The problem still exists for me
I just placed a data DVD into the drive to search for an old file
as soon as the drive door closed the screen went black
and the system freezes
had to hold power switch till it turned off
any help appreciated
Let me preface this by saying that I'm not really a Linux Expert here - my expertise is more in the hardware end of things. That tends to make everything look like a nail to me sometimes, if you get my turn of phrase.
Given your hardware setup:
Dual-Core E5400 with ,Primary Master = IDE - 83GB (old Win XP),IDE Slave = IDE- 80GB ( backup),SATA 1 = WDC 320GB,SATA 2 = DVD
Here's how my hardware-oriented brain would approach this problem:
{Sorry for shouting this next bit - it's important.}
BEFORE DOING ANY OF THE BELOW - CHECK YOUR POWER SUPPLY. IF IT IS NOT RATED FOR ENOUGH WATTAGE TO SUPPORT ALL THE DEVICES IN THE CAGE, OR, IF IT IS VERY OLD, CONSIDER REPLACING IT. (This is an outside probability, but it is possible that the DVD drive is the "straw that breaks the camel's back" here...) IF YOUR POWER SUPPLY IS GOOD, CONTINUE AS BELOW. CONSIDER OBTAINING AND USING A POWER SUPPLY TEST PLUG TO CHECK THE SUPPLY UNDER LOAD (they're not that expensive).
It's important to note that power supply problems come in a variety of shapes and colors. Not all of them are "power is there or it's not". For instance, if voltage were to droop on the +5vdc buss as a result of excessive current, this might cause the system to hang instead of just powering down.
1.) Swap the DVD drive if you have a spare one somewhere. If the original is a burner, swap in another burner, not a read-only drive.
2.) Run in this configuration for long enough to determine if your problem recurs. If not, the issue resides with your original DVD drive. Either replace it or upgrade its firmware and try again.
3.) If the problem does not recur in step 2, return the system to original condition (reinstall the original DVD drive) and then
disconnect both IDE hard drives. This may remove your original OS from the system (I didn't see where you said it was installed), so you may have to install a fresh OS for testing, either by installing a small SATA drive to hold it, or by repartitioning the 320GB drive @ SATA 1.
4.) Test in this configuration for long enough to determine if your problem recurs. If not, then two prominent possibilities exist:
4.1) The problem lies somewhere between the SATA and IDE subsystems. Consider running SATA only on this system.
4.2) The problem lies in a software configuration. This is the more likely case if your symptoms started occurring after a recent update.
5.) If the problem clears in (4.), reconnect the Primary IDE drive, disable boot from the SATA drive (or just change boot order in the BIOS setup to boot from the Primary IDE), and restart the system.
6.) Test in this configuration for long enough to determine if your problem recurs. If so, see (4.1). If not, it's beginning to look as though the Primary Slave might be related to the problem, so reinstall it, and repeat the test with all drives connected to confirm this.
7.) If the Primary Slave is found to be the problem, consider doing away with it - at least in this system. (Hard drives have gotten too expensive since the big flood to just casually get rid of them.)
I hope this generates some food for thought that will help solve this problem.
Later On,
D
