Odd problem - SETUP not seeing drive it initially saw

[John Galt]

I'm having a strange problem with a new drive that I initially
installed with no problem, but after I replaced an existing drive with
it, SETUP is no longer recognizing it.
My 60GB second drive was filling up so I got a new 120GB Maxtor
(6Y120L0) to replace it with. I disconnected one of my two CD-ROMs
and hooked up the new drive in its place:

Primary IDE Master: Boot drive
Primary IDE Slave: 60GB second drive
Secondary IDE Master: CD-ROM
Secondary IDE Slave: <<new 120GB drive>>

Dell uses cable-select, so I set the jumpers on the new drive
accordingly. SETUP automatically recognized the new drive. I used
Maxtor's Maxblast utility to set up the drive and to copy the contents
of my 60GB drive to it. So far so good.
But when I removed the old 60GB drive and hooked up the new drive
where it had been, SETUP no longer recognized the new drive. I've
tried changing the jumpers from cable select to slave, and tried the
cylinder limitation jumper, all with no effect. I put the new drive
back in the position I originally installed it, where it's still
recognized by SETUP and works fine, but I need that slot for my 2nd
CD-ROM.
Anyone have any idea what the problem might be, or tips of things
to try?

System:
Dell XPS R450
Win98SE
Dell BIOS A13
PhoenixBIOS 4.0 Release 6.0

 

[Rod Speed]

What are the drive type entrys in the bios set to ?

Best to set them all to AUTO.

That may be the problem if the first drive type entry isnt AUTO.

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Arild_Bj=F8rk?=]

John Galt wrote:

.....

Primary IDE Master: Boot drive
Primary IDE Slave: 60GB second drive
Secondary IDE Master: CD-ROM
Secondary IDE Slave: <<new 120GB drive>>

Dell uses cable-select, so I set the jumpers on the new drive
accordingly. SETUP automatically recognized the new drive. I used
Maxtor's Maxblast utility to set up the drive and to copy the contents
of my 60GB drive to it. So far so good.
But when I removed the old 60GB drive and hooked up the new drive
where it had been, SETUP no longer recognized the new drive. I've
tried changing the jumpers from cable select to slave, and tried the
cylinder limitation jumper, all with no effect. I put the new drive
back in the position I originally installed it, where it's still
recognized by SETUP and works fine, but I need that slot for my 2nd
CD-ROM.
Anyone have any idea what the problem might be, or tips of things
to try?

Is the boot drive set to cable select?

Personally I've never used cabel select settings. I've always jumpered
each drive as slave or master. This way it doesn't matter what order on
the cable you attach the drives.

 

[John Galt]

John Galt wrote:

....

Is the boot drive set to cable select?