Changed optical drive, now it won't boot up from it

**unckybob** · 05-26-2008, 02:13 PM

I changed the optical drive on my laptop now it won't boot up from the optical drive. I am able to play DVDs from the optical drive under Windows, so I assume the optical drive is working.

Laptop is: HP Compaq nc8000
Optical Drive is: Toshiba DVD-ROM SD2102

Help!
Bob

**rusty** · 05-26-2008, 02:20 PM

Check the jumpers on the back of the drive (master/slave/cable select) make sure that they are in the same position as on the drive you replaced. Also check the boot settings in your bios.

HTH

**unckybob** · 05-26-2008, 02:40 PM

I don't see any jumpers on the back. There are none on the old drives either. Does it make a difference that it is a laptop?

Also there's something new. I've discovered that it will play a video DVD, and it will read a CD, but it won't read a data DVD in Windows. I did a little research on the net for a driver, and it says it takes a generic driver.

???

**unckybob** · 05-26-2008, 03:03 PM

Also, I checked the BIOS and it's set to run from the optical drive first. '

Bob

**rusty** · 05-26-2008, 03:16 PM

Hmm,

Not sure what is going on with this, possibly a firmware issue. What happens if you remove the hard drive and try booting?

**unckybob** · 05-26-2008, 03:33 PM

It boots up okay. The optical drive isn't listed in the device manager.

I went to the Toshiba support site. There are no firmware updates for this particular drive. Also, it says there are no unique drivers required for any of their optical drives.

"Win '95/'98/2000/XP/NT Operating Systems support all Toshiba ATAPI CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives natively".

**cbagger01** · 05-28-2008, 04:08 AM

Originally Posted by unckybob

It boots up okay. The optical drive isn't listed in the device manager.

I went to the Toshiba support site. There are no firmware updates for this particular drive. Also, it says there are no unique drivers required for any of their optical drives.

"Win '95/'98/2000/XP/NT Operating Systems support all Toshiba ATAPI CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives natively".

Stick a different kind of bootable CD into the drive and see if you can boot from it.

Examples:
Windows installation disk
Ultimate boot cd
A KNOPPIX CD edition (not DVD)

If none can boot it means you have a hardware/configuration issue.