Dell bios wont detect maxtor HD when cd is attached

I have a number of old dell's that i need to get install windows on so they can be used inside a school.

According to the bios they are:

Dell optiplex GX1 L550+

But i am having a slight problem with 3 of them. They canme without any cd-roms(second hand). So when i wanted to go and install windows I first had to put new cd'roms in.

That was no problem. We had a few spare. I first checked the cd-rom player if they were in order and they were.

But 2 of the dells wont detect theyr hd's with the cd-roms in. I tried everything. every master/slave primary/secundary setting we have. Tried putting the cables in every wich way.

Nothing. But when i take out the cd-rom the hd get detected fine. But it wont boot since the hd's have been killdisked.

A third pc will only boot from cd if I eject and insirt a cd i a certain stage of the boot procces.

Can anyone please tell me how to get these things working ?

OK,

What OS are you trying to load................XP can be a problem..............it sounds like you have PIIIs, so I would prefer Win2000, or Win98SE.

Try taking the HDD to a machine that works and loading the OS there, then physically insert the HDD into the target machine. If these boxes are the same, that should work.

Also go into set up and check the boot sequence.

Just a couple of thoughts to be going on with. :)

Boot sequence was the first thing i checked. I tried everything.

the os is windows 98 SE.

Currently i have one windows installed as you suggested. Only the pc's will require the cd rom drives in the future.

And no, this cannot be fixed with drivers as you could think because with the cd in. The hd dont get detected so it doesn't boot so no drivers.

Damn, why does this happen at work instead of at home.

hummm
try this: gen a diskette boot and try to start installation process from a floppy instead from CD.
Some bios uses a remap structure that emulates a cd boot disk as a floppy disk. Sometimes it goes wrong and you loose HD too.
Also (although seems to me hard to happen since its a PATA HD) that Windows installation doesnt have a driver to that HD and cant install on it. If that is the case you need to provide the driver at the beginning of installation on "scsi drivers installation step" - as you do with SATA drivers.

HMM. I'll look into that.

At the moment im doing what nihil said. installing on one of dells that is working then moving to the hd to a malfunctional pc.(they are the same in hardware luckely)

Let me clarify. If i have both the hd and the cd player attached no matter if they are master slave/ slave master or both master on the either primary or sencudary. The hd wont be detected. If you go into the bios. The hd will not be listed and cant be detected their either.

Damn you dell.

(all hardware has been checked in other pc's and is 100% functional)

Do you have the hd and cd drive on the same cable?

It's probably a wierd incompatibility between brand/type of drives.
If you have more cdroms, try swapping them around till you get ones
that are happy together. Some older drives have wierd proprietary
jumper arrangements. Research the particular drives to learn the tricks.
:cool:

Hi,

Haven't worked on an optiplex for a couple of years now, but I remember that the early ones with PIIIs at around 450-667 (why did Dell avoid 666? :D ) were notorious for incompatibility problems.

I would try a pre-installed Win98SE, then physically attach the CD then load the driver.........?

Just a thought?

:)

Guess its mix and match till it works then.

:eek: :rolleyes: