External DVD stops the PC booting

Tim Lake · 04-25-2006, 04:05 AM

I had a problem that my PC would freeze right at the memory check stage (before it even starts booting the OS).
After several troubleshooting efforts I unplugged the DVD and immediately the machine unfroze and booted normally.

My question is, could this be caused by too much power being drawn from USB as I have several devices (GPS, wifi, bluetooth, keyboard, mouse) all drawing power from the USB ports and the DVD is doing so too.
If I power the DVD externally (direct from the car) will it solve the problem?

madkad · 04-25-2006, 04:26 AM

does it have a cd in and have you got the bios to check for the usb on load etc etc

Tim Lake · 04-25-2006, 04:46 AM

It had a DVD movie in which I took out but it still caused the issue. I haven't checked the BIOS setting but it was working for months and I haven't changed anything in the BIOS since then.

Tim Lake · 04-26-2006, 09:56 AM

ZtH01 · 04-26-2006, 10:14 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Tim Lake

I had a problem that my PC would freeze right at the memory check stage (before it even starts booting the OS).
After several troubleshooting efforts I unplugged the DVD and immediately the machine unfroze and booted normally.

My question is, could this be caused by too much power being drawn from USB as I have several devices (GPS, wifi, bluetooth, keyboard, mouse) all drawing power from the USB ports and the DVD is doing so too.
If I power the DVD externally (direct from the car) will it solve the problem?

Most likely not. Mine did that randomly. Sometimes it was good for a week, sometimes it happened 5 times a day. Sometimes it would freeze at the BIOS, sometimes it would freeze at about half through resuming XP. I ended up putting a switch on the power line so I could cut power to the DVD without having to unplug it.

I had an external 2 amp 6v regulator for it too, and it still did it. It was rock solid once you got into Windows though...

I ended up getting sick of it, and switched to firewire. Haven't had a problem since. And i got to ditch the 6v regulator, as the firewire port powers it just fine. Luckily both my VIA board, and external enclosure had firewire ports, does yours?

-ZtH01

Tim Lake · 04-28-2006, 07:24 AM

Yes it does. Perhaps that's the way to go then. How can I find out if the DVD is compatible (I bought it off ebay and it was just taken out of a dud machine so not too much documentation!)

WarDriver · 04-28-2006, 07:34 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by Tim Lake

How can I find out if the DVD is compatible

It has more to do with your external case than the drive.The drive just has an IDE to usb/firewire adapter. So, if you do have firewire you should be fine.

ZtH01 · 04-28-2006, 07:51 AM

If the enclosure has firewire, and your motherboard has firewire, use firewire. And get your cables from Ebay... Local places wanted like $35-40 for a 15' 6pin to 6pin. Got one off of Ebay for $8 out the door...

-ZtH01

nameeri · 04-28-2006, 05:46 PM

My external USB drives was also causing my system to hang during boot and waking from hibernation. i found out that it wasnt the USB, it was becuase the drive was mounted vertically. I have a slot loading slim dvd drive, and apparently it doesnt like being mounted vertically. After I unplugged it, it works fine.

ZtH01 · 04-28-2006, 08:19 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by nameeri

My external USB drives was also causing my system to hang during boot and waking from hibernation. i found out that it wasnt the USB, it was becuase the drive was mounted vertically. I have a slot loading slim dvd drive, and apparently it doesnt like being mounted vertically. After I unplugged it, it works fine.

Wierd. So it works fine if it was horizontal? Mine's always been mounted horizontally, so I know that wasn't it.

-ZtH01

nameeri · 04-28-2006, 08:24 PM

Yeah, it works fine when its plugged in and sitting horizontal. I know, its the strangest thing. The drive would always spin up, and the light would blink on it but it wouldnt do anything. There was no disc in there. This would cause the computer to hang. Once i unplugged the drive, it would continue to boot. If the drive was sitting horizontal, it booted and resumed from hibernation perfectly everytime.

Cube · 04-29-2006, 09:39 AM

I had this same problem w/ freezing the loading... and it was sometimes intermittent just like you guys. I had it runnin fine after I changed something in the BIOS, and then a lil while later it started doing it again. Only solution was to unplug the USB connection.

I'll look into firewire and see if my laptop has a port for it...

Tim Lake · 05-10-2006, 05:08 AM

Anyone know where I can get a Firewire enclosure for a laptop dvd drive (preferably UK)?

WarDriver · 05-10-2006, 07:30 AM

Does it have to be for a laptop drive? I know desktop external firewire drives are easy (an inexpensive) to find. But otherwise check this link on eBay.

Tim Lake · 05-10-2006, 07:44 AM

It does matter really. I have a slot loading dvd/cdrw which I'd want to use so I don't want to pay out foir another drive