[dr.gonzo!]

This shit is seriously pissing me off. Its a pretty old dell dimension, I put an older ide dvd drive in it so I can load windows home server on it, and it does not see the dvd drive for shit. I have tried using the windows update and it finds no updates, and I have updated the bios to the latest version (A05) and I have pulled the cmos battery to reset the bios settings. The drive works fine on every other computer I have. WHAT THE FUCK CHUCK?

So yeah, can I flash it with normal ass bios that will fucking work already? It looks to be an intel based board


oh, get this, when I reset the bios, it did an automatic IDE scan and it installed the 3.5 floppy, even though there is not one there

[Ace417]

maybe it doesnt have cable select? try setting it to master and try again?

[dr.gonzo!]

I found some chipset updates and trying those right now.


But yea I have tried them all

[dr.gonzo!]

Did not work. Since I give two fucks about whats on this computer, I am going to re-install with both the cd drive and dvd drive plugged in, then if it sees the DVD drive, finally get around to installing WHS. Fucking proprietary picky bullshit I tell you...

I tried to boot from USB with a sata DVD drive and that shit did not want to boot from USB either. I am going to be super shit pissed if I can only install operating systems that can fit on a regular ass CD. I can't believe dells bios is this shitty.

[Notcho]

Yep, that's one of the many downfalls of owning a dell.. you're forever fucked with their shitty excuse for a BIOS.


Anyway, if BIOS isn't detecting your drive, there's no point in trying to change drivers in Windows, because Windows will not see an internal IDE drive if BIOS doesn't see it first and configure it. That goes for any internal hardware, and even PS/2 mice and keyboards.

[dr.gonzo!]

Well I don't know what I did, but I just installed windows again, and now it is seeing the dvd drive in windows, lets hope I can fuggin boot from it

[dr.gonzo!]

Fuck my lilly le[pord ass I got it to see the DVD drive with an 80 wire cable, but now it does not understand the new iso image files. I put an old xp disc in the dvd drive and it fires right up. I don't even hear it spin on a dvd with a burned image file. I was just thinking that this might be a bad computer to try WHS on since it is so old I might try the older server versions.

[dr.gonzo!]

Okay, if any one is having a problem booting from a cd on a dell, throw the 40 wire ribbon (secondary ide slot on mthrbrd) that connects your cd player in the trash, Get an 80 wire ribbon with a master and slave plug in slot, move the hard drive to the slave position on the ribbon and the cd player to the master position on the ribbon, with both jumpers set to cable select and un-check the hard drive from the boot sequence.

And that is all you have to do to get a computer to boot from fucking CD on a dell. Whoever thought of this shit should be shot.


boot from dvd, you're outta luck and stuck with XP, linux or anything else that will install from a 700mb cd

[dr.gonzo!]

Is this how normal people spend their birthdays?











Happy birthday to me, I just gave myself a 9 year old server. I can play godz wit active directory?

[Notcho]

Originally Posted by dr.gonzo? Is this how normal people spend their birthdays?

Looks normal to me... but then again others don't consider me "normal."



Happy birthday anyway.

[Notcho]

And for the IDE cables.. I've always found the 80 wire cables to be a major pain in the ass.

They're stiff and will hold any shape, and if you bend them more than a couple times, they break internally and then they're trash. Not sure how many I went through just by swapping drives around.

They did weird shit too.. sometimes the HDD LED wouldn't work, then you open the case and slightly touch or move the cable and it would work again. Others would randomly turn the drive off, and if you moved the cable they would turn back on again. Good thing I had about 153 of them just laying around.

I know they're "slower," but the 40 wire cables are a lot tougher and can take more flexing and abuse.

Then again I probably swap drives more than most people too.. kinda goes back to the whole "normal" thing..