Hi people. I am having a little problem with a new Laptop DVDRW drive my parents bought me this Christmas.

I have an Alienware Area 51-m 7700 series laptop, and my parents bought me a Lite-On DVDRW model number SLW-831S.

The problem is thus, when I insert the drive into my laptop, the computer refuses to make it through the POST. Either that or the POST doesn't even start. There is HDD activity for a while. But nothing else.

When I take the drive out again, the laptop boots as normal...

Does ANYBODY have an idea as to what could be causing this?

Many thanks in advace.

Dark LenneDark_Lenne...

The problem you may be experiencing could be caused because of improper jumper settings on your new optical drive.

Remember...if you have two drives connected to the same IDE channel...only one can be a master and one a slave.

More info about your new optical drive can be foud here:

http://us.liteonit.com/us/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=70&Itemid=88


Best of luck!I thought that may be the case, however, there doesnt appear to jumpers on the drive itself. Maybe I am not looking for the right thing? Have you dealt with these situations before? Becuase I am at a complete loss...Yes, I have...

It seems your BIOS isn't detecting the drive.

Possible solutions can be found here:

http://us.liteonit.com/us/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=72

Did you have to install any drivers before inserting the new drive...or did you just remove the OLD and insert the new?  Your new drive may have come with installation software.  Using the old drive, install the software and then shut down your notebook and insert the new drive.

Again...there are several instances where the new drive will not be detected and the link above can help.  You may need to vist your optical drive's download page for new firmware downloads.

Please post back and let me know if any of the above solutions have worked.

Best of luck!Thanks for your help, I have put in a request for help from Lite-on. I'll let you know how it goes.

Just to let you know, after many problems with the old drive, I removed and disposed of it. My laptop has been without an optical drive now for around three months.

The new drive didn't come with any software and I wouldn't be able to install it, even if it had.

Thanks again.You're more than welcome...

One last thing...

Without the optical drive installed, boot into BIOS and check your boot settings.  Disable booting from the optical drive and then continue to boot as normal.  Once you've booted into Windows, insert the optical drive to see if it is recognized by Windows.

Please let us know how everything WORKS out by posting your results here.


Merry Christmas!Oh I tried that. Result? BSOD.

All that appears in my BIOS is the option to have IDE-0 and IDE-2. They must be the two available optical drvie slots, as my two hard drives are SATA.

I can't see anything in the BIOS that could be causing the problem. I'll be SPEAKING to Alienware as soon as they open on the 28th, untill then, ,I'll just have to do without.

I can see me sending the laptop to them to be fixed. However, I think the laptop had a one year warranty with it. That may be over now. Would they be required to fix it regardless? As it must be a manufacturers fault. (Sould that be the cause?)If it is out of warranty, they are not obligated to fix it...unless you contacted them previously with the same issue.

Have you also tried going into your Control/System/Device Manager to check the properties of the IDE controller to see if it is working properly by checking its "Properties".

You also stated there are two slots for optical drives...unless I'm reading you wrong.  Is this correct?  If so, check to see if both the Primary and Secondary IDE are working properly.

I just checked the specs on your machine again and there are two optical bays...have you tried each bay separately?

The only other thing I can think of (at this moment) is that the drive itself is not compatible with the DMA 33 interface of the Alienware notebook.

Anyone care to chime in here?Chime!

I have seen laptops that the BIOS was specific to a certain drive
by model, name, and Model number.This may have been a chip on
the drive that the BIOS recognizes.

If you get a different Drive............Don't work.

That is why some USB external drives work easier than a
internal swappable. :-?

What brand name and model number was your original CD/DVD Drive?

May I say excuse me ,but Aleinware online support Vacuums .That
keeps me from saying [email protected]Ks.. Savior

I've tried each bay seperatly. The device manager states that the device is working correctly... But if the problem was during the post, what Windows thinks of the drive wouldnt matter would it?

street1

I can only tell you that the brand of the drive was QSI. I found many people with similar complaints to mine while I was having trouble with it. And it would be all well and good to have an external DVD drive, but my laptop is in DIRE need of a fresh install, and USB doesnt work in DOS does it?I Hope your parents feel better if this works.Christmas can be a
bummer for us parents but, you great kids are worth it.

After more research it seems your computer can't recognize it because
of the factory jumperless setting. :-?

Hope this helps. :-?

Changes the master/slave setting for jumperless LiteOn laptop drives.

Below Website:
Scroll to the bottom of page and give it a look.


http://codeguys.rpc1.org/utilities.html

My pet bird was sitting in the corner in his little chair,patting his foot
and giving me the low down about Christmas.I wanted to choke old
PeckerWood but,he is just a nut so......I just smacked him. LOL
Nice job, street1...

Let's hope he can use it to resolve the issue he is currently having...looking forward to the outcome of this one...