Do you have one of those cleaner CDs to clean off the laser?  Maybe it got too dirty to see.  If that's not it, and your OS sees the optical drive, it is a hardware problem with the drive.  Check the web site of the manufacturer for any tips or troubleshooting info. Before you switch out the mobo beg, borrow, or otherwise get a working optical drive to see if it's only the failure of your current drive.  Changing mobos might be a big waste of time if the drive is toast.



"Paul E. Mason" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Howdy folks :-)
>
>I'm having a problem.  My IDE config looks like this:  On IDE-0 I have a
>master hard drive only; on IDE-1 I have a master hard drive and a slave CD.
>
> All of a sudden the other day, my CD began to fail to detect the CD in it's
>tray.  I tried the obvious first and put in another CD (both game
>CD's...Civilization & Emperor)...same problem.
>
>I tried to get a directory of the CD from command (DOS) mode, I get a drive
>not ready error (typically a missing disk)...probably not a windows driver
>(?).
>
>Ok, this is beginning to sound like a hardware problem.  I rustle around in
>the closet and find an old (but not too old...48x) CD and stick it
>in...exact same symptom.  I decide that because both masters are working, I
>could check the cable by switching the two IDE cables.  Same problem.
>
>I decided that I COULD have a virus and run a full Norton scan....nothing,
>I'm clean.
>
>Now, I decided to post here and see if anyone had any ideas before I
>switched motherboards (I really hate switching motherboards because I cringe
>every time I have to re-seat the heat-synch on my [Athlon] processor).
>


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                         PCBUILD's List Owners:
                      Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]>
                       Drew Dunn<[log in to unmask]>