DVD Rom in CP advice needed

[sealslayer]

I posted on here a few weeks ago about putting my DVD rom in the side of my CP and how I could make the cable reach, I was told a IDE lead wont work at a long distance so I bought a USB-IDE converter.

I had to buy a USB2.0 PCI card as my old MOBO doesn't have USB 2.0, after much installing and and xp service packs I cant get the damn thing to run.

When I put the USB-IDE Converter in a normal USB port it says this item will not run at the correct speed please use one of the available ports on your high speed hub (2.0 USB PCI Card), When I connect to the USB2.0 port the PC freezes and I have to reboot the machine, it then finds the USB - IDE adaptor but it either then makes thing USB ding noise and disconnects itself or it shows in device manager with a yellow exclamation mark saying this device cannot start.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated as this is ruining my whole cab at the mo, I've got the DVD rom sitting inside with all the wires hanging out, my plans of a DVD rom in the side of my CP are slowly fading away  as I can't think of anyother way to get it to work in there with the limited length of the IDE cable, has anyone actually used one of these USB-IDE Connectors without any problems?

Cheers in advance

[ahofle]

I've used them without issues (but not with a USB2.0 card).  Are you sure the DVD drive is set to 'master' using the jumpers?  I believe the IDE-USB adapters require that the drives be set to master mode (not cable select).

[sealslayer]

yeah the ROM is set to master, If I could have found a standard USB Connector I would have been more than happy, it seems all the sellers on ebay now only sell USB2.0

 

[lloydcom]

Yep been there and got the T shirt.

Bet its driving you potty by now.  Bet you saw the exclamation mark saying the the drive could not start or some odd USB message.

Well my friend, you will have to get some decent power to your DVD drive.  If you are using that USB 2.0 IDE Adapter with the power cable molex sticking out of the plastic IDE Block, you will need to get a stronger power source.  I like to power the cab with a 120W AT or ATX psu.  If you are in the UK www.scan.co.uk have them at £6 or less.

I had the same issues with 2.5 drives.  Not enough power.  Drove me nuts until I plugged in the second power cable into the usb port....

BTW if you wanted a cool option for your DVD drive, why not opt for a slot loading laptop drive.  These are pretty cheap now on ebay and your power issues would be halved.

Hope it helps.

[sealslayer]

I'm using the lead and taking power from my 400w PSU from one of the molex power connectors, am I missing something else out?
The power leads not been extended in anyway so I would have thought it would have worked.
Another thing, the connector has a red flashing LED when I plug it into my main pc but no light appears on my cab PC.....

This is what the lead looks like

[quarterback]

I have a connector just like that one and I haven't ever gotten it to work.

I bought it because I wanted the power converter that came with it, so I'm not overly disappointed.  But it still sucks that the IDE->USB hasn't worked for me.    I have a USB/FWire enclosure that works, but one of these days I should do some investigating to figure out if I can get the cable you have pictured to work for me.   Could be some kind of driver issue.

This is what the lead looks like

[Silver]

I have that exact connector and it works perfectly for on 3 different machines. All run XP.

It sounds to me as though there is a conflict with your USB2.0 PCI card and some system resources.

1) Try plugging the PCI card into a different PCI slot.

When windows detects new hardware on startup (for the USB2.0 hub), if it says "needs restart", make sure you restart before plugging in the HD.

2) check device manager for any conflicting IRQ's etc.

3) If you don't need em, disable your on-board USB 1.0 in the BIOS. Try to use all USB1.0 or all USB2.0

Even though it says to use "hispeed" USB or whatever, does the device function with USB1.0 (albeit slowly).

Most important - after you hear the "ding" and the little "device attached" icon in your taskbar, it does not mean the drive will be visible in Explorer. You will probably need to go to Logical Disk Manager and assign a drive letter to the HD. You will only have to do this once (next time you plug in, should be automatic).

[GadgetGeek]

I"ve got that same dongle.  RMA'd the first one.  Second one worked with one hard drive on one of my machines, but none of my other machines or other hard drives or cd/dvd drives.  Rather frustrating.  Reviews I've read say they are hit or miss.  THey either work for you or they don't.  Having to eat shipping on the return, I gave up trying ot get one that worked.

[Angry_Radish]

My only suggestion would be to get an empty external drive enclosure off eBay, and hack it to fit flush to the CP wall if you can't get the dongle to work..

[Bill Mote]

That cable sealslayer posted works like a charm.  I couldn't be bothered to read the rest of the posts, but one thing to do is try *all* jumper settings: single/master, master w/slave, cable select and even try with no jumbers at all.  The USB to IDE cables can be fruity in this area depending on the drive it's attached to.  Very similar to symptoms with the drive trays available for HDD drives.

dot

[sealslayer]

Well I managed to get it to work after much messing around but I'm not 100% convinced it will keep on working as it stopped after a few reboots, then after taking the PCI card and starting again it worked 

I've come to the conclusion I may need a newer MOBO as mines pretty old, only a Athlon 1400 so I may wait a while and buy a MOBO with USB 2.0 as standard.
I think this board has USB issues not just with USB 2.0,  when I turn the PC on my USB mouse doesn't work and has to be unplugged then plugged back in to the HUB, where as the IPAC plugged into the HUB works every time, very strange and highly annoying.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys 

[kelemvor]

My only suggestion would be to get an empty external drive enclosure off eBay, and hack it to fit flush to the CP wall if you can't get the dongle to work..

That's what I would do too.  A drive enclosure should work with any USB port and most have their own power source too.

Could try upgrading your BIOS if you haven't checked that yet...

[sealslayer]

Gahh, this is really driving me nuts now.
I've just replaced the damaged plexi in the front of my CP so I had my DVD rom already to be installed in the side.

1: Plugged the IDE- USB connector in on its own.. ding dong.. finds it, after about 1 minute dong ..ding ...it disconnects itself....sigh
2: unplug and plug it in while its connected to the DVD Rom...ding dong...dong ding..
finds it and has error mark in device manager.
3: unplug it, change the jumper setting on the DVD, finds it, loads it all well and good...1 minute later dong ding it disconnects itself...

 

Faulty IDE - USB Connector??