How do I add a second CD Rom drive?

Question

I have added the second drive, I plugged the wires in and turned it on, but the computer doesn't recognize the drive, what do I do?

Answer 1

Some of the above answers contain some of the steps you need to set up the second CD, although I find the information scattered and not very clear.

Obviously, since you connected the unit, you know that there is a power plug and a 40 pin ribbon cable ( or an 80 wire, 40 pin ULTRA ATA cable, usually to a BLUE 40 pin IDE / ATA connector on the motherboard )...

The IDE, 40 pin cable standard, from the beginning, has had
2 devices on a single cable. The END of cable is usually attached
to a single device, as a MASTER. Most CDs have a jumper
pin which can be placed in 3 positions, Master, Slave, and CS,
( Cable Select ). Since you had one CD previously installed,
everyone will assume that it is properly installed on the END of
the cable, with the jumper pin placed over the two pins labelled
MASTER. This would require you to put the second CD on the
middle connector, and jumper the second CD unit as SLAVE.

Someone could have installed the First CD on the Middle connector, and put it in as Cable Select, or even Slave, leaving
you with the end connector, and a bit of confusion.

Check the installed CD, to make certain that it is jumpered MASTER, and then make certain that the new CD is jumpered
SLAVE.

When you BOOT your computer, press DEL when prompted
( or whatever key combination is required to enter the BIOS SETUP ), and on the first page of the BIOS is usually the first
4 IDE devices, the first 2, on the first cable, and the next 2 on the second IDE cable.
IDE/ATA 40 pin cables, usually come in sets of 2 on most motherboards, with 2 devices each, for a total of 4 devices...

On this page, there may be a listing of what each device is, unless someone just used "AUTO" setting, which runs an Automatic search for device, each time the computer loads.
You can, in many BIOSs ENTER at each line, and choose which device is there from a list, if you are certain which device is
on each cable, or, on the "HOME" page of the BIOS, on the
second column, choose, AUTO DETECT IDE DEVICES,
and the BIOS will find and install each device on the cables, and
insert the values into the look up tables...

Once the BIOS actually starts, it usually lists the detected devices, although in newer, faster computers, the listing is
so fast that you may not be able to see it...

If you have a VERY new computer with Serial ATA Harddrives,
then the BIOS is quite complicated, and the BIOS detection and listing, and BOOT order involves 3 or 4 different pages in the
BIOS, which you may have to check. If your motherboard has this, AND has another, 2nd ATA ULTRA controller chip for raid, then there another few settings and pages that you have to look up in the BIOS in addition....

Hopefully, just checking that the First CD is a Master on the END
of the 40 pin cable, and the second CD is a Slave on the Middle
connector, will get you working....

Cable Select is an option where you jumper BOTH CD's as
Cable Select, and you CUT a wire on the 40 or 80 wire cable,
and the CD checks to see if the cable wire is cut, and automatically chooses itself as Master or Slave. In a large server
with hundreds of CDs or hardrives, this is a fast way to swap
drives, since they are ALL jumpered the same, and the technician
does not have to know what other jumpers are set for, --the unit
automatically chooses the Master/Slave by itself.
I do not recommend cutting wires on your cables and using
Cable Select at home....

The only other problem would be making certain that the pin 1
side of the cable, usually marked with a coloured blue or red wire
on one side, is next to the power plug ( Red, Black, Black, Yellow ) on the CD. Since one unit was already working, it would already have been plugged in correctly, with the cable with pin 1 to the CD pin 1. Pin 1 of the Cable would have been plugged into the
Motherboard's Pin 1 as well, or the existing CD would not have
worked. The motherboard manual would show which was pin 1
on the board, and it is usually marked with a "1" or a white square or a thick white line on the motherboard itself. There is a key, or
a part of the holder missing on most motherboards and CD's in
the center of one side, and a key on the cable, which would be a
block of plastic sticking out on the side, that fits in the hole on the
plastic holder around the pins, to make certain that the cable is
pin 1 to pin 1. Some cables, however, do not have keys, and can be
plugged in backwards. Please check the pin 1's...


Hope this helps.

robin

Answer 2

ok assuming ur hd in set as master of IDE port 1 connect ur first cd-rom thing to the 2nd IDE port and set the jumper to CS OR MA i reccomend CS then hook up the 2nd cd player to the same cable that ur first one is the n set it as SL slave of 2nd IDE port usually the slave cable port thing is under the master port not the motherboaard but the cable and if that doenst work run add/remove hardware and try searching and if not do what i did dont plug in the cdron to the cable yet turn on ur pc then when ur pc is fully loaded connect the cable to it run add/remove programs id id thie andWALAH it worked sometimes winodws doesntdetect itat start up also u can check in your bios and make sure it knows which is which EX: Primary Master: Hd ur harddrive
Primary Slave-None or ur seoncd hd
Secondary Master- Ur first cd-rom
secondary slave- ur second drive
and oh if ur bios detects it somethins wrong with the plugnplay part of ur OS

Answer 3

Make sure that the new CD drive is set to slave with the jumper on it the front of the new CD drive.. Your computer only sees the CD drive that is currently set to master.

Answer 4

Most external CD rom drives come with installation software. You must install this software first, or your computer will not recognize your new hardware and it will be inoperable. If you have trouble with the software, or need new software, contact the manufacturer of the unit. Most companies also post drivers you need for installation online.

Answer 5

Check the jumper settings. the first CD-Rom must be set as a master, the 2nd as a slave if they are on the same IDE cable.

Answer 6

make sure you plug the cables in well and make sure you plug in both power and IDE cable, check the jumper for the cdrom, some you might need to specify the cdrom 1 and 2.

Answer 7

usually the way i do it is just keep changing the jumper until it reads it.If it's your secondary drive and on the same cable as the other one set it as slave.If that doesn't work put it on cable select and see if that works.If not you'll have to go to BIOS and set it.