Can somebody tell me how can I put a DVD drive in this laptop.
I tried 2 IDE drives made in 2005 and 2006 and behaves in a weird way.

The CD drive is powered and it tries to spin, but it doesnt recognize neither the CD drive or the HDD
And throws the no system disk error depite the hdd having an OS.

When I remove the CD drive everything behaves normally.

CoolDoomer wrote on 2024-06-26, 21:09:

Can somebody tell me how can I put a DVD drive in this laptop. I tried 2 IDE drives made in 2005 and 2006 and behaves in a weird […]
Show full quote

Can somebody tell me how can I put a DVD drive in this laptop.
I tried 2 IDE drives made in 2005 and 2006 and behaves in a weird way.

The CD drive is powered and it tries to spin, but it doesnt recognize neither the CD drive or the HDD
And throws the no system disk error depite the hdd having an OS.

When I remove the CD drive everything behaves normally.

Unless you can find the Armada DvD Kit for the lap top then your best bet would be to use an external USB DvD/CD drive, the real DvD kit is exceptionally rare to find so I personally just use a USB DvD with it.

Trashbytes wrote on 2024-06-27, 01:42:

CoolDoomer wrote on 2024-06-26, 21:09:

Can somebody tell me how can I put a DVD drive in this laptop. I tried 2 IDE drives made in 2005 and 2006 and behaves in a weird […]
Show full quote

Can somebody tell me how can I put a DVD drive in this laptop.
I tried 2 IDE drives made in 2005 and 2006 and behaves in a weird way.

The CD drive is powered and it tries to spin, but it doesnt recognize neither the CD drive or the HDD
And throws the no system disk error depite the hdd having an OS.

When I remove the CD drive everything behaves normally.

Unless you can find the Armada DvD Kit for the lap top then your best bet would be to use an external USB DvD/CD drive, the real DvD kit is exceptionally rare to find so I personally just use a USB DvD with it.

The thing is I want to replace the malfunctioning CD drive. It makes weird sounds and has very slow seek speed because it takes a lot of time to read.
And only IDE replacements I have are these 2.

CoolDoomer wrote on 2024-06-27, 05:59:

Trashbytes wrote on 2024-06-27, 01:42:

CoolDoomer wrote on 2024-06-26, 21:09:

Can somebody tell me how can I put a DVD drive in this laptop. I tried 2 IDE drives made in 2005 and 2006 and behaves in a weird […]
Show full quote

Can somebody tell me how can I put a DVD drive in this laptop.
I tried 2 IDE drives made in 2005 and 2006 and behaves in a weird way.

The CD drive is powered and it tries to spin, but it doesnt recognize neither the CD drive or the HDD
And throws the no system disk error depite the hdd having an OS.

When I remove the CD drive everything behaves normally.

Unless you can find the Armada DvD Kit for the lap top then your best bet would be to use an external USB DvD/CD drive, the real DvD kit is exceptionally rare to find so I personally just use a USB DvD with it.

The thing is I want to replace the malfunctioning CD drive. It makes weird sounds and has very slow seek speed because it takes a lot of time to read.
And only IDE replacements I have are these 2.

You may have to source an original Armada 1750 CD drive, Evilbay likely has them.

Hi, sorry to use this old thread but I need help with this pc. I ordered a 1700 but it doesn't have the hdd connector and the motherboard is defective, since I have some parts including the motherboard is it possible to mount the 1750 motherboard on the 1700? And is it possible to install windows 95 via a cf card connected to a pcmcia slot? Thanks for the help?

I guess we are all zombies by now so its ok to necro.

I happen to own both the 1700 and the 1750. Was a few years ago I had them both opened but I am 90% sure they have different motherboards, so my bet would be they are not interchangeable. What I do remember 100% security is that they have different layouts of the sound boards because that was what I was after, taking the soundboard from my 1700 and place it in my 1750 and it was not possible.

The HDD caddies however; they are the same.

