Hard drive from G3 to G4, can't get it to recognize DVD drive, HELP!

Question

Hi, the hard drive in my G4 laptop went kaput so I replaced it with the one from my old G3 (I cannot afford new parts). That HD had OS X 3.9 installed on it and seems to run fine, however, the old computer didn't have a DVD player and now since I put the HD on this one that does, it doesn't recognize it. It seemed to detect all the new aspects of the newer computer like how much ram it has and the processor speed, but it still says it has the old CD-rom drive. Can I do this without wiping the HD and reinstalling OS X because I don't have the installation disks and cannot afford to purchase any? Is there something I can run to auto-detect it? It is crucial that I get this working, I have kids and this computer was our only TV/DVD player! Any ideas? Thank you! In case it helps, the system profiler says this (The model should say DVD too, right?):
ATA-3 Bus:
MATSHITA CD-RW CW-8123:
Manufacturer: MATSHITA
Model: MATSHITA CD-RW CW-** <Edited by Moderator>
Revision: CA0T
Serial Number:
Drive Type: CD-RW/DVD-ROM
Disc Burning: Apple Supported/Shipped
Removable Media: Yes
Detachable Drive: No
Protocol: ATAPI
Unit Number: 0
Socket Type: Internal

Answer 1

I don't know how hardware specific OSX installations are but you're jumping a bit from G3 to G4. I also take it you had some version of OSX on this G4 before as otherwise it may need a Firmware update.
You can try resetting the PRAM and/or CUDA to get the computer to have a fresh look at hardware present.
[Texas Mac Man's PRAM, battery, PMU tutorial|http://www.geocities.com/texas_macman/pram.html]
[Apple's PRAM reset directions|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238]
[Resetting Cuda/PMU on Power Mac G5, Power Mac G4, Power Macintosh G3|http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86760]
Failing those, you could try installing Patchburn and see if it helps.