[SOLVED] Help buying a CD/DVD recorder and mouse for an old computer.

Gregg Bell · 06-02-2016, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beachboy2

Gregg,

If you have the SFF model then you will probably need something like this slimline IDE unit:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dell-FH630...MAAOSwD2pXFnSc

Take a photo of the front and rear of the existing unit.

Thanks beachboy2. I'm on a different computer but I'll take those photos tomorrow and post them. And looking at that eBAY link, I don't think my CD/DVD drive is that small. It looks more like twice that size.

Gregg Bell · 06-02-2016, 12:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug G

I'd just buy an external usb dvd-rw drive, 20 bucks or so on Amazon.

Thanks Doug. I didn't even know there were such things. I've just been checking them out.

Gregg Bell · 06-02-2016, 12:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenTrabetere

I have an 11-year old computer, and a couple of years ago the DVD drive failed. I do not regret replacing it with an external drive.

On another note, I highly recommend you check the capacitors on the motherboard, and pull each card and inspect the caps on them, too. Computers of that era were notorious for bad caps. My computer was riddled with them - I had to replace every cap on the motherboard. Last month the nVidia graphics card was acting a little flaky, and one of the caps was bad.

And while you have the case open replace the CMOS battery.

Thanks Ben. Good suggestions. And the battery is certainly easy enough to change.

Gregg Bell · 06-02-2016, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by frankbell

I second the advice for an external. I have had several externals, and they all worked quite nicely to play, burn, and read disks.

The one caveat is that your system might not be able to boot an optical disk from an external. I have had different results from one machine to another attempting to boot from external optical drives, depending on the machine.

I was too lazy to track down why one did and the other didn't.

If you want an internal, you should be able to get a good new one for about 30-40 USD these days.

Thanks for the warning, Frank, and I think it may be one that I needed to hear. I say that because I could not install the Xubuntu on that computer with a USB drive. I had to use a disk.

michaelk · 06-02-2016, 12:35 AM

A slimline drive is approximately 5 inches x 0.5 inches.

A regular drive is approximately 5 inches x 1.5 inches.

Here is the info from Dell.
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...p&sku=313-3462

Most Dells have special mounting brackets for the drives so be sure to check before tossing out any hardware.

Have you opened the case and looked yet?

ardvark71 · 06-02-2016, 04:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Wow. That was really thorough, ardvark. Thanks so much for taking the time to put all that together.

You're welcome

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

And one more question. I was looking at the mice last night and a lot of them say (something like): 'Compatible with Windows XP and up.' Do all mice work with Ubuntu?

I think most, if not all, of them do, however, I couldn't give you specifics or guarantee that the one you purchase will be compatible. Take a look at the thread here for a bit more detail.

Regards...

JJJCR · 06-02-2016, 04:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Thanks JJJCR. How do I check whether the CD/DVD is SATA or IDE? (That's just the sort of thing I was concerned about.)

check out this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA

(sata hdd) scroll down look to the right side.

You should see this text with the SATA image: "2.5-inch SATA drive on top of a 3.5-inch SATA drive, close-up of data and power connectors"

This link below is more specific: (it also shows how to replace an IDE DVD with SATA DVD drive)

http://www.wikihow.com/Replace-an-ID...SATA-Dvd-Drive

Step 9 - SATA connector

Step 3 - IDE connector

RockDoctor · 06-02-2016, 06:45 AM

Gregg,

FYI, attached are a couple of screenshots of the (SATA) DVD RW drive from my Small Form Factor Dell Optiplex 755.

beachboy2 · 06-02-2016, 08:42 AM

There are 2 photos of a SATA DVD-RW here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Dell-S...1%26rkt%3D1%26

There are several photos of a Dell TS-L632 IDE/PATA unit:

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-TS-L63.../dp/B001SKO552

Note that the connectors are totally different.

Gregg Bell · 06-02-2016, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

A slimline drive is approximately 5 inches x 0.5 inches.

A regular drive is approximately 5 inches x 1.5 inches.

Here is the info from Dell.
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/p...p&sku=313-3462

Most Dells have special mounting brackets for the drives so be sure to check before tossing out any hardware.

Have you opened the case and looked yet?

Thanks Michael. Yeah, I've opened it up because I had to remove the CD/DVD drive to take the defective hard drive out. I just measured it and it's 5" by 1.5" so it's the regular size and it pretty much looks like that drive in the Dell link. The CD/DVD drive in there now slides in and snaps tightly into place. (I would hope a new one would do the same.) But no, I won't throw anything away--thanks for the heads up.

Gregg Bell · 06-02-2016, 02:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardvark71

I think most, if not all, of them do, however, I couldn't give you specifics or guarantee that the one you purchase will be compatible. Take a look at the thread here for a bit more detail.

Regards...

Ok, cool. I'm sure it'll work out. I like this one by Belkin so that's a pretty good company. Thanks.

Gregg Bell · 06-02-2016, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JJJCR

check out this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA

(sata hdd) scroll down look to the right side.

You should see this text with the SATA image: "2.5-inch SATA drive on top of a 3.5-inch SATA drive, close-up of data and power connectors"

This link below is more specific: (it also shows how to replace an IDE DVD with SATA DVD drive)

http://www.wikihow.com/Replace-an-ID...SATA-Dvd-Drive

Step 9 - SATA connector

Step 3 - IDE connector

Very helpful, JJJCR. And in that link on how to replace an IDE with a SATA, it says to disconnect the big ribbon from the IDE drive, and in my computer that big ribbon is already disconnected so it must have a SATA drive, but I'm bookmarking the link just in case! Thanks.

Gregg Bell · 06-02-2016, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockDoctor

Gregg,

FYI, attached are a couple of screenshots of the (SATA) DVD RW drive from my Small Form Factor Dell Optiplex 755.

Thanks RockDoctor. Yeah, my drive looks similar but it's wider.

Gregg Bell · 06-02-2016, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beachboy2

There are 2 photos of a SATA DVD-RW here:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Dell-S...1%26rkt%3D1%26

There are several photos of a Dell TS-L632 IDE/PATA unit:

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-TS-L63.../dp/B001SKO552

Note that the connectors are totally different.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. The pics make it clear that I've got a SATA. Thanks.

JJJCR · 06-05-2016, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregg Bell

Very helpful, JJJCR. And in that link on how to replace an IDE with a SATA, it says to disconnect the big ribbon from the IDE drive, and in my computer that big ribbon is already disconnected so it must have a SATA drive, but I'm bookmarking the link just in case! Thanks.

Take a photo your cable and post it here.

IDE cable normally is wide and has a red color on the left side I think.

check out link below it shows the difference between SATA and IDE. (scroll down to see the image)

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-install-sata-hard-drive/