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#1
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strange NEC CD-RW drive problem
I've started having a problem with my NEC NR-7700A CD-RW drive
on my 2+ year old Gateway machine. If I do a power up (cold reboot), the activity LED on the drive blinks constantly, the BIOS (American Megatrends) doesn't recognize the drive properly, and consequently, Windows XP (or Linux) won't recognize the drive exists. If I do a restart (warm boot), the BIOS recognizes the CD-RW drive properly and consequently the drive can be used from WinXP (or Linux). I fiddled with the BIOS setup so it displays info on the various IDE devices (including 2 hard drives). When the failure occurs (cold reboot), the drive is identified as "2.0 NEC CDROM DRIVE: IDE". When it works (warm reboot), the drive is identified as "1.23 _NEC NR-7700A", which apparently makes WinXP (and Linux) happy. (The 1.23 seems to correspond to the firmware verion on the drive.) Anybody seen anything like this before? This appears to be to be a problem with the CD-RW drive, but could conceivably be something with the motherboard (or even the IDE cable, I suppose). This machine is still under warranty, but in talking to the Gateway tech support folks, they aren't sure whether it's the drive or the motherboard, so they want me to ship the tower to their service center in Texas to be diagnosed (and presumably fixed). However, it'll cost $50+ to ship it and I'll be missing my computer for 3-4 weeks, so I'd rather not do that unless I have to. Thanks in advance. Mike Holder |
#2
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Mike Holder wrote:
I've started having a problem with my NEC NR-7700A CD-RW drive on my 2+ year old Gateway machine. If I do a power up (cold reboot), the activity LED on the drive blinks constantly, the BIOS (American Megatrends) doesn't recognize the drive properly, and consequently, Windows XP (or Linux) won't recognize the drive exists. If I do a restart (warm boot), the BIOS recognizes the CD-RW drive properly and consequently the drive can be used from WinXP (or Linux). I fiddled with the BIOS setup so it displays info on the various IDE devices (including 2 hard drives). When the failure occurs (cold reboot), the drive is identified as "2.0 NEC CDROM DRIVE: IDE". When it works (warm reboot), the drive is identified as "1.23 _NEC NR-7700A", which apparently makes WinXP (and Linux) happy. (The 1.23 seems to correspond to the firmware verion on the drive.) Anybody seen anything like this before? This appears to be to be a problem with the CD-RW drive, but could conceivably be something with the motherboard (or even the IDE cable, I suppose). This machine is still under warranty, but in talking to the Gateway tech support folks, they aren't sure whether it's the drive or the motherboard, so they want me to ship the tower to their service center in Texas to be diagnosed (and presumably fixed). However, it'll cost $50+ to ship it and I'll be missing my computer for 3-4 weeks, so I'd rather not do that unless I have to. 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. |
#3
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On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 22:52:19 GMT As another one bit the dust Mike
Holder wrote : I've started having a problem with my NEC NR-7700A CD-RW drive on my 2+ year old Gateway machine. If I do a power up (cold reboot), the activity LED on the drive blinks constantly, the BIOS (American Megatrends) doesn't recognize the drive properly, and consequently, Windows XP (or Linux) won't recognize the drive exists. If I do a restart (warm boot), the BIOS recognizes the CD-RW drive properly and consequently the drive can be used from WinXP (or Linux). I fiddled with the BIOS setup so it displays info on the various IDE devices (including 2 hard drives). When the failure occurs (cold reboot), the drive is identified as "2.0 NEC CDROM DRIVE: IDE". When it works (warm reboot), the drive is identified as "1.23 _NEC NR-7700A", which apparently makes WinXP (and Linux) happy. (The 1.23 seems to correspond to the firmware verion on the drive.) Anybody seen anything like this before? This appears to be to be a problem with the CD-RW drive, but could conceivably be something with the motherboard (or even the IDE cable, I suppose). This machine is still under warranty, but in talking to the Gateway tech support folks, they aren't sure whether it's the drive or the motherboard, so they want me to ship the tower to their service center in Texas to be diagnosed (and presumably fixed). However, it'll cost $50+ to ship it and I'll be missing my computer for 3-4 weeks, so I'd rather not do that unless I have to. Thanks in advance. Mike Holder Cdrom drive shagged.Buy a new one. HTH -- Free Windows/PC help, http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/trouble.html remove obvious to reply Free songs to download and,"BURN" :O) http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/nomessiahsmusic.htm |
#4
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.. --------------------------------------
Mike Richter, were you born with "Scam Artist" emblazoned on your face? -------------------------------------- (Mike Richter, any Material Connection w/ Roxio?) http://groups.google.com/groups?selm...mindspring.com (Messages 10, 12 -- 34, 54 -- 69) ( No pipsqueaks have been able to prove ANY of the above is a libel ) ( -- despite Mikey claimed to have proof of misquotes !! ) ' Mike Holder wrote: I've started having a problem with my NEC NR-7700A CD-RW drive on my 2+ year old Gateway machine. If I do a power up (cold reboot), the activity LED on the drive blinks constantly, the BIOS (American Megatrends) doesn't recognize the drive properly, and consequently, Windows XP (or Linux) won't recognize the drive exists. If I do a restart (warm boot), the BIOS recognizes the CD-RW drive properly and consequently the drive can be used from WinXP (or Linux). I fiddled with the BIOS setup so it displays info on the various IDE devices (including 2 hard drives). When the failure occurs (cold reboot), the drive is identified as "2.0 NEC CDROM DRIVE: IDE". When it works (warm reboot), the drive is identified as "1.23 _NEC NR-7700A", which apparently makes WinXP (and Linux) happy. (The 1.23 seems to correspond to the firmware verion on the drive.) Anybody seen anything like this before? This appears to be to be a problem with the CD-RW drive, but could conceivably be something with the motherboard (or even the IDE cable, I suppose). This machine is still under warranty, but in talking to the Gateway tech support folks, they aren't sure whether it's the drive or the motherboard, so they want me to ship the tower to their service center in Texas to be diagnosed (and presumably fixed). However, it'll cost $50+ to ship it and I'll be missing my computer for 3-4 weeks, so I'd rather not do that unless I have to. 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. |