Wound up with two of these bad boys. Both have the original HDD, one is 4gb the other 6. One has the larger screen, the other the smaller one. 300 and 333MHz pentium II's. The Rage LT is not horrible, just wish it came with 8mb of vram instead of 4. The machine on the right still holds a charge (about 20 mins or so), the one on the left's battery is completely dead. Haven't taken them apart yet - does anybody know what kind of CMOS battery these use?

It's under the keyboard, right hand side.

Two little indents at the front of the keyboard release it. The battery is a coin cell in a little slot. It has a short flying lead to connect to the motherboard.

It's likely flat. You will need the setup floppy in order to set the bios options again (setup isn't in ROM, unfortunately).

Should be a 2032.

Hi, thanks for the replies and the help. After what you told me I decided to take only the upper part of the 1700 since it still has the hinges intact and it adapted by slightly modifying the body where the AV output is. Unfortunately after years of storage in a box the display has turned brown (but I don't understand why it didn't have a scratch when I stored it. Luckily I managed to find my old caddy but I won't be able to fix the screen. On my 1750 the battery still lasts about an hour so I'd say it's still good. Here are some photos of the not yet complete PC.

.

Socket3 wrote on 2025-05-23, 12:54:

Wound up with two of these bad boys. Both have the original HDD, one is 4gb the other 6. One has the larger screen, the other the smaller one. 300 and 333MHz pentium II's. The Rage LT is not horrible, just wish it came with 8mb of vram instead of 4. The machine on the right still holds a charge (about 20 mins or so), the one on the left's battery is completely dead. Haven't taken them apart yet - does anybody know what kind of CMOS battery these use?

The attachment WhatsApp Image 2025-05-22 at 11.43.55_186adfa9.jpg is no longer available

Sono bellissimi, sono un amante della tecnologia retrò quindi posso assicurarti che sono bellissimi oggetti da collezione.

Savior_04 wrote on 2025-05-25, 14:24:

Hi, thanks for the replies and the help. After what you told me I decided to take only the upper part of the 1700 since it still has the hinges intact and it adapted by slightly modifying the body where the AV output is. Unfortunately after years of storage in a box the display has turned brown (but I don't understand why it didn't have a scratch when I stored it. Luckily I managed to find my old caddy but I won't be able to fix the screen. On my 1750 the battery still lasts about an hour so I'd say it's still good. Here are some photos of the not yet complete PC.

The Panels in these machines are prone to degradation and get an effect that looks like mould on the screen or turn brownish like cider vinegar.

CoolDoomer wrote on 2024-06-26, 21:09:

Can somebody tell me how can I put a DVD drive in this laptop. I tried 2 IDE drives made in 2005 and 2006 and behaves in a weird […]
Show full quote

Can somebody tell me how can I put a DVD drive in this laptop.
I tried 2 IDE drives made in 2005 and 2006 and behaves in a weird way.

The CD drive is powered and it tries to spin, but it doesnt recognize neither the CD drive or the HDD
And throws the no system disk error depite the hdd having an OS.

When I remove the CD drive everything behaves normally.

Sure, I bumped into the same problem recently. It requires a mod to the CD-ROM caddy connector just like the Toshiba laptops: Problem with use of modern ATAPI device in 1990s Toshiba 470cdt / 490xcdt / 530cdt and similar retro laptops
My Armada 1700's CD-ROM drive was useless and failing to read everything, so I tried putting a DVD/CDRW drive in and it did what you describe where the laptop wouldn't boot.

I'm not quite sure of the logic because testing in DOS confirms that the CD-ROM is on the primary IDE channel as a slave device, probably a conflict on the IDE channel causes the laptop to not boot when you fit a regular drive:

The fix was to put a dot of solder between pins 47 and 45 of the flex cable connector that plugs into the optical drive:

Hope that works for other people, still not quite sure of the logic here since the mod I'm doing should force it to be a master on the IDE channel? But it works for me.

Trashbytes wrote on 2025-05-25, 16:05:

Savior_04 wrote on 2025-05-25, 14:24:

Hi, thanks for the replies and the help. After what you told me I decided to take only the upper part of the 1700 since it still has the hinges intact and it adapted by slightly modifying the body where the AV output is. Unfortunately after years of storage in a box the display has turned brown (but I don't understand why it didn't have a scratch when I stored it. Luckily I managed to find my old caddy but I won't be able to fix the screen. On my 1750 the battery still lasts about an hour so I'd say it's still good. Here are some photos of the not yet complete PC.

