I need help, please.

[Wendy_34]

Hello,

I have been searching HP and the web for a week, and I am getting nowhere. I have sent emails to, and called HP and I'm told that they can't help me. :( Maybe I can get some help here, I hope.

I have an HP pavilion XT921 processer. It was purchased off the shelf and it came with everything but a CD/RW writer plus. I have an empty bay, and I'd like to install a burner, but I am CLUELESS! Which one would be compatible? Where do I purchase one? What information do I need to know in order to get the right one? I have been searching the HP website and it is like a maze!

I know absolutely nothing about this processer, but I do know that I can't just buy whatever, and expect it to work.

Thank you for any information and/or help!

[Ron Kinner · Accepted solution]

You say you want to mount it in your empty bay so look for an Internal EIDE CD/RW. It may say IDE/ATAPI. You do not want a USB or a Parallel port drive. Also you do not want a SCSI.


Faster is usually better but look for one which has buffer overrun protection sometimes called burn proof or smart burn. You will see numbers such as 52x24x52 which means it will burn a write once CD at 52 times the basic speed, burn a rewritable CD at 24 times and read anything at 52 times. You probably won't notice the difference if it says 48 x24x48 so you can buy a closeout one if you like. I personally like IOMega equipment but there are many good brands out there.

www.yahoo.com will gladly give you reviews and prices on them. Search for cd rw internal or cdrw internal. This is one for a nice IOMega

http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=29&id=661&PHPSESSID=fc440451fab987804eb41430104dc173

Look in the Sunday ads from places like CompUSA/OfficeMax/OfficeDepot/CircuitCity and they will often have older models on sale often for less than $20 after rebates.

Google for the model numbers of the sale items and you will find more info and reviews.

The following link is the instructions for how to install it.

http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/bph06379.pdf

Before you buy anything, open the PC up and verify that you have a free power connector and also that the cable which goes to your harddrive or CD ROM has a second free connector. IF not you can buy a Y connector for the power and/or a 2 drive IDE cable.

Most people are going to dvd drives which read and write CDs and also DVDs. DVDs hold more but the blanks are a lot more expensive. The drives cost ~$100.

if you go that route look for one that supports both + and - formats since I'm sure one will win out in the end and you won't be able to get blanks anymore.

If you have any troubles installing it come back and ask.

Ron

[Wendy_34]

Ron...thank you for all of the valuable information. Unfortunately, I took my chances and just ordered a burner, but, if I decide later on down the road that I want to install a DVD drive instead, your information will come in handy.

I just ordered this one: TDK 52x24x48 Internal CD-RW Drive
Brand/Model: TDK AI5200

I hope it will work! :D

[Wendy_34]

I forgot to add, that, I had already ordered the burner before I read your message. Also, I chose this burner because it apparently comes with everything that I need, plus it has pictures to show you how to install it. :)

Thanks again!

[Ron Kinner]

It should work nicely. It's an EIDE drive and has buffer-underrun protection and TDK has a nice rep so you should be fine.

Ron

[Wendy_34]

Ron said:

"Before you buy anything, open the PC up and verify that you have a free power connector and also that the cable which goes to your harddrive or CD ROM has a second free connector. IF not you can buy a Y connector for the power and/or a 2 drive IDE cable."

Okay, I received my burner today, opened up the case, and slid the burner into the drive. It's getting a little confusing.

The new drive's jumper is preset to master. I know that I can pull that little jumper out and move it, but HP is saying one thing, and TDK is saying another, to me, anyway. :)

The HP booklet says that if I am installing a burner in an empty bay (which I am) I need to make sure that the jumper on the new drive is in the CSel position. Hmmm, well, I'm not sure which one is right? TDK gave me a cable that will connect 2 devices, but then goes on to say, that, the IDE cable provided with the drive cannot be used for cable select.

If I leave the jumper set to master, and plug the TDK cable to the new drive...where do I connect the other end? And, can I leave it set to master, rather than CSel like HP says? :)

Thanks. Sorry for being a dummy.

[Wendy_34]

Ron,

I just noticed that my CD drive is connected to my mother board. It has a dual connector. Would it be okay if I just plugged that extra connector into the back of my new drive? That would eliminate the need for the new cable that came with my new drive. And, should I leave the jumper set at master that is on the back of the new drive...or change it to Cselect?

Thanks for all the help.

[Wendy_34]

Udate...

I set my jumper on my new drive to Cselect, like HP states in my doc. I then connected the extra power cord from my CD rom to the back of my new drive, along with the extra connector from the CD rom to the CPU board.

Da-da! It works perfectly. Very fast and quiet, too.

Thanks again for all of your help!