First of all I didnt think this would belong in any other section so I guess this goes in here I'm planning on buying this dvd burner http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827136091 very soon and I have a few questions Can somebody recommend me what ever cable i need to connect this to my motherboard I already have one optical plugged in one of the white slots but the other white slot thats left looks a bit smaller in size will it still work if i try and connect another dvd burner? also anyone know of any free dvd burning/writing programs out there for download?
The hard drives, plug into the blue one, as its the primary, and the dvd plugs into the larger white one(secondary), a floppy drive fits into the smaller white one.
so i only have one of the white larger ones on my mobo so that means i cant run 2 opticals? blue and smaller white are still open but i cant use them right?
That "channel" can support two devices. Simply use a "two-channel" IDE cable and there won't be any problems. Your motherboard manual might clear some things up as to how many devices of what kind it can support.
alright thanks so somethin like this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812105902 that cable would be compatible with that dvd burner? also it says 18 inches but it looks more like 4 any idea on how that works? any input on free dvd burning software?
Your motherboard can support 4 IDE drives (CD/DVD and hard drives). Open up your PC, and the cable for the CD drive, check to see if it has a plug on either end of the cable, and a plug in the middle. If it has, then you can connect 2 drives up with it,if not, then you will need to get a new IDE cable. All IDE cables are to one standard, so it will be compatible with your drive, unless you got a hard to find SATA drive, which I doubt though. After you put the new CD/DVD drive in, plug a molex cable block into it, this supplies the power, and can only be fitted one way round. Then connect the CD/DVD date cable (IDE cable) to it, again, this will only fit one way round. Just in case, make sure the PC is unlugged from the mains for this. What do you mean by DVD burning software? If you mean to copy films, google DVD Shrink, it will be a few links down, on a free download site. If you mean DVD's with files on, like pictures, music etc, then Nero will do it, and you can get a free trial for it from their site. The reason for the 2 different programs is because film DVD's are encoded in macrovision and a few other protections, and DVD shrink will disable them. Hope what I wrote makes sense as it's 4.15 in the mornin and I'm very tired.
thanks so dvd shrink isnt a compressor like i thought it was it actually burns dvds (movies) so that i can watch them on my dvd player?
DVD Shrink, takes a standard retail DVD and allows you to back it up to an ISO or another standard DVD-/+R/RW. The two cables on the bottom left of your picture appear to be the IDE cables, one end should plug in to your motherboard (labelled) and the other far end should go into your Master drive, the 2nd one on the cable (should be closest to the Master end) can go into your secondary optical drive. You must make sure that they have their jumpers set though, on the back there will normally be a set of 6 jumpers, labelled MA, SL, CS. Set the Master so that the MA pins are linked by the jumper and the Slave so the SL pins are linked. There are diagrams on the DVD drives which illustrate this and your motherboard manual should help you. Look up guides on building PCs and you should find ones with pictures, Maplin used todo a fairly good one, and it is still in their catalogues, the technology is a bit out of date, but the connections should not have changed.
Some of the early drives were fussy about being master or slave but I don't think modern ones are. They'll still be factory set to one or the other so you need to check the jumpers on each, maybe 'Cable Select' is the idiot-proof one (though I used master/slave IIRC ). What you may find is only 1 mobo socket for the audio cable, so take that lead to the DVD, which can play DVDs and CDs.
edit: sry about double post but im confused i looked at my computer and my current drive doesnt have a audio cable connected to it... but i can still hear cds played and dvds played on it... do i need one?
You only need one Pre windows 98 (i.e. win95 and before), since then the audio goes through the IDE cable to the OS for it to be decoded. Some higher end soundcards have the input to get the Data direct from an audio cd for HiFi applications (where the PC is not powered)
so no need for me to purchase this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812102107 edit: thanks a lot doug for all the help you've given
See the blushing smiley. I fitted the one audio cable as I've done since Win3.1, and have been assuming (for years) my second optical drive couldn't play sound. Quick test I find it can. Thanks for pointing out the magic of the IDE cable sound.
Lol. I found out a couple of years ago. Forgot to put the cable in once. And never realised it untill it came back from a customer for an upgrade. I did ask him whether he'd heard audio or not and the answer was he'd played cds all the time with no probs.
