Computer Failed After Installing CD/DVD from Pacific Digital

My HP Pavilion computer will not boot after installing a new Pacific Digital
CD/DVD burner. When I turn my computer on, I get a blue screen saying "HP
Invent" but the hard disc is not engaging, and the
computer is not even booting to the point when I am able to get into the
BIOS. The power definitely comes on, however, and lights on the outside and
on the inside of the computer come on.

This is what happened before it failed: I had just installed a new Pacific
Digital SD-R5272 CD/DVD recorder (the original CD player/burner had failed
some time ago).

I had only installed the new hardware for the new CD/DVD machine (Pacific
Digital) and everything was working perfectly. Then I tried to install the
software that came with the CD/DVD machine. The disk is labeled Nero, OEM
Suite. When I started the installation the software told me to reboot. I
did.

When I rebooted, I got the blue "HP Invent" screen, and it went no further.
The computer would not boot to get to the CD/DVD driver, the hard disc, or
the floppy. I've tried to reboot with a bootable floppy in the floppy disc,
and it does not work--the machine is stopping during the boot process before
it gets to the floppy. Same thing if I reboot with a Windows CD in the
CD/DVD drive.

I checked the internal connections in the computer to see if something came
lose, but as far as I can tell there is no problem.

So in summary, after installing only the hardware for the Pacific Digital
CD/DVD drive, everything worked perfectly. And then when I tried to install
the software for the CD/DVD drive my machine would not boot. Again, I cannot
even get to the point in the boot process where pressing F1 gets into the
BIOS screens.

My computer is a HP Pavilion XL 876, about 3.5 years old. I've updated the
BIOS recently. The machine originally had Windows ME, and I upgraded to XP
shortly after XP came out. Service pak 2 is installed. Windows XP has worked
fine for a long time. No problems with the computer until the installation
of this new CD/DVD burner.

Any ideas on what could be wrong? Thanks very much for any help.

Drew Capuder

DMC

It sounds like it's getting hung up during the POST. I know you said you
checked the connections, but double-check that you didn't reverse one of the
IDE ribbon cables. The red wire on the cable always goes to pin1, which
should be indicated on the motherboard and the back of the CD/DVD drive.

Also check that the jumpers are set correctly (master/slave).

"DMC" <> wrote in message
news:OCwGd.2698$...
> My HP Pavilion computer will not boot after installing a new Pacific
> Digital CD/DVD burner. When I turn my computer on, I get a blue screen
> saying "HP Invent" but the hard disc is not engaging, and the
> computer is not even booting to the point when I am able to get into the
> BIOS. The power definitely comes on, however, and lights on the outside
> and
> on the inside of the computer come on.
>
> This is what happened before it failed: I had just installed a new Pacific
> Digital SD-R5272 CD/DVD recorder (the original CD player/burner had failed
> some time ago).
>
> I had only installed the new hardware for the new CD/DVD machine (Pacific
> Digital) and everything was working perfectly. Then I tried to install the
> software that came with the CD/DVD machine. The disk is labeled Nero, OEM
> Suite. When I started the installation the software told me to reboot. I
> did.
>
> When I rebooted, I got the blue "HP Invent" screen, and it went no
> further.
> The computer would not boot to get to the CD/DVD driver, the hard disc, or
> the floppy. I've tried to reboot with a bootable floppy in the floppy
> disc,
> and it does not work--the machine is stopping during the boot process
> before
> it gets to the floppy. Same thing if I reboot with a Windows CD in the
> CD/DVD drive.
>
> I checked the internal connections in the computer to see if something
> came
> lose, but as far as I can tell there is no problem.
>
> So in summary, after installing only the hardware for the Pacific Digital
> CD/DVD drive, everything worked perfectly. And then when I tried to
> install
> the software for the CD/DVD drive my machine would not boot. Again, I
> cannot
> even get to the point in the boot process where pressing F1 gets into the
> BIOS screens.
>
> My computer is a HP Pavilion XL 876, about 3.5 years old. I've updated the
> BIOS recently. The machine originally had Windows ME, and I upgraded to XP
> shortly after XP came out. Service pak 2 is installed. Windows XP has
> worked fine for a long time. No problems with the computer until the
> installation of this new CD/DVD burner.
>
> Any ideas on what could be wrong? Thanks very much for any help.
>
> Drew Capuder
>
>
>
>

