52X/32X/52X for $34.

I hope everything works out for you.

lid wrote:
Trent© wrote:

Could be...

1. CDRW is going bad...and needs more time to spin up to operating
speed than your system will allow.

2. Power supply is going bad...and causing the same problem.

I hadn't thought of that, although maybe Gateway's Tech Support
guy had that in mind when he suggested shipping the tower back
to them.

They are just following a script, no thinking is involved or
wanted. I believe you have been talking to India.

Consider that buying and trying a new drive will, if it fails,
leave you a spare drive for any future machines or future
failures.

Please don't indent your replies. The results don't stand many
quotation cycles, and foul up any quotation reformatters.

--
"I'm a war president. I make decisions here in the Oval Office
in foreign policy matters with war on my mind." - Bush.
"Churchill and Bush can both be considered wartime leaders, just
as Secretariat and Mr Ed were both horses." - James Rhodes.