I have just bought parts for a new computer and put them together. when i turned on the power the computer started up and loaded the bios. everything worked except for the fact that the 200GB HDD and the DVD drive weren't being detected.

i have the - ASUS A8N-SLI
- AMD 3500+ processor
- 1024 MB RAM
- 200GB HDD Samsung
- Pioneer DVD+-RW DL
- X850 XT PE

i have a suspicion this would be the problem but im not sure. the power supply came with a 20-pin ATX cable but the motherboard has a slot. otherwise i don't know why it wouldn't be working.LtScho....Is the hard drive SET as cable select or master ?....and is the dvd on the same IDE cable ?
Do you have the 4pin power plugs attached to both the hd and the dvd ?
Is the power cable from the psu to the motherboard plugged in properly ?
Do you have 2 IDE ribbons or 1?

dl65  thanks for the fast reply.

i have the HDD and DVD drive set as master and on different IDE cables. they both have the 4 pin power supply plugs attached to both and the cable from the psu is plugged in properly.

LtScho........ Sorry to be so long coming back , but I had to D/L your manual ........ Is the hard drive on the primary ide and the dvd on the secondary ? ...and do you have both plugged into the socket on the end .......as opposed to the middle?Are the IDE Ribbons keyed ( will they only go into the rear of the drives one way ?)i call that a pretty fast reply anyway. so don't be hard on youself.

i have the HDD in the primary and the DVD drive in secondary.

and i have tried connecting to both parts in the cable, the middle and the end. although in the manual for the A8N-SLI it SAYS to use the grey connector for primary HDD which was in the middle.

and the ribbons are keyed. they r missing one pin in the middle bottom so they can't go in the wrong way.When you go into the bios .......do they show up there ?I take it you have another pc there ...do you have skype on it by any chance and a headset and mike ?
no they don't. it shows up as none.
and then if i let the computer load it says failed to boot, insert system disk and press enter.

could it be because of the 20-pin ATX connector from my psu.no but i can get skype just wait a bit.I dont quite understand whats GOING on with the MAIN power from the psu to the mobook. i bought all the parts and stuff. put them together and was plugging it in when i realise the psu has a 20-pin connector and the motherboard has a 24-pin slot so there a 4 slots with nothing in them. i decided to try and see if it would still work as the shop was closed and i have to wait 2 days for it to open again as its sunday tomorrow. the computer turns on and all the different parts work fine. the extra usb's and firewire, it all shows up in the bios but the HDD and DVD won't. so i came on here asking if it was because of the different conectors or some other reason that i am missing. i hope thats less confusing.Do you have a 20 pin plug or a 24 pin plug ?
20.You should have the 24 pin EATX plug in , the ATX12V and the 4 pin EZ_plug in