tiggy: what OS, and what brand/model of DVD burner? Also, can you describe what you did to install it?

Anyone else having problems with gmail? None of my 'puters can get in....

I'm good on both accounts, tommyrot. Any chance gmail just hates you?

Probably.

I keep getting error 502:

The server encountered a temporary error and could not complete your request.

Please try again in 30 seconds.

In Mozilla, Firefox and Safari. Guess I'll just try later.

eta: I've also had problems connecting to b.org. Maybe the snow is causing problems for the carrier pigeons that cary the network packets.

I'm having no problems either, tom.

tiggy: what OS, and what brand/model of DVD burner? Also, can you describe what you did to install it?

i'm running XP Pro and the brand of dvd burner is LG. model number GSA-4163B.

I removed the cd burner my ex and i had installed and put the dvd burner in its slot. i made it the slave drive. then i plugged in the power connector and interface connector. i also found what i think is the sound card connector and plugged that into it. that's it.

re-reading the instructions i'm wondering if i plugged the interface connector in properly. the red edge has to be facing up, i think. i'm not positive that i did this.

I can't even get the drive to open. help!!!

hmm, it sounds as if the drive is DOA. Even if you haven't got it so the bios and/or the OS recognises it, the drive should still open and close...providing you have connected a power plug to the device.

Whatever you do, don't use the CS (Cable Select) jumper setting, no matter what the instructions may advise. Instead, choose either Master or Slave. I've always been advised that the Master drive should be on the end of the IDE ribbon but I've also found that never works for me. Thus, my system is hooked up as:

Primary Controller [Slot 1]: 80GB HDD middle of ribbon, jumper setting Master (contains partition with XP installed) » 30GB HDD end of ribbon, jumper setting Slave.

Secondary Controller [Slot 2]: CD burner middle of ribbon, jumper setting Master » DVD burner end of ribbon, jumper setting Slave.

I would think it's more likely to have a bad connection or cable rather than a DOA drive. In any event, it's an easy thing to check. First, double-check that all the connections are OK. If it still doesn't work, try a different power cable to the drive (if the drive is not doing anything at all). Then try a different data cable. Or use another cable to connect the drive to the other disk controller (setting the drive to master, of course) - as sometimes, two different brands of drives will just not play nice together on the same cable. You can also make the hard drive the slave and the burner master.

re-reading the instructions i'm wondering if i plugged the interface connector in properly. the red edge has to be facing up, i think. i'm not positive that i did this.

Usually, the connecters only go in one way. If not, then make sure the red edge wire corresponds to pin 1 (you should be able to tell which is pin 1 by looking closely at the connectors on the drive, or by checking the manual or by going online to the manufacturer's website.)

Gmail's been slow for me and DH all day. Prolly some kind of updating going on.

wah! nothing i'm doing is working. why is nothing ever easy? *sigh*