Ubuntu CD problems...

[Delnar_Ersike]

Well, I have almost finished assembling my new computer: all I need to do is install Ubuntu, download Wine, and I am pretty much done. Turns out the first step is harder than I initially thought, as my the computer cannot identify the Ubuntu Live CD.

There is no problem with which version of Ubuntu I am using, as I have tried both the 32-bit and 64-bit version of Desktop Ubuntu.
It's not the CD, as I have tried booting off of a USB as well as burning multiple CD's.
It's not the optical drive, as I have swapped it out and tried booting Ubuntu from another one.
It's not the boot order thing, as there is no other OS on any of the computer's parts.
It's not that I haven't burned a bootable CD, as the exact same CD succeeds to boot from my older computer (a laptop, mind that)
It's (probably) not the connections between the optical drive and the motherboard, as I have secured them pretty tight and triple-checked to make sure the right wires are plugged into the right slots.

The only possible thing that might cause the problem is that the computer cannot recognize the optical drive(s) for some reason. The proof that makes me suspicious is that when I go to the boot order menu in the BIOS settings, I only get two choices: the completely empty hard drive and a device named "IBA GE Slot 0400". The later might or might not be the firewire port option on my motherboard, though I suspect it is.

Anybody know what to do in this situation? Oh, and I am going to install Ubuntu for sure, as it is the easiest to use of all free OS's, and I neither want to spend a lot of money on Windows nor do I wish to pirate any OS for subtle reasons.

[magicdanw]

I'd look into that idea that the mobo doesn't recognize the CD drive. What sort of drive is it? IDEA? SATA? USB? Firewire? Dare I ask, SCSI? Also, what motherboard are you using, and have you checked to see if it's BIOS can be upgraded?

[NETWizz]

SCSI, PATA, and SATA should all be fine provided the drive works and is recognized in system setup.

You will need to go into setup and ensure all of the drives are recognized.

[Delnar_Ersike]

@magicdanw: the motherboard is a D975XBX, the optical drive is IDE, and the BIOS cannot be upgraded.

@NETWizz: Only two drives are recognized: the hard drive and the mysterious "IBA GE Slot 0400". After a bit of searching and manual-reading, I discovered the mysterious drive is not the Optical drive. Therefore, my suspicion was correct: the motherboard cannot recognize the optical drive.

[alexrudd]

It sounds like your drive isn't being recognized at all. Sometimes the LiveCD won't work right away, but it will always get to the introduction screen. From what you said of the BIOS, it looks like it's never even giving the CD-ROM a chance to boot. I see Cemetech has offered some suggestions; did any of them work?

[JoostinOnline]

I think what he meant was that you should check the BIOS to see if optical drive support is enabled.

[magicdanw]

I looked up the manual for your bios and it looks like there's a whole page (Advanced > Drive Configuration Menu) for configuring drives. Have you tried changing settings there? In particular:

ATA/IDE Configuration
Cable Detected (It should say a cable was detected)
Drive Installed (It should say what drive you have installed)
IDE Auto-Detection (It might help the BIOS recognize the drive attached)
Legacy IDE Channels
Primary/Secondary IDE Master/Slave (One should display your drive)

[Delnar_Ersike]

Everything is enabled, and I tried everything magicdanw suggested before.

But it doesn't matter, as I got the problem fixed!

Turns out it was a combination of both a bad connection and a bad optical drive, as both of the optical drives I tried were bad (what are the chances of that? ). I swapped in a third one, secured the cables very tight, and the motherboard recognized it!

Thanks for the help, everyone!

[NETWizz]

How many drives are connected and what cables are the on? What interfaces? What cable types? What drives?

With that said, I want you to separate your IDE Optical DRIVE from your hard drive. Move the hard drive to the end of the primary IDE cable and Optical Drive to the end of the secondary IDE cable. All cables should be the 80 wire cable unless you are absolutely certain the optical drive is ATA/33 or less. Connected the power, and jumper everything Cable Select.

Next, Reset the CMOS jumper on the motherboard and boot. If the motherboard, drive, and cable are in good condition this is guaranteed to work unless you make a mistake. If you want, I will help you with this. Just PM me a telephone number.

You should get this:
Primary Master: Your Hard Drive
Primary Slave: None
Secondary Master: Your Optical Drive
Secondary Slave: None

In the setup utility, the hard drive and optical drive should show the interfaces they are on and the DMA settings they are going to use. For a Hard Drive you should be looking at something that mentions, ATA-100 PATA/100 DMA-5 or something like that. For your Optical Drive, these are usually a lower DMA mode depending on the drive. Usually DMA Mode 4, but some are DMA Mode 3.


DO NOT even try to install an OS until you have the hardware working properly. Remember to *always* troubleshoot hardware problems first.

When you are done troubleshooting hardware, then the aforementioned Ubuntu CD should boot fine. When it comes time to get Ubuntu working, I am all ears and willing to help. It is my primary OS.

Here is a screenshots of my setup. I have more, but I am lazy now. I even run Windows within Linux often times:

[Newbie]

Wow, you mixed the looks of Windows, Mac, and Linux into one OS. LOL. Nice.

If you don't mind can you tell me where you got the Max OS X Leopard wallpaper?

[NETWizz]

I did a Google search. Honestly, I don't know where. I have since changed it too, so I don't have it.