Well this post shows that I haven't been around as long as most others on this forum. I need to know what settings should be put in the BIOS for a cdrom. The BIOS does not have a CDROM or autodetect setting. I appreciate any help. Fell free to email me.

Hi, You don't need to make any settings for CDROM in BIOS. Old BIOSes not recognize CDROM at all, but this not prevent you from using it. New BIOSes can recognize CDROM as booting device, but nevethless you don't need to do any settings. Good luck, Igor M

Well first, thanks for the reply, but I'm afraid that you are incorrect. DOS does need the right settings to use the CD-Rom. The drivers for the CD ROM do not work because of my problem. Perhaps I am wrong and there is another problem causing this, but I am ratherf confident that the BIOS needs the right settings for the CD ROM to use it. Any more suggestions are welcome.

I forget just one thing. In BIOS you need to enable IDE port to which CDROM is connected and set PIO Mode and Ultra DMA mode to AUTO for that port. That's all. (Of course if your CDROM has IDE interface.) If your drivers not work you need to check a few things: 1. Is the IDE port enabled (as I've mentioned above) and is the CDROM properly connected to it. 2. If your CDROM is connected to the same cable as hard drive make sure the hard drive is configured as a Master and CDROM as a Slave. 3. Check the CDROM and driver manufacturers and make sure they are compatible. 4. Make sure your CDROM has IDE interface and don't need special interface card. Hope this help

Well I can verify that everything except the BIOS settings were correct. I'll try your suggestions and let you know how it works out. Thanks again

Well I can verify that everything except the BIOS settings were correct. I'll try your suggestions and let you know how it works out. Thanks again

Hi Just a few config details. Dont connet the cdrom to the same chanel as the ide drive. The channel runns as fast as the slowest port, ie the cdrom will slow down the hard drive. If your still having problems try changing the jumper settings, might not cause a problem but cdrom should be set to master on the second ide channel, althought it does work as a slave. Normally if you have incorrectly installed hardware it locks up. Now cdrom drivers. you have mscdex.exe in your autoexec.bat and the cdrom driver in config.sys Try using various cdrom drivers. reguards david