The Panels in these machines are prone to degradation and get an effect that looks like mould on the screen or turn brownish like cider vinegar.

OK thanks for the info, it's a real shame as I don't have a spare. I'm thinking of replacing it with an lcd display connected to the VGA port so as to permanently eliminate this problem but I need to find the right display first.

Thermalwrong wrote on 2025-05-27, 03:08:

Sure, I bumped into the same problem recently. It requires a mod to the CD-ROM caddy connector just like the Toshiba laptops: Pr […]
Show full quote

CoolDoomer wrote on 2024-06-26, 21:09:

Can somebody tell me how can I put a DVD drive in this laptop. I tried 2 IDE drives made in 2005 and 2006 and behaves in a weird […]
Show full quote

Can somebody tell me how can I put a DVD drive in this laptop.
I tried 2 IDE drives made in 2005 and 2006 and behaves in a weird way.

The CD drive is powered and it tries to spin, but it doesnt recognize neither the CD drive or the HDD
And throws the no system disk error depite the hdd having an OS.

When I remove the CD drive everything behaves normally.

Sure, I bumped into the same problem recently. It requires a mod to the CD-ROM caddy connector just like the Toshiba laptops: Problem with use of modern ATAPI device in 1990s Toshiba 470cdt / 490xcdt / 530cdt and similar retro laptops
My Armada 1700's CD-ROM drive was useless and failing to read everything, so I tried putting a DVD/CDRW drive in and it did what you describe where the laptop wouldn't boot.

The attachment IMG_6622-crop (Custom).JPG is no longer available

I'm not quite sure of the logic because testing in DOS confirms that the CD-ROM is on the primary IDE channel as a slave device, probably a conflict on the IDE channel causes the laptop to not boot when you fit a regular drive:

The attachment IMG_6629 (Custom).JPG is no longer available

The fix was to put a dot of solder between pins 47 and 45 of the flex cable connector that plugs into the optical drive:

The attachment IMG_6626-crop (Custom).JPG is no longer available

Hope that works for other people, still not quite sure of the logic here since the mod I'm doing should force it to be a master on the IDE channel? But it works for me.

Hi, I too have problems with the player not working as it should and I tried to install a player very similar to yours with the modification you recommended but it didn't work for me, it gets stuck on the Compaq screen and the hdd light stays on all the time.

Savior_04 wrote on 2025-05-27, 13:19:

Trashbytes wrote on 2025-05-25, 16:05:

Savior_04 wrote on 2025-05-25, 14:24:

Hi, thanks for the replies and the help. After what you told me I decided to take only the upper part of the 1700 since it still has the hinges intact and it adapted by slightly modifying the body where the AV output is. Unfortunately after years of storage in a box the display has turned brown (but I don't understand why it didn't have a scratch when I stored it. Luckily I managed to find my old caddy but I won't be able to fix the screen. On my 1750 the battery still lasts about an hour so I'd say it's still good. Here are some photos of the not yet complete PC.

The Panels in these machines are prone to degradation and get an effect that looks like mould on the screen or turn brownish like cider vinegar.

OK thanks for the info, it's a real shame as I don't have a spare. I'm thinking of replacing it with an lcd display connected to the VGA port so as to permanently eliminate this problem but I need to find the right display first.

You likely don't want to go much above 1024x768 with the onboard Rage GPU or 800x600 with the Chips GPU on the non rage model. You can tell which model you have, if you have the RCA jack on the right hand side of the laptop near the CD drive then you have the ATI Rage model, if there is no RCA jack then its the Chips model. The Chips GPU is pretty terrible honestly I have both the ATI and Chips models and ended up using the Chips one as a spare parts machine due to how bad the GPU is on it.

Trashbytes wrote on 2025-05-27, 13:26:

Savior_04 wrote on 2025-05-27, 13:19:

Trashbytes wrote on 2025-05-25, 16:05:

The Panels in these machines are prone to degradation and get an effect that looks like mould on the screen or turn brownish like cider vinegar.

