Issue with my Pentium 3 system. [SOLVED]

[Ampera]

At this point I've given up. Here is the problem.

I have a Pentium 3 computer, Slot one, SE440BX-2 mobo. It's brand new off Ebay, but it refuses to read from CD. It will quite happily read from floppy and a hard drive on the same controller, no problems had, but no matter if I use a CD drive, DVD drive, DVD+RW, pressed DVD, CD-RW, or CD-R, it doesn't read it. The closest I've gotten is I have gotten DOS 7.10 to read from the DVD+RW partially, but it continuously says after multiple retries the CD has no label, even though SOMETIMES if you retry, it will copy a few more files. This is using XCopy.

And It refuses to boot from it too, that is the largest problem. It says right in the BIOS in the boot order it can boot form CD an DVD, but it just refuses to read it. I have tried both controllers, 40, and 80 pin IDE cables, I have tried manual Master/Slave jumpering, as well as full and partial cable select, and nothing works. It either doesn't read it, or it gives me a directory listing and can only copy maybe 40 files before it gives up.

I have not tried another IDE controller, I do have one but it's in another machine, but I do not think it's the controller as it reads from a hard drive no problem.

Is there some config setting I am missing? It supports ATAPI, and El Torito booting, I am sure of that, and even still DOS should be able to read SOMETHING.

Thanks for any help.

I am also posting this over at VOGONS, but I thought some people here may have an idea of what the hell is going on.

[Towger]

IDE cable?

[Ampera]

IDE cable?

Nope.

[KhronX]

Is the optical drive itself good? Ie. does it work as expected, when hooked up to another computer?

[Ampera]

The optical drives are fine, they just don't like that computer. I tried a third drive, and it worked.

Thanks.

[GreyWoolfe]

The optical drives are fine, they just don't like that computer. I tried a third drive, and it worked.

Thanks.

I remember the days when I had that many and more optical drives.  Thank God I got over it.  Once I got rid of all the old computer parts, I had room for useless Ham Radio stuff 

[Ampera]

The optical drives are fine, they just don't like that computer. I tried a third drive, and it worked.

Thanks.

I remember the days when I had that many and more optical drives.  Thank God I got over it.  Once I got rid of all the old computer parts, I had room for useless Ham Radio stuff 

One poor bastard over at VOGONS has a fricking STACK of drives. lemme pull up the forum link.

http://www.vogons.org/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=51531&p=551847&hilit=optical#p551847

I told him, make a coffee table, you've got enough.

[SeanB]

I had enough scrapped hard drives to make a table, but turned then into scrap metal instead. Built up another pile though, got 10 dead ones to strip now again.

With the CD drive, have you made sure the drive is not set to master or cable select, and that the motherboard bios is trying to read it in PIO mode not any other mode. UDMA must be turned off, can have issues with some motherboards.

Version of bios, and have you checked if there is a later version available, or at least errata for that version somewhere.