Fasfrank You're welcome, though I think I was just a sounding board this time around. I've accumulated parts myself. I've gotten so many I've ended up building extra PCs. Like you say, it's handy having the parts for test purposes, but around here I've not had much go wrong in a while. I have to sell or give a PC away so I can build another. KirkhamJ Good luck on the exam.
Just to drop one more note... one of the dvd's that my drive didn't like is TDK... is this a problem? Oh one more thing, when I said that I took my drive out from time to time to fix problems, I meant that sometimes there were jumper conflictions, thats all. If y'all are wondering why I'm still here, it's because I'm fascinated with computers and can't get enough of them!! I can't seem to get enough computer time though. Computers are my brain!!
Yeah, jumper conflictions happen when you don't install a drive right. Every drive, whether it be a hard drive or a dvd drive, has a place to put a very small jumper to set the drive as a master or slave. If you set two drives as master and not as master and slave, you computer will probably not work correctly. I've made that mistake a few times, and it isn't fun! That is the first thing that I check when a drive doesn't work.
That kind of "confliction" is from not paying attention. The first thing with a new drive is to check the jumper to make sure it's in the right position. Never trust the factory to have it on master. Plus if not master, it needs changing anyway. Then there's cable select systems...
Well, its not all of our fault for that. Sometimes even if we change the jumper settings, they don't always work. Once we put them in different settings and they don't always work.
I've yet to see a drive where those settings weren't clearly marked somewhere on the case. If not there, then it is available through support documentation. It's one of those things that only goes wrong by not paying attention. Like I said, you don't put a drive in unless you're sure of the jumper setting. I guess it's easier for a novice to make a mistake like that. But as long as I've been repairing and building PCs, I've never put a drive jumper in the wrong place. It's one of those things that shouldn't happen.