#5
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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. As you have been told the warranty work is not exactly free. Live and learn. Ed Mike Holder wrote in message ... I've started having a problem with my NEC NR-7700A CD-RW drive on my 2+ year old Gateway machine. If I do a power up (cold reboot), the activity LED on the drive blinks constantly, the BIOS (American Megatrends) doesn't recognize the drive properly, and consequently, Windows XP (or Linux) won't recognize the drive exists. If I do a restart (warm boot), the BIOS recognizes the CD-RW drive properly and consequently the drive can be used from WinXP (or Linux). I fiddled with the BIOS setup so it displays info on the various IDE devices (including 2 hard drives). When the failure occurs (cold reboot), the drive is identified as "2.0 NEC CDROM DRIVE: IDE". When it works (warm reboot), the drive is identified as "1.23 _NEC NR-7700A", which apparently makes WinXP (and Linux) happy. (The 1.23 seems to correspond to the firmware verion on the drive.) Anybody seen anything like this before? This appears to be to be a problem with the CD-RW drive, but could conceivably be something with the motherboard (or even the IDE cable, I suppose). This machine is still under warranty, but in talking to the Gateway tech support folks, they aren't sure whether it's the drive or the motherboard, so they want me to ship the tower to their service center in Texas to be diagnosed (and presumably fixed). However, it'll cost $50+ to ship it and I'll be missing my computer for 3-4 weeks, so I'd rather not do that unless I have to. Thanks in advance. Mike Holder |
#6
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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. Even cheaper. I bought one of these a few weeks ago. I've been very happy, and it even came with Nero. http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/Produc...uctCode=333209 |
#7
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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. Mike Holder wrote: I've started having a problem with my NEC NR-7700A CD-RW drive on my 2+ year old Gateway machine. If I do a power up (cold reboot), the activity LED on the drive blinks constantly, the BIOS (American Megatrends) doesn't recognize the drive properly, and consequently, Windows XP (or Linux) won't recognize the drive exists. If I do a restart (warm boot), the BIOS recognizes the CD-RW drive properly and consequently the drive can be used from WinXP (or Linux). I fiddled with the BIOS setup so it displays info on the various IDE devices (including 2 hard drives). When the failure occurs (cold reboot), the drive is identified as "2.0 NEC CDROM DRIVE: IDE". When it works (warm reboot), the drive is identified as "1.23 _NEC NR-7700A", which apparently makes WinXP (and Linux) happy. (The 1.23 seems to correspond to the firmware verion on the drive.) Anybody seen anything like this before? This appears to be to be a problem with the CD-RW drive, but could conceivably be something with the motherboard (or even the IDE cable, I suppose). This machine is still under warranty, but in talking to the Gateway tech support folks, they aren't sure whether it's the drive or the motherboard, so they want me to ship the tower to their service center in Texas to be diagnosed (and presumably fixed). However, it'll cost $50+ to ship it and I'll be missing my computer for 3-4 weeks, so I'd rather not do that unless I have to. Thanks in advance. Mike Holder -- When replying by Email include NewSGrouP (case sensitive) in Subject Mike Walsh West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S.A. |
#8
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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 "Mike Holder" wrote in message news I've started having a problem with my NEC NR-7700A CD-RW drive on my 2+ year old Gateway machine. If I do a power up (cold reboot), the activity LED on the drive blinks constantly, the BIOS (American Megatrends) doesn't recognize the drive properly, and consequently, Windows XP (or Linux) won't recognize the drive exists. If I do a restart (warm boot), the BIOS recognizes the CD-RW drive properly and consequently the drive can be used from WinXP (or Linux). I fiddled with the BIOS setup so it displays info on the various IDE devices (including 2 hard drives). When the failure occurs (cold reboot), the drive is identified as "2.0 NEC CDROM DRIVE: IDE". When it works (warm reboot), the drive is identified as "1.23 _NEC NR-7700A", which apparently makes WinXP (and Linux) happy. (The 1.23 seems to correspond to the firmware verion on the drive.) Anybody seen anything like this before? This appears to be to be a problem with the CD-RW drive, but could conceivably be something with the motherboard (or even the IDE cable, I suppose). This machine is still under warranty, but in talking to the Gateway tech support folks, they aren't sure whether it's the drive or the motherboard, so they want me to ship the tower to their service center in Texas to be diagnosed (and presumably fixed). However, it'll cost $50+ to ship it and I'll be missing my computer for 3-4 weeks, so I'd rather not do that unless I have to. Thanks in advance. Mike Holder |
#9
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On Sun, 01 Aug 2004 16:45:31 GMT As another one bit the dust "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 I think I did say it was,"Shagged" -- Free Windows/PC help, http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/trouble.html remove obvious to reply Free songs to download and,"BURN" :O) http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/nomessiahsmusic.htm |
#10
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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. Mike |
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