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Solve : Wanting to add a DVD-ROM drive to a computer from 1997?

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It's been a while.

I am thinking about adding a DVD-ROM drive to our old HP Pavilion 7285 200mhz PC that has Windows 95, but will first need to get an IDE cable that has a slave connector. I had noticed that the bios has support for a secondary IDE slave drive, and the computer has space for one, but there isn't one right now. Do you know if the bios of this old computer will support a DVD-ROM drive? If it does, and the drive can be detected in Windows 95, I might be able to play the Riven DVD on the old computer for once. Given that the Riven DVD requires at least a 166mhz Pentium, I'm sure this is possible. This would be the final add-on for the computer.

At any rate, the drivers for the drive would have to be found after the drive has been gotten, if they don't come with it.How much ram does it have?All IDE cables are the same so just grab another one.
The jumpers are set on pins on the back of the drive.

Your BIOS will probably recognise the drive but getting Win95 to do it is a bit trickier...do a search for OakRom CD drivers...they should do it.Ryan, This link relates to CD and DVD drive replacement/installation in your computer. It does refer to DVD and win95. It is an HP site so it OCCURS to me that if it were NOT possible or advised they would NOT include the reference.I have an old Elite of about that vintage that is on Win 98 and i do have my own installed DVD ROM working in it.http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=bph07164&cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&product=59360 truenorthNice Find truenorth ! !Thanks for the replies.


Truenorth, I've actually seen the page you put up a link to. Obviously there's a chance that I might be able to go ahead with this.

The main question is what DVD drive speed would be a good MATCH with a 200mhz computer. Should I try to find an 8x or 12x speed DVD drive? As long as it's not the Raite brand...Don't worry about the speed of the drive. Just fit it. Don't expect sparkling DVD-video playback though, with that CPU! Should be OK for data disks, and you can use it in some more modern hardware when you finally come to your senses.

PS It sounds like you are confused about the meaning of "master" and "slave". The standard IDE provision, even in 1997, (I was actually alive in 1997, unlike most of the people on here!) was two IDE channels. Primary and secondary. Each channel could have a master drive and a slave drive. The best configuration avoided mixing fast and slow drives on the same channel (optical drives are much slower than HDDs) so the best thing to do IMHO is to have the HDD as master on the primary channel (it probably is already) and the DVD drive as master on the secondary channel. So study the jumper placement.

Quote from: patio on September 06, 2009, 04:31:39 PM

All IDE cables are the same so just grab another one.
The jumpers are set on pins on the back of the drive.

Your BIOS will probably recognise the drive but getting Win95 to do it is a bit trickier...do a search for OakRom CD drivers...they should do it.
Patio is wrong. There are IDE cables with only one connector.
You should do it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt01IWLAtbQ shows a 1997 computer with a DVD drive to load Windows 7. I recommend you use Windows 98 or newer if you want to use DVDs.Quote
Patio is wrong. There are IDE cables with only one connector.

Of course there are...and they are older than his machine....

What are you saying exactly ? ?
Go out tomorrow and see if you can find one of those at a REPUTABLE PC shop.

Quote from: patio on September 07, 2009, 12:19:01 PM
Go out tomorrow and see if you can find one of those at a reputable PC shop.

"Single drive" cables are very common. I had one supplied with my Shuttle as an option if only 1 drive was fitted.

There are plenty available.

72 US cents from Cables DIRECT:



QVS do 40 and 80 wire cables



Or you can get rounded ones



$6.00 from Silverpcs.com

Where I live in Britain there is a (fairly!) reputable company called Maplin that sells them over the counter.

Quote from: Patio
All IDE cables are the same

40 wire, 80 wire, cable select or not, single or dual drive... that makes 8 different kinds at least

Quote from: neelchauhan
There are IDE cables with only one connector.

Ones that have been cut with scissors - the minimum number of connectors required on a usable IDE cable is two - one to go in the port on the motherboard and one to go in a drive.

Well i 'll sit corrected for now with only a few clarifications...

A) Haven't seen the single drive cables anywhere in the last 5 years or so...this does not mean they don't exist.
B) 40 wire /80 wire i forgot about that distinction but yes both are available...however most use 80 wire now whether they are required or not...
C) Cable select is determined by the drive and/or BIOS not the cable...so if it's a dual connect 80wire IDE cable that certainly doesn't mean there are 8 different kinds.

Any of the cables MENTIONED will work...depends on what his needs are.Quote from: patio on September 07, 2009, 01:11:15 PM
C) Cable select is determined by the drive and/or BIOS not the cable...

Er, not exactly. CS is a jumper position, available on drives that support it. To use cable select, both devices on the channel are jumpered to "CS" Then, a special cable needs to be used. One connector is "Master" and one is "Slave". Standard 40 wire IDE cables are non-CS. However, in theory, 80 wire cables that conform to the ATA standard are CS enabled. You can use a CS cable for either the CS or master/slave scheme, but a standard 40 wire cable must be used with master/slave jumpering.
Thanx again for all the clarification...


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