i just built a system for a friend of mine, and i've got a wierd problem that i cant seem to figure out.

i've got a dvd drive for it, and with just molex connected it seems to work just fine, but then when you hook up the ide connection witht he motherboard, it wont work anymore. doesnt open or anything. tried jumper set to master and cable select. (it is the only thing on the cable)

admittedly this is the first computer i've built completely from scratch without salvaging parts from the previous one, but nothing i got should have been a compatability problem.

also, i'm not getting any BIOS. this may be related or not. i dont really know.

tried different ide cables? also does it get to bios with the drive disconnected?

If you return it, try to get a sata drive, so much easier to manage the wires, and no additional cost.

Probably just a bad drive, exchange it if you can. Drive quality has really gone down over the years, even from reputable companies. I replace tons of them at work.

i dunno, i think the mobo might be bad. gonna test the drive in another computer first before i think that, but i'm pretty sure it's the case.

yeah the drive is perfectly fine. running the computer i'm posting from with it in there right now.

so yeah, i'm not getting any BIOS at all, what can i do to diagnose the probelm further before i RMA the barebones system? (asus case mobo and powerspply)

Send it back and make it their problem (they'll probably junk the mobo).

i would really like to avoid doing that if at all possible. but its looking like that may be the case. grr.

****. i didnt realise it was open box product. i cant freakin RMA it.

this is the first time i've ever had a problem with something purchased from newegg and of course its on a non returnable product. GAHHH.

i guess i'm going to have to buy her a mobo now.

anyone know how good EVGA is for mobos? i've never used them so i dont really know.