OK thanks for the info, it's a real shame as I don't have a spare. I'm thinking of replacing it with an lcd display connected to the VGA port so as to permanently eliminate this problem but I need to find the right display first.

You likely don't want to go much above 1024x768 with the onboard Rage GPU or 800x600 with the Chips GPU on the non rage model. You can tell which model you have, if you have the RCA jack on the right hand side of the laptop near the CD drive then you have the ATI Rage model, if there is no RCA jack then its the Chips model. The Chips GPU is pretty terrible honestly I have both the ATI and Chips models and ended up using the Chips one as a spare parts machine due to how bad the GPU is on it.

Hi, I have the model with the Rage GPU, honestly at least in my opinion it's not bad, I've seen much worse GPUs. The maximum resolution supported by the GPU seems to be 1024x768, I tried connecting it to a 1080p monitor and it's the highest resolution I could set, but it's no use because it already struggles a lot at 800x600, so increasing it would only destroy it permanently. However, I think that even at this resolution the quality will improve a lot with an LCD display of any type and will avoid problems such as degradation but I will have to drill a hole in the back to fit the VGA cable in and I don't like this but I don't think thin VGA cables exist.

The Rage offer at least gives 'somelevel of' d3d function.

The one I had back in the days of yore was the NeoMagic offer... and it laughed and said NO to the very notion.

Savior_04 wrote on 2025-05-27, 13:21:

Thermalwrong wrote on 2025-05-27, 03:08:

Sure, I bumped into the same problem recently. It requires a mod to the CD-ROM caddy connector just like the Toshiba laptops: Pr […]
Show full quote

CoolDoomer wrote on 2024-06-26, 21:09:

Can somebody tell me how can I put a DVD drive in this laptop. I tried 2 IDE drives made in 2005 and 2006 and behaves in a weird […]
Show full quote

Can somebody tell me how can I put a DVD drive in this laptop.
I tried 2 IDE drives made in 2005 and 2006 and behaves in a weird way.

The CD drive is powered and it tries to spin, but it doesnt recognize neither the CD drive or the HDD
And throws the no system disk error depite the hdd having an OS.

When I remove the CD drive everything behaves normally.

Sure, I bumped into the same problem recently. It requires a mod to the CD-ROM caddy connector just like the Toshiba laptops: Problem with use of modern ATAPI device in 1990s Toshiba 470cdt / 490xcdt / 530cdt and similar retro laptops
My Armada 1700's CD-ROM drive was useless and failing to read everything, so I tried putting a DVD/CDRW drive in and it did what you describe where the laptop wouldn't boot.

The attachment IMG_6622-crop (Custom).JPG is no longer available

I'm not quite sure of the logic because testing in DOS confirms that the CD-ROM is on the primary IDE channel as a slave device, probably a conflict on the IDE channel causes the laptop to not boot when you fit a regular drive:

The attachment IMG_6629 (Custom).JPG is no longer available

The fix was to put a dot of solder between pins 47 and 45 of the flex cable connector that plugs into the optical drive:

The attachment IMG_6626-crop (Custom).JPG is no longer available

Hope that works for other people, still not quite sure of the logic here since the mod I'm doing should force it to be a master on the IDE channel? But it works for me.

Hi, I too have problems with the player not working as it should and I tried to install a player very similar to yours with the modification you recommended but it didn't work for me, it gets stuck on the Compaq screen and the hdd light stays on all the time.

Yeah now I've posted about it, I'm not entirely sure the fix I've suggested is the one that worked. IT's entirely possible I just kept trying different drives til it worked, but I do seem to recall that the little solder bridge did make a difference.

wierd_w wrote on 2025-05-27, 16:31:

The Rage offer at least gives 'somelevel of' d3d function.

The one I had back in the days of yore was the NeoMagic offer... and it laughed and said NO to the very notion.

and that's what I think too, that's why I preferred to use the 1750 card instead of the 1700 since I use it for retrogaming with Doom and Quake.