Primary, secondary or tertiary (usually soundcard) interface? IRQ? Cable select (pinhole) cable or regular M/S, Drive set correct for CS or M/S? Exact drive model? Provide more info, we'd even be asking if you had remembered to plug in the computer if you didn't include the screen shot which is otherwise a bit information free.

ynk1121 wrote on 2024-12-09, 18:21:

Packard Bell PB400 486 system.
I double checked the molex voltages and they are right on 5 and 12 volts with .02 accuracy.

Check the voltage *under load*. Float voltage not an indicator of working voltage.

Check the power supply wattage and the optical drive wattage. Check the power supply's output current on each rail, and compare it to the required input current on the optical drive.

At Creative Labs, I used to handle calls from people who wondered why their machines would lock up or *reboot* because the additional 23W of power draw of their optical drives would tip their 150W or 200W power supplies over the edge. This was in the mid-to-late '90s, the ones you have might use less power, but check the label and add up the total wattage.

Also, ensure the /P:xxx,yy switch on the CD-ROM driver (most likely oakcdrom.sys, based on the output) is either /P:1F0,14 if connected on the primary IDE channel, or 170,15 if connected on the secondary IDE channel. This will prevent it from searching for the drive on channels it is not connected to.

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-12-09, 19:15:

Primary, secondary or tertiary (usually soundcard) interface? IRQ? Cable select (pinhole) cable or regular M/S, Drive set correct for CS or M/S? Exact drive model? Provide more info, we'd even be asking if you had remembered to plug in the computer if you didn't include the screen shot which is otherwise a bit information free.

No sound card. Connected directly to the PC. There's only one IDE channel to work with on the motherboard. Tried two different IDE cables. Tried two different hard drives a Seagate ST3120A and a WD Caviar 2340 set to Master with slave present connected to the end of the IDE cable. Tried 3 optical drives (Iomega Zip CD 650, and two much newer DVD-RW drives I've since put back in the XP machine and don't have the model numbers on hand) placed in the center of the IDE cable set to slave. All three drives verfied working in the XP machine. Tons of pictures attached. Please tell me I missed something stupid and easy to fix.

AlaricD wrote on 2024-12-09, 21:45:

Check the voltage *under load*. Float voltage not an indicator of working voltage. […]
Show full quote

ynk1121 wrote on 2024-12-09, 18:21:

Packard Bell PB400 486 system.
I double checked the molex voltages and they are right on 5 and 12 volts with .02 accuracy.

Check the voltage *under load*. Float voltage not an indicator of working voltage.

Check the power supply wattage and the optical drive wattage. Check the power supply's output current on each rail, and compare it to the required input current on the optical drive.

At Creative Labs, I used to handle calls from people who wondered why their machines would lock up or *reboot* because the additional 23W of power draw of their optical drives would tip their 150W or 200W power supplies over the edge. This was in the mid-to-late '90s, the ones you have might use less power, but check the label and add up the total wattage.

Also, ensure the /P:xxx,yy switch on the CD-ROM driver (most likely oakcdrom.sys, based on the output) is either /P:1F0,14 if connected on the primary IDE channel, or 170,15 if connected on the secondary IDE channel. This will prevent it from searching for the drive on channels it is not connected to.

Yep, voltage was checked directly at the back of the optical drive while everything was connected (1 hard drive, 1 optical drive, 1 floppy drive).

You lost me on that last part.

That drive is under 10W so it should be fine-- you'd notice other overworked power supply issues by now if 10W would have brought it over its maximum.

If you're going to jumper the hard drive as master with slave present, jumper the CD-ROM drive as slave, not cable select.

Also, I can't tell if you've got the longer end of the cable going to the controller (which could affect timings), but you should put the longer end of the IDE cable to the controller, the CD-ROM drive on the center connector, and the hard drive at the tail end of the cable (with the shorter section of cable between the CD-ROM and the hard drive).

If by "the last part" you mean "Also, ensure the /P:xxx,yy switch on the CD-ROM driver (most likely oakcdrom.sys, based on the output) is either /P:1F0,14if connected on the primary IDE channel, or 170,15 if connected on the secondary IDE channel. This will prevent it from searching for the drive on channels it is not connected to.", the line for OAKCDROM.SYS in the CONFIG.SYS has a switch for the I/O port and interrupt. If you don't specify, it may try searching all the usual ports/IRQs for IDE controllers, and if you have something that is on one of those other ports or IRQs it could try to poll that device and cause issues, like lockups. Forcing it to /P:1F0,14 ensures it only looks for the drive on the primary IDE channel.

Those ST3xxx series are not very ATAPI friendly and are a bit hit and miss whether you can get them working on simple jumper settings or need to also jumper a slave present, or don't like the CDROM at all.

As far as I remember, in the 386/486 days ATAPI CD-ROM drives weren't very common yet.
That was the time we still used SCSI CD-ROM drives (PAS16 has SCSI port) or CD-ROM drives with proprietary interfaces (SONY/PHILIPS/MITSUMI).
Old computer repair books from the early 90s should support this point of view.

The boot disks of OS/2 2.x and Warp 3 (?) didn't even support ATAPI CD-ROM drives out-of-box, if memory serves.
It were the updated floppies of OS/2 Warp Connect (?) and Warp 4 which had them first time, I believe.
Edit: Just checked. Some websites state that Warp 3 had IDE/ATAPI drivers shipped. Updated floppies, maybe? 🤷‍♂️

The first use of ATAPI CD-ROM drives were in mid-90s, I think, when 586 PCs got more popular.
Some models of popular soundcards such as Sound Blaster 16 had featured an secondary IDE/ATAPI port by then.
Edit: https://www.dosdays.co.uk/topics/Manufacturers/sb16.php

Personally, I think that the master/slave configuration doesn't work very well with old IDE drives.
Once the ATAPI CD-ROM drive is connected to a sound card or a small IDE interface card (secondary master) it should work as expected. 🙂

Edit: This is also interesting: https://www.os2museum.com/wp/the-secret-history-of-atapi/

Did you try to get both HDD and CDROM from your Packard Bell at the same time working in your XP machine on its secondary channel?

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-12-10, 00:19:

Those ST3xxx series are not very ATAPI friendly and are a bit hit and miss whether you can get them working on simple jumper settings or need to also jumper a slave present, or don't like the CDROM at all.

I think BitWrangler is right. So you might consider to install a soundcard with an IDE port.

BitWrangler wrote on 2024-12-10, 00:19:

Those ST3xxx series are not very ATAPI friendly and are a bit hit and miss whether you can get them working on simple jumper settings or need to also jumper a slave present, or don't like the CDROM at all.

As a test, maybe try unplugging the hard drive, removing it from BIOS and booting from a floppy with the CDROM jumpered as Master. If that does not work either, it's probably best to use an IDE port on s sound card, for example, as Disruptor suggested. If it does work without the hard drive, trying a different hard drive might help.