Yes, in the hopes that is the reason DVD drive is not seen by Motherboard. that's the conclusion i drew also after researching the possibility. After spending way too much time reading these forums, getting sidetracked constantly by cool new (unrelated) info carrying me away from the project at hand, I guess i just needed some closure. really just my last ditch shot in the dark test condition before ruling it a physical problem at mobo level. Thanks Much for the response! Hopefully i will be back for more fun.