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Acer Aspire DVD Writer replacement problem

post #1 of 17
10/21/06 at 6:25pm
Thread Starter 
Hello.

Hopefully somebody has an explanation and solution for the following.

I have an Acer Aspire 1705SMi with a Matshita DVD Writer.

The Matshita got to the point where it was useless so I took the laptop to a store and replaced the DVD drive with a new NEC AD-7543.
That was a direct drop-in with no jumpers involved.

Now the Acer BIOS does not see the ATAPI device.

WinXP SP2 sees the drive but claims that it has no driver for it.
Of course, no extra drivers are needed and ASPI is properly installed.

The conflict has to be with the Acer BIOS (it is the latest version).

Why would that happen and how can I get around it?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
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post #2 of 17
10/22/06 at 6:38am
tried to set the bios to auto and default and let it pick up in the next boot?

cheers ...
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post #3 of 17
10/22/06 at 1:45pm
Thread Starter 
How?

I don't have any options for that like they are in desktops.

The hard disk, CD and the rest, show up as display items only. There are no editable options related to devices.
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post #4 of 17
10/22/06 at 4:19pm
what is ur current bios version, may i ask?

cheers ...
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post #5 of 17
10/22/06 at 5:50pm
Thread Starter 
The latest I could find (I'm using it for a long time now).

It's 3C13 and it's dated 05/12/04
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post #6 of 17
10/23/06 at 6:49am
can u check and see that the boot sequence is set to CD/DVD first?

cheers ...
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post #7 of 17
10/23/06 at 4:56pm
Thread Starter 
Nope.
The sequence is Hard disk/floppy.
The CD cannot be selected since it's undetectable. The CD ROM devices list is empty.
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post #8 of 17
10/23/06 at 6:33pm
suppose that the new optical drive does not have any setting for master or slave -
i can only suggest that u take the optical drive back since it sounds more like a harware issue, not having to do with ur laptop

cheers ...
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post #9 of 17
10/23/06 at 7:24pm
Actually the drive is not defect. Here's how it is:
Your nec drive has csel (cable selection)
NEC Standard setting : Low = Master, Open=Slave
However, some PCs have reverse setting (yours) - in the case that a NEC standard setting Drive is mounted to such reverse setting PC, the Drive may not be recognized.
So there are 2 scenarios
1. Take the drive back with your laptop and find another one that doesn't use standard csel settings
2. Use a special software that will "change" the way the pinouts sent information (reverse ATA).
It can be found on NEC website
(check http://www.de.nec.de/faq_detail.php/...e/798/lang/ENG and download the tool)
Just be sure to download the reverse to primary software aswell so that you can turn back in case it doesn't work)

ps. are u from greece?
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post #10 of 17
10/24/06 at 4:27am
Thread Starter 
Thank you spastis.
Great investigative work. This is most probably the problem.

The laptop uses the primary connector for the CDROM because of unspecified design considerations. The secondary connector attaches to the hard disk.

I'm not sure how the two utilities in the link you've posted would apply though.

Since the two devices are on a channel by themselves, does that make them both primary or undefined?
Which of the two tools would apply in either case?

That page also mentions that the utility can be run from Windows if the drive is recognized else it needs some special cable (I hope the store has that).
In my case, the drive is partially recognized. I wonder if the tool would run (I guess I have to try and find out).

I'm from Greece by the way. With a nick like mine (or yours for that matter)...
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post #11 of 17
10/24/06 at 5:27am
Well, I think that the NEC drive wants to be a Primary master but in your laptop it should be Secondary master. Thus you should use the tool to ReverseATA (the first one posted on the link). The tool will definately work since the drive is identified by windows. It will be like changing jumper settings but through firmware.

Try it and post if it is normally recognized from bios aswell.
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post #12 of 17
10/24/06 at 2:08pm
Thread Starter 
I tried but it doesn't work.

When I run the tool, it claims there are no drives available.

Windows sees the drive but keeps it under "other devices" with no driver assigned to it.
If I force the CDROM driver on it, it takes it, moves the device under the CD-ROM category, puts the yellow flag to it and keeps it inactive. The drive remains invisible to Explorer or any hardware check routines I've run.

The only solution is to try and patch it from another desktop using the IDE to JAE KX15-50ELD1L connector.

Except this connector is impossible to find.
The store didn't have it, NEC support didn't have it either, and searching through the net didn't get me any stores that advertize it.

I wonder if I should go buy some 3rd-party BIOS, would it resolve the problem (assuming it let me change the DVD to slave)?
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post #13 of 17
10/24/06 at 4:50pm
do a search for reverse ATA firmware for your drive, but you will not be able to apply it since the drive is not recognized.
Dont search for an adapter with that name. Use keyword "slimline to IDE" and you will get plenty links (I think Memonet in Thessaloniki have these, call them - they might be able to send you one).
If you want to buy online check
http://www.logicsupply.com/advanced_...ds=SlimCDIDE40 and
http://www.pccables.com/00506.htm

but do a search even in ebay but with the forementioned keyword they have thousands of these that ship worldwide.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Slimline-Noteboo...QQcmdZViewItem.

Finally look at http://liggydee.cdfreaks.com/page/7550 in case they do come with a 7543 firmware.
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post #14 of 17
10/24/06 at 5:18pm
Thread Starter 
Spastis you're a godsend.

I'll call Memonet tomorrow (their site is down).

The LiggyDee site is a great resource too. They'll probably come up with a solution to my problem too.

Thanks again for the great info.
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post #15 of 17
10/25/06 at 4:05am
You're welcome
Also please post after you are through with this, so that everyone knows. Now with blu ray devices on the market I know lots of people waiting to change their drives!
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post #16 of 17
10/27/06 at 1:46pm
Thread Starter 
Happy ending to this story at last.

I managed to find an IDE-Slimline adapter (Memonet didn't have it Spastis but I traced it to Multinet in Athens) and I even risked opening up the laptop myself.
I connected the drive to my desktop and run the ReverseATA utility. It did its work successfully and I put the drive back in the laptop.

The BIOS identified the drive properly (it shows under ATAPI but somehow it doesn't show under CDROM devices in another panel).

WinXP identified the drive, installed a driver for it, reboot and the drive was accessible.
I can read from it but haven't burned anything yet.

I don't know if this NEC model has a problem or it's just my unit/installation, but it takes many tries to close the tray. But that's another problem.

All in all a successful endeavor. Wouldn't happen without Spastis help. Many thanks again.

Regards.
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post #17 of 17
10/27/06 at 6:52pm
I'm glad to hear of a happy ending. Hope everything works great from now on!
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