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I'm in the midst of building a computer (first time builder)

I got everything plugged in, and hit the power button. After the excitement of the first boot coming up on my screen, I was looking through the BIOS settings. However, joy soon turned sour, as I looked at the list of installed SATA devices. My DVD drive wasn't on the list :(

So, what are common things I should check/try?

EDIT

I have 1 DVD drive (Asus: DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS) and 1 SATA hard drive (SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ). My motherboard only came with 1 SATA cable, so I plugged in just the DVD drive so I could boot up with a live linux CD. All 5 of the SATA devices were listed as "nothing plugged in" in the BIOS. (I have since run to Radio Shack to pick up another SATA cable, but haven't had time to try again).

The DVD drive lists the interface as "SATA". The HardDrive lists the interface as "SATA 3Gb/s". The motherboard also lists "SATA 3Gb/s" as the type. Is "SATA" not compatable with "SATA 3Gb/s"?

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need more details, like mobo type / devices / number of devices / type of SATA, etc; The more the better we can answer... – Jakub May 3 '10 at 17:24
I edited my answer with more details. – David Oneill May 3 '10 at 17:51
SATA 3gbps is sometimes called SATA-II. it's still all SATA. some SATA-II devices need to be jumpered correctly to work properly with the older SATA 1.5gbps standard, but that shouldn't be necessary here. double-check any available jumpers on the dvd drive just to be sure. – quack quixote May 3 '10 at 19:31
It would be beneficial if we knew what model of mobo you have, that way we could look up the user's manual. I had a mobo a while back that wouldn't recognize two of the SATA ports unless the mobo was sat to AHCI/RAID mode and didn't realize it until I decided to Read The (Fine) Manual. :) – TechParadox May 3 '10 at 20:28
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1 Answer

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Be sure your SATA and power cables are properly connected.

If you have another PC that you can test the DVD drive. If the drive doesn't work on the spare PC, the drive is most likely defective.

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I read some user reviews on Newegg about this drive. There are a few reviewers that share your problem, and have had varied luck with RMA replacements. – AJ Bovaird May 3 '10 at 20:23
I don't have another PC I can use to test this (my only other desktop is 10 years old) – David Oneill May 3 '10 at 21:04
After getting a new cable, I connected both the HDD and DVD. Both were recognized. I must have not plugged it in all the way the first time. – David Oneill May 3 '10 at 21:34
Gratz! SATA cables can be a bit difficult to get in properly in a crowded case. Happens to the best of us! – AJ Bovaird May 4 '10 at 22:48
Whenever this problem occurs, it's always the cables. Has been the case 100% of the time for me, over many years of building PCs. – skypecakes Jul 25 '10 at 19:29
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