Please help.
I've read the post CH000392 ATAPI imcompatible press FI
I CHECKED my cables. My CMOS setup seems to be correct. My two CD-Rom drives (one is a "generic" CD-ROM--no name, the other is an Optorite CD/DVD drive) do not show up on the Advanced BIOS Features menu Boot Sequency selection. There is no option to put it in. Only allows me to put in the floppy, or one of the hard drives.

Since my Win XP is on CD-ROM, I am unable to reinstall. I have gone online with my motherboard manufacturer (MSI) to reinstall drivers and went through the BIOS recovery feature.

I'm totally lost about what to do next. The hard drives have been working for months. This happened sometime after I got a Blue Screen of Death, as I've seen it called, when something caused possible damage to the Kernel. I did not get to write everything down from the screen before it went to black. For a while I was ABLE to manage things with the drives, while I saved some files in preparation for a reinstall. Right now I don't know if I can reinstall since the IDEs are unrecognized.

They show up in the Device Manager, but they do not show up in Windows Explorer. I can hear the motor of the generic drive run if I put a disk in, but nothing shows up on the screen. I can't open the tray of the Optorite to put in a CD. I tried updating the Optorite since I had a small update application from Optorite that worked on a past system reinstall. This time it showed an error, with no further information.

Please help. How should I proceed on this? Thank you.
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SYSTEM INFORMATION below:

Operating System
Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (build 2600)

Processor:
1.85 gigahertz AMD Athlon XP
128 kilobyte primary memory cache
256 kilobyte secondary memory cache

System Model:
MSI MS-6712 1.0

Main Circuit Board:
Board: MSI MS-6712 1.0
Bus Clock: 166 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. Version 07.00T 04/02/01

Memory Modules:
1024 Megabytes Installed Memory
Slot '0' has 512 MB
Slot '1' has 512 MB
Slot '2' is Empty

Drives:
a: 3.5" format removeable media [floppy drive--this drive may not be very dependable, but have not replaced it.]
c: (NTFS on drive 0) 300.06 GB [Seagate--the master drive where Windows XP "lives"]
d: (NTFS on drive 1) 250.06 GB [Hitachi]
(Both hard drives are fairly new--last couple of months. No partitions at this time. Was planning on creating some with Partition Magic.)

Controllers:
Standary floppy disk controller
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller]
VIA Bus Master IDE Controller

Bus Adapters
NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller (B1)
NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller (2x)
VIA Rev 5 or later USB Universal Host Controller (3x)
VIA USB Enhanced Host Controller

Other Devices:
VIA OHCI COMPLIANT IEEE 1394 Host Controller
Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
PS/2 Compatible Mouse
USB Root Hub (7x)F34Cat...... It almost sounds as if you don't have the cd drivers installed .....

do you have a win 98 boot disk ?
What boot SEQUENCE is your pc set to now ?

let us know

dl65  Thanks for the reply! Don't know how I could have missed it!
I have a floppy labelled "MS Windows 98 Start-Disk" which was created during an installation on 5/4/2001. I also have a second floppy labelled "Basic Rescue Boot Floppy Disk October 11, 2001".

Of course, I've got my CD of Win 98. My Win XP is an OEM which I bought with a peripheral.

The current boot sequency is:
1) floppy drive
2) primary master hard drive (the Seagate)
3)
Other:  Yes

I got the computer back from a shop with a new CPU installed, and this was the boot sequence. I did not add the primary slave (the Hitachi) in the boot sequence, although I could do so. It is available to add. The CD-ROMs are not available to add, although they were before Blue Screen of Death (didn't check when they dropped out because I only checked the BIOS after CD-ROM problem showed up.  The shop had put the generic CD-ROM in the sequence. If I remember correctly, they had put it in the number 3 slot.

I forgot to add that the sequence does not include the primary slave, the Hitachi, because it wasn't added in the sequence at the shop. This is the first time I've had a shop put anything in my computer, since the original assembly was done by a friend. I've put in my own graphics cards and hard drives in the past, but I didn't feel confident about getting all the compatibilities correct for a new motherboard, which is what I thought I needed at the time. (Huge problems, huge history, now resolved   , then two weeks later, this  ).

What sequence do you recommend?

Thank you so much!If it worked for awhile then quit, I'd still suspect your cables, your drives, PS, your controller or your motherboard in that order.  My suspicions point towards the Optorite drive or circuit going belly up.

You said you checked the cables?  Did you check the power connector(s) to the drives?  For example, if your master (CDROM or DVD drive) power is bad or intermittent, it can create havoc with your other drive and the IDE controller!

- remove your slave drive (disconnect it)
- try another power connector to your master
Does it work and is it recognized? Yes?  Then add the second drive as a slave and see if it works too.

- if your first master isn't recognized, then switch drives.
Does it work now?  Then your first master drive/circuit or power is probably bad.

DellPersonal bad experience with Optorite drives. They are just not very good or durable. I would be suspicious of that rascal.I can go out and buy new power connectors. When I completely disconnect cables and power to anything but the primary master, the Seagate, I still get the non-ATAPI compatible screen. I have downloaded and reinstalled the MSI controllers.

Hopefully short history:
I installed the Windows XP a few months ago. After some time, I thought I might have malware because of some balloon notes that would disappear (about LAN usage) and programs would execute that I had zipped. I couldn't trace what was going on if anything, and in a fit of what could have been paranoia , I made some adjustments that crashed my computer. So I reinstalled it. Then started freaking out about some zipped files executing. (All this turned out to be about the autoplay feature, which allows zipped files to execute--if the program is designed to execute?) So I reinstalled again, trying to really understand and tweak the system. I put in new hard drives because a friend helped me crash one . The reason I had taken it into the shop in the first place is because I WANTED to have my motherboard tested and replaced because I couldn't access the CD-ROMs. I had considered getting a new IDE, but was persuaded to try the motherboard route first. This seemed reasonable, since the shop found no problem with the drives and motherboard. They replaced the processor, since I thought it might as well get an upgrade while there. It really worked perfectly until the Blue Screen of Death. They worked after the first blue screen, but I cannot remember whether they worked the second time I got a blue screen. I'm sorry the sequence is not really clear enough. I've really been exhausted by the problems and getting very little sleep for several weeks over these things.  OMG! It works! This is the suggestion I followed:
I took the two IDEs out of the Windows Device Manager. (I didn't realize this was desirable.)  I unplugged everything again from the two devices (cables, power). For good measure I changed the CMOS readings to "Auto" rather than "CD-ROM" for each device and made sure everything was cleared (Clearing NVRAM set to "Yes" for the PNP/PCI Configuration in BIOS).

Then I plugged in and started each device separately. Windows XP detected the new hardware, and each time the computer booted, no ATAPI incompatible warning!

Windows Explorer now recognizes the devices and I have played CDs on each to make sure they're working!

Thank you so much. I'm very happy to be a member of this wonderful, new (to me) forum. I really appreciate the fast, friendly, extremely well-informed responses. I'm looking forward to participating.

Thanks, guys!F34Cat... Glad to hear your back up and running .......
Feel free to pop in anytime .

Cheers

dl65  Thanks so much!