Solved Just built a new computer, it won't read HD or DVD drive

[Cakebread]

I just put together a new computer (my first) and I'm trying to install Windows 7. I turn it on, can access BIOS, but when I try to open the optical drive the screen goes to black and reads "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected." Also the disk drive won't open. I tried booting from the HD and get the same error. I physically opened the disk drive and put the Windows 7 install disk in, same error. I switched the SATA cables connected to the optical drive and the HD, same error. Can anyone possibly help me figure out what's going on? Thank you!!

Specs:
Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz
ASRock Z77 Pro4 ATX LGA1155
Kingston Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
XFX Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card

EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm default booting to the DVD, the mention of the HD in the thread's title was mostly irrelevant

 

[ParkerB]

I assume this is a fresh install since you have not been able to get the optical drive to work. This would mean you hard drive is blank at this point. I would be surprised if opening the optical drive would make the screen go black, that would be hard to explain. Most likely it is just timing. If there is no OS installed the machine would go through the POST and bios pretty quick and the look for an operating system. First you have to set your boot priority to the optical drive first, then the hard drive. If you have more than one optical drive make sure you have the right one selected. F10, save and exit. This will restart the computer and you should get the beep for the POST, then the bios screen, run through the system check, and then you should see "hit any key to boot from the CD. That should get things rolling. Remember to go back after the install and reverse the boot order or your computer will always try to start from the drive.
I would also make sure you do not have any USB drives connect, in fact it is best to wait to connect any USB devices with the exception if your keyboard and mouse until the install is complete.
In regards to your drive not opening, hard to say why. There is a brief period after turning the power on when the bios is checking the drive and it will not open but otherwise it should open. Is the drive indicator light coming on, are you sure you have power to the drive?
Hope that helps.

 

[essenbe]

Have you gone to bios and set optimized defaults? Then set the boot order, and enable the sata controllers usually in advanced options. Asrock, by default sets them as IDE devices, I believe. Before you install Windows you can set it as AHCI if you prefer, and should if installing an SSD. When you set your boot order, set the DVD as 1st boot device, insert the DVD, save and exit. Your BIOS will need to 'see' the hard drive and the DVD drive to do this.

You mentioned trying to boot from the hard drive. It should not boot if there is a Windows install from another system. All of the drivers will be wrong.

 

[Cakebread]

I assume this is a fresh install since you have not been able to get the optical drive to work. This would mean you hard drive is blank at this point. I would be surprised if opening the optical drive would make the screen go black, that would be hard to explain. Most likely it is just timing. If there is no OS installed the machine would go through the POST and bios pretty quick and the look for an operating system. First you have to set your boot priority to the optical drive first, then the hard drive. If you have more than one optical drive make sure you have the right one selected. F10, save and exit. This will restart the computer and you should get the beep for the POST, then the bios screen, run through the system check, and then you should see "hit any key to boot from the CD. That should get things rolling. Remember to go back after the install and reverse the boot order or your computer will always try to start from the drive.
I would also make sure you do not have any USB drives connect, in fact it is best to wait to connect any USB devices with the exception if your keyboard and mouse until the install is complete.
In regards to your drive not opening, hard to say why. There is a brief period after turning the power on when the bios is checking the drive and it will not open but otherwise it should open. Is the drive indicator light coming on, are you sure you have power to the drive?
Hope that helps.

Yes, it's a fresh install on a blank hard drive. I have only one hard drive and one optical drive, and it's set to default boot to the optical drive.

I don't see a "system check" option in my bios, but I can boot directly to the optical drive, and when I do it gives me the "Reboot and select proper boot device or insert boot media in selected" error.

The optical drive's indicator light is coming on, so it's definitely getting power, just not opening when I push the button.

 

[Cakebread]

Have you gone to bios and set optimized defaults? Then set the boot order, and enable the sata controllers usually in advanced options. Asrock, by default sets them as IDE devices, I believe. Before you install Windows you can set it as AHCI if you prefer, and should if installing an SSD. When you set your boot order, set the DVD as 1st boot device, insert the DVD, save and exit. Your BIOS will need to 'see' the hard drive and the DVD drive to do this.

You mentioned trying to boot from the hard drive. It should not boot if there is a Windows install from another system. All of the drivers will be wrong.

I've enabled SATA controllers, set it to AHCI, set the DVD to 1st boot device, inserted the DVD, saved and exited, restarted the computer and it returns the same exact error.

Also this is a new hard drive, so there's definitely nothing on it.

 

[essenbe]

You may have a defective DVD. Try it this way, see if this works for you. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html

 

[Cakebread]

Will do, thanks for your help!

 

[essenbe]

Well, we're not through yet. We are going to help you figure this out. Let us know how it goes. And, when you boot from the USB key, use the one time boot menu, key. I believe on your board it's F11.

 

[ParkerB]

My apologies, when I referred to the system check I was referring to the process the bios goes through when it is checking your system configuration. Used to be these went slow enough to read and one could confrim that all of the components were detected. Now it goes so fast I have to check the bios to make sure all of my devices are detected. As long as you have the option to set the first boot device as the optical drive it is likely your drive is connected correctly. Booting from the USB is a good idea if you have access to another machine. I have had occassional problems in the past with a system recognizing a Blu-ray player in the past. so much so that I always build new machines with a DVD drive. If that is the case it will go away once Windows is installed. If yo have trouble booting from the USB (which you should not) I would consider swapping out the Blu-ray for a humble DVD drive.

 

[TVeblen]

You could also have a defective DVD drive.
Test this by burning a Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool CD and trying to boot with that.

You should, in my opinion, run Memtest on any new build before you install an OS anyway.

 

[Cakebread]

I just burned my windows install ISO to a flash drive, booted from the flash drive...and it works!!

Guess this just means my (brand new) HD is a piece of crap Thank you guys so much for helping me get this figured out!

 

[essenbe]

Great, Nice job. I'm glad you have it working. See if your DVD will work now, if not, RMA. A regular DVD is pretty cheap.