How to fit your CD-RW and keep your hair (LG CDRW 8x4x32)

Member Name: Emerald

Product:	LG CDRW 8x4x32
Date:	08/08/01 (2185 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Staggeringly easy software, cheap, reliable

Disadvantages: You have to fit it...

So it was my husband's birthday, and his going on and on (and on) about getting a CD-RW finally wore me down. Having a bit of space on the ol' credit card, I decided to toddle off down to PC World and see what was on offer, which happened to be the LG 8x4x32. This was handy because after reading the ops about it on this site I'd decided that looked like a good option anyway.

Having parted with my £79.99, I brought my proud possession home, and decided that what I should really do was fit the beast for my computer illiterate husband as a surprise. (Aren't I nice? The answer is "Yes"...)

I won't tell you all the ins and outs of the product, because other people have done it already, except to say that yes, it's a little stunner and I've got no complaints whatsoever. One thing I have noticed however, is that other opinions all say things like "easy to install" and "I was up and running within 20 minutes"! This was no doubt true, but the opinions also contain fatal words to this effect..."of course I'm an expert but it's so easy a beginner would be able to fit it..."

So here's the point of view of a beginner:

Although I am the computer literate one in the family, I haven't opened the case on a computer since I fitted some RAM about 3 years ago to my old computer. Since then, I have gained:
a) a new, bigger computer
b) a baby
c) about a stone
I only mention this as I am about to tell you how to fit your CD-RW drive, and item b) should NOT be involved. Item c) doesn't matter, but as I was mentioning it...

But I digress.

HOW TO FIT YOUR CD-RW
---------------------

a) Open the box. Be immediately impressed and then slightly scared at all the manuals and little plastic bags full of screws and cables you don't recognise. Think "Hmmm, it's going to take me a week to read all those man
uals" and decide to read them as you go along. Flip to the installation instructions and get to the part where it says "first take the case off your computer".

b) Take the case off your computer. Then think "Bugger!" and turn your computer off. The inside of your computer, if you've never seen one before, is a big space surrounded by technical looking cables and stuff. Wonder why all the space is in the centre of the box and there's none around the area you're going to have to work in (the rack effort that already holds your CD-ROM drive and hard drive). Shrug and turn back to the instructions.

c) Try popping out the blank bit of plastic which covers the hole you're going to put the CD-RW in. Struggle for about 5 minutes before realising you have to take the front of the case off too. Take the front of the case off and pop the little plastic bit out. Slide the CD-RW drive in, much as you would a car stereo. This is where the similarity ends. If you hear Chris Moyles coming through your CD-RW, immediately destroy it for it has been possessed by the devil.

d) Now you have the CD-RW in the right place, feel pleased with yourself. Then turn back to the instructions which will say things like "attach the IDE lead to the motherboard and set the jumpers according to the table below. Up to 4 IDE leads can be configured per blah blah blah, consult the manual that came with your computer."

e) Go "eh?"

f) Curse the fact that your computer didn't come with manuals because your friend built it (the one you don't see any more). Wonder what jumpers are whilst pushing vague images of kangaroos in little woolly outfits to the back of your mind. Hope that the IDE lead is the big flat grey one that came with the package, same as the ones already attached to the hard drive and CD-ROM drive. Think "Hmmm, I'm not going to be defeated by this", and
carry on regardless.

g) Discover what and where the jumpers are. These are small bits of plastic which cover pins at the back of the CD-RW drive. Take the CD-RW out again because you can't see the jumpers once it's in. The manual will start talking about Master and Slave configurations, which have nothing to do with either 18th Century American Coffee Plantations, or S&M. In fact, it just seems to tell the computer which is the most important drive and therefore which should be given priority. (I could be wrong, but that's what it looks like to me).

h) Here's where it gets technical. Inside the computer you'll see the CD-ROM drive and Hard drive already installed. These are connected together with a flat grey IDE lead which will then go down to a point on the motherboard. The hard drive will be set as the Master, and the CD-ROM will be the Slave. Leave them be! Do not be tempted to think "I'll just rearrange the CD-ROM because I'd prefer it to be in the other slot in the case" because you'll end up cocking the whole thing up, by forgetting which lead went where etc. etc. and why is it sparking and smoking now when I turn it on?

i) The CDRW is going on a seperate IDE lead (the one that came with it), which will attach to a seperate point on the motherboard, next to where the grey lead from the Hard Drive/CD-ROM plugs in.
Prise the little plastic jumper out of the back of the CDRW, and put it on the Master (M) pins. It's ever so ickle, so don't drop it and *definitely* don't drop it anywhere near a 1 year old as it will get eaten. According to those in the know, this will make it work better too, as it's on a seperate lead so it gets information quicker. Or something.

j) Look back at the instructions which will talk about power leads. These are the bundled red, yellow and black wires that end in translucent white plugs. I had some spare ones in my compute
r already, and you probably will too if it was advertised as "fully upgradeable". Otherwise you have to buy one.

k) Slot the CDRW drive back into the case. Fiddle around trying to fit the power lead and IDE lead into the back of the CDRW.

j) Break a nail and curse. Finally get the damn thing plugged in, and put the little fixing screws in. If you don't know where to put them, look at your CD-ROM drive and do it the same way.

k) Drop the screws like a million times because they're so tiny and you've only got a flat head screw driver because you can't find the phillips head one. Swear. A lot.

l) Finally get the case back on and turn the thing on.

This is when I discovered that I'd set the Master and Slave thingy wrong, because I'd muddled up the CD-ROM, Hard Drive and CD-RW. My incessant fiddling had resulted in two Masters (CD-ROM and Hard Drive) on the same grey IDE lead. I don't profess to understand it all, but if you've ever tried to work for two people in the same company, you can see how confused my poor computer was. I then had to spend another hour trying to work out what the hell I'd done, and worrying in case the computer never booted up ever again. So that's why I decided to share my experiences with you.

Now, when you turn your computer on, it should go "Woohoo! Thankyou for buying me a new bit of kit! Please allow me to copy all your discs for you and make backups of your data!" (Well, it'll probably just do what it usually does, but it'll be *thinking* those things.)

And you will be able to because the software that comes with the LG is ridiculously easy. even for me.

You can laugh if you like; you can call me a silly billy (or stronger), but you can't deny that for a beginner the inside of a computer can be a strange and scary place.

And if my laughable failure prevents even one
broke
n nail or swallowed jumper plug, then my work here will be done...

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