Patrick Michael

"Patrick Michael" <> wrote in message
news:qVxGd.19045$4h.6869@okepread03
> It sounds like it's getting hung up during the POST. I know you said
> you checked the connections, but double-check that you didn't reverse
> one of the IDE ribbon cables. The red wire on the cable always goes
> to pin1, which should be indicated on the motherboard and the back of
> the CD/DVD drive.

The red/black/blue wire on the ribbon cable always goes on the same side
as the power connector, on any kind of drive. That's easier than trying
to see which is pin one.

--
Buford T. Justice
The alt.video.dvd faq is located at:
http://aww-faq.org/dvdfaq.html

FAQmeister

Thanks to Patrick and Buford. I'll try your suggestion, although I don't
think my problem is because the cables are reversed. If this helps explain
my thought: After I installed the new CD/DVD, it worked fine for several
days, but then I tried to install the software for the CD/DVD drive, and
that is when the computer died. If I had crossed the cables when I installed
the drive, I assume I would have developed this problem immediately after
the installation of the drive. Correct? Thanks again very much for your
advice.

Drew Capuder


"FAQmeister" <> wrote in message
news:csedg9$rui$...
> "Patrick Michael" <> wrote in message
> news:qVxGd.19045$4h.6869@okepread03
>> It sounds like it's getting hung up during the POST. I know you said
>> you checked the connections, but double-check that you didn't reverse
>> one of the IDE ribbon cables. The red wire on the cable always goes
>> to pin1, which should be indicated on the motherboard and the back of
>> the CD/DVD drive.
>
> The red/black/blue wire on the ribbon cable always goes on the same side
> as the power connector, on any kind of drive. That's easier than trying to
> see which is pin one.
>
> --
> Buford T. Justice
> The alt.video.dvd faq is located at:
> http://aww-faq.org/dvdfaq.html
>

DMC

"DMC" <> wrote in message
news:8NEGd.13189$
> Thanks to Patrick and Buford. I'll try your suggestion, although I
> don't think my problem is because the cables are reversed. If this
> helps explain my thought: After I installed the new CD/DVD, it worked
> fine for several days, but then I tried to install the software for
> the CD/DVD drive, and that is when the computer died. If I had
> crossed the cables when I installed the drive, I assume I would have
> developed this problem immediately after the installation of the
> drive. Correct? Thanks again very much for your advice.
>

That's correct. Perhaps your computer isn't hanging during POST, but as
Windows boots and after the driver is loaded. You can try booting into
safe mode and then remove the software you installed.

If it's not during Windows boot, you can boot on a floppy and then
examine your autoexec.bat and config.sys files to see if any entries
were made.

--
Buford T. Justice
The alt.video.dvd faq is located at:
http://aww-faq.org/dvdfaq.html

FAQmeister

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 11:53:14 -0800, "FAQmeister"
<> wrote:

>If it's not during Windows boot, you can boot on a floppy and then
>examine your autoexec.bat and config.sys files to see if any entries
>were made.
He's using Windows XP so autoexec.bat and config.sys are irrelevant.
He said he can't boot from a floppy, anyway.

Karl S

Karl S <karlsch@-s-p-a-m-ak.net> wrote in
news:

> On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 11:53:14 -0800, "FAQmeister"
> <> wrote:
>
>>If it's not during Windows boot, you can boot on a floppy and then
>>examine your autoexec.bat and config.sys files to see if any entries
>>were made.
> He's using Windows XP so autoexec.bat and config.sys are irrelevant.
> He said he can't boot from a floppy, anyway.
>

Check your bios for the boot order. Set it so that the c: drive is the 1st
boot device. Then try a safe boot and remove the software. If it still
doesn't boot then try setting the floppy to the 1st device and boot from
it.

Also have you tried disconnecting the new drive then booting?

Good luck. Tom

tman