Both drives work when only one or the other is connected.
To my knowledge it is not a jumper setting, I have tried Master/Slave, CS/CS, no jumpers, and reversed them all including the IDE cable.
Sometimes when both are connected, it only recognizes one drive in My Computer.
Currently, I have the LGDVD-RW as Master, and the SonyDVD-RW as Slave, the computer recognizes both properly and one of the drives operates properly, but when a DVD is placed in the LG, the computer attempts to read it but never fully processes it. (It doesn't even show the movie title etc) Whats worse is it causes the computer to "lag" every couple seconds until the DVD is removed.
It seems to be causing a fairly large conflict.
I'm reasonably experienced with computers, and have had dual DVD-RW drives set up in computers before with no hitch.
Could this be a conflict with my Hard Drives? They are both SATA and working flawlessly but also setup as Master/Slave.
Again both the LG and Sony burners work properly alone, and the IDE ribbon cable works from either side, I've set up the jumpers properly, neither drive is old.
What would cause the computer to run so poorly when a DVD is placed in it? I can set up everything in reverse so the Sony is the master and the LG is the slave and the same conflict occurs - the LG then works properly and the Sony causes the "lag" type conflict. CPU usage is only at 10%, no reason to cause such behavior.
OK, here is the long, drawn out troubleshooting method to get to the bottom of this:
1. Make sure that you have at least 1 new (or 100% known good cable)
2. Verify that each drive responds to the master/slave setting by installing them ONE at a time to each cable connector in either Master or Slave setting. This will require 4 passes for each drive. During each run, make sure that the BIOS recognizes the correct setting of the drive during the BIOS pass. You should see each drive as Master twice and Each drive as slave twice. I never use cable select. I like to control the assignment myself.
If that passes for both drives, then each drive is functioning correctly with regard to master/slave setting. If this step fails at ANY point, change the cable. Retest. If this test STILL fails then that drive is possibly defective and should be replaced.
Next test
Try the same test on a different IDE controller (if you have one). You are only booting into the BIOS so you don't care if the HDD is installed. In fact, I would remove power from all HDD to lessen the wear and tear from multiple restarts.
It is possible that the IDE controller on the motherboard is defective. You may want to try an add-on PCI IDE card to see if you have the same issue.
There are more things that you can try, but this is where I would start.
