How many degrees does it take to find an DVD+/-RW?
I got my new computer for work today, and I was excited. It's a really kick ass machine. However, when I set it up, I immediately noticed that it only had one optical drive (a DVD-ROM), when it should have had two (the DVD-ROM and a DVD+/-RW). Ok, fine. So we call Dell, and they've already shipped me a new one. Great.
Now, the only problem is, the DVD-ROM drive that I DO have, doesn't work! I put a disk in, and it goes "What? You did something? I don't think so!". Fuck. Ok. Fine. I'll play with it later.
After spending like 5 hours setting up everything else, I decide to go back to testing the DVD drive. I realize that it's being detected incorrectly. Windows thinks it's a DVD+/-RW. Weird. I change it. Doesn't help. Uninstall, then reinstall. Doesn't help. Again, fuck.
Oh, I know! I haven't actually tried reading a DVD. I bet something is broken with the driver or whatever, and it can only read DVDs. In goes a Robin William's DVD, followed by precisely nothing. Ok, fine. Fucker, gimme my disk back. I right-click on the drive and tell it to eject the disk. Nothing. No, wait! I hear the drive going "clunk, clunk, clunk". For those of us in the know, it's almost never good when a computer makes a "clunk, clunk, clunk" sound. So I hurridly hit the manual eject button. The disk just pops right out, smooth as can be. Huh? I still hear the "clunk, clunk, clunk"!
What's that? Is the drive bay... moving? I put my hand on the grey bay cover right below the drive, and I feel a "bump, bump, bump", and the "clunk, clunk, clunk" is dampened. SON OF A BITCH! I whip out my Leatherman pop off the bay, and peer inside. Sure as shit, there's a DVD+/-RW drive, shifted about halfway back into the case.
Turns out, the computer had it right all along, and the drive it detected WAS a DVD+/-RW, and there WASN'T ever a disk in it. I haven't gotten to open the case yet (I'm in the middle of copying a whole ton of files from my other computer), but my theory is that after the machine was tested, the DVD+/-RW drive got pushed back while they were moving it. And then, right before they packaged it, someone goes "oh, look, that drive bay needs a cover", and, since it's hard to see the drive, he slaps a bay cover on, and packs it up. The reason that the second drive (the one I can see) isn't being detected, I think, is because when the other drive got pushed back, it popped the SATA cable out (but not the power cable), so it LOOKED like it was hooked up, but in reality, the computer could only see the second, hidden drive. That also explains why the bios was set up for two drives.
I just finished my copying, so I'm going to fix it real quick and see if I can make them both work.
Now, the only problem is, the DVD-ROM drive that I DO have, doesn't work! I put a disk in, and it goes "What? You did something? I don't think so!". Fuck. Ok. Fine. I'll play with it later.
After spending like 5 hours setting up everything else, I decide to go back to testing the DVD drive. I realize that it's being detected incorrectly. Windows thinks it's a DVD+/-RW. Weird. I change it. Doesn't help. Uninstall, then reinstall. Doesn't help. Again, fuck.
Oh, I know! I haven't actually tried reading a DVD. I bet something is broken with the driver or whatever, and it can only read DVDs. In goes a Robin William's DVD, followed by precisely nothing. Ok, fine. Fucker, gimme my disk back. I right-click on the drive and tell it to eject the disk. Nothing. No, wait! I hear the drive going "clunk, clunk, clunk". For those of us in the know, it's almost never good when a computer makes a "clunk, clunk, clunk" sound. So I hurridly hit the manual eject button. The disk just pops right out, smooth as can be. Huh? I still hear the "clunk, clunk, clunk"!
What's that? Is the drive bay... moving? I put my hand on the grey bay cover right below the drive, and I feel a "bump, bump, bump", and the "clunk, clunk, clunk" is dampened. SON OF A BITCH! I whip out my Leatherman pop off the bay, and peer inside. Sure as shit, there's a DVD+/-RW drive, shifted about halfway back into the case.
Turns out, the computer had it right all along, and the drive it detected WAS a DVD+/-RW, and there WASN'T ever a disk in it. I haven't gotten to open the case yet (I'm in the middle of copying a whole ton of files from my other computer), but my theory is that after the machine was tested, the DVD+/-RW drive got pushed back while they were moving it. And then, right before they packaged it, someone goes "oh, look, that drive bay needs a cover", and, since it's hard to see the drive, he slaps a bay cover on, and packs it up. The reason that the second drive (the one I can see) isn't being detected, I think, is because when the other drive got pushed back, it popped the SATA cable out (but not the power cable), so it LOOKED like it was hooked up, but in reality, the computer could only see the second, hidden drive. That also explains why the bios was set up for two drives.
I just finished my copying, so I'm going to fix it real quick and see if I can make them both work.