Installing an internal CDRom

My boss asked me to do this. I declined as I never have done this before and I would rather wait till my MIS person does it and watch him.

Well that was 3 months ago and I really need a CDRom drive. I got several books from the library and it looks real easy. Is it? All the books devote like a page and a half to it. My MIS person says it is easy too. (We have ONE MIS person for 6 hotels that’s why it’s taking so long.) I’m by no means a computer geeks. Should I try it? What is the worst I could do?

It’s cake. Don’t worry about it. I have a CDR I swap between two computers regularly.

You can do it, Mark. You just ground yourself,open the case, which is pretty easy one most computers these days, and mount the drive (4 screws) in an empty bay that opens to the front of the case. There’ll be a plastic insert covering the bay that you’ll need to remove from the from bezel of the machine. The drive will come with something explaining the jumper settings, complete with pictures. You’ll need to hook up to the power supply (once you’ve got the case open, it’ll be apparent how to do that) and you’ve got to run a data cable from the drive to the motherboard; the cable is probably included with the drive - it’ll look like a wide ribbon with a colored stripe running along one side. The plugs are shaped so that you can’t put them in the wrong way. Plug it into your second IDE port on the motherboard. You’ll notice another data cable already in there, that’s the one that goes to your hard drive. The port that your hard drive is connected to will appear able to accept two data cables, and it can. But right next to it is an identical double plug port, that’s your secondary IDE connection and you want to plug your CD drive in to it exactly as your hard drive is plugged into the primary. Power up before you close the case up just to see that it all works. You may need a driver, if so it should be on a diskette that came with the CD drive.

  1. Open case
  2. Remove plastic insert from case front
  3. Set jumpers
  4. 4 screws to mount it
  5. Power connection
  6. Plug in data cable
  7. Power up and install drivers if needed
  8. Put the case back together
    You’re done!

Just to supplement: there are some older computers and IDE cables that CAN be plugged in the wrong way. Here’s how to make sure you have it right:

On the motherboard, right next to the socket that the IDE ribbon cable plugs into, you’ll usually see numbers at the corners of the socket. These numbers are the pin numbers. The red/striped side of the IDE cable marks pin 1. Plug the cable in so that the red wire is on the pin 1 side of the socket. You’ll also have to plug it in correctly on the back of the new CD drive, but that’s easy: plug in the cable so that the red wire is nearest the socket where you plug in the CD’s power cord.

Another thing, about jumpers: there’s usually a label on the back of the drive just above the jumper block that shows you the different jumper positions. If the CD drive will be the first and only device on your second IDE port, set the jumpers to the ‘primary’ or ‘master’ configuration. It probably came from the factory in that configuration, but check it just in case. Also, if it’s the only device on the cable, plug the CD drive into the last connector (not the middle one) on your IDE cable.

If you have no second IDE port or it’s already taken and you have to set the new CD drive up on a cable with another device, it’s no big deal. Just set the jumpers to the ‘slave’ or ‘secondary’ setting and connect the CD drive to the MIDDLE connector on the IDE cable with the other device. All should be well.

A note on removing those bay-blockers: they usually don’t take more than a little poke from the inside to remove them. Still, you’ll occasionally run into one that has a catch or a screw that has to be unfastened in a particular way. Just look at it, and you’ll figure it out.

Now, before you do ANY of this, have your computer turned off but plugged in to the wall. When you’ve removed the case, touch the metal case of the power supply; it’s grounded, and it’ll discharge any static in you. Then, disconnect the power cord from the wall so you don’t have any accidental power-ups. You may now move relatively freely about your computer’s innards.

Hmmm some techs here forgot it depends on whether its a IDE or Atapi cdrom drive…whoops.

Ah, Mark, just slide it in, connect the other cable connection from the HD to it.

Hey Mark, those things come with instructions to install :-)!

Leave it plugged in!? :frowning: Why?

Having the computer turned off but plugged in while you touch the power supply case gives the static discharge somewhere to go, specifically, the ground. I always used to touch the power supply twice before diddling with a computer’s innards, once while plugged in, once after unplugging. Maybe overkill, but computers cost money to fix, ya know…

Open the case; assess whether or not the internal power cable and SCSI cable have vacant spots on them or not; if they are full, replace with otherwise identical cables that have extra device-plugs on them.

The standard SCSI ID is 3; you will need to set the jumpers. Instructions are usually provided, but if not, set it up like so:

            A2  A1  A0  TE FK
           __________________
          | +   +   +   +  + |
SCSI 3    |     |   |      | |
No Term   | +   +   +   +  + |
          |__________________|

Activate the extension Apple CD/DVD Driver if it is not already active in your extensions set.

If you wish to boot from it, hold down the “C” key during boot until you hear the CDROM spin up and the “Welcome to Macintosh” screen comes up.


Disable Similes in this Post

Phooey. Try again.

…A2 A1 A0 TE FK
… __________________
…| + + + + + |
…SCSI 3 | | | | |
…No Term | + + + + + |
…|__________________|


Disable Similes in this Post

Oh to hell with it. Connect A1, A0, and FK.


Disable Similes in this Post

There seem to be conflicting information because markxxx didn’t specify what kind of computer it is (Mac, PC or something else) and what type of CD-ROM drive. The drive is most likely IDE if the computer is a PC, and SCSI if not. So which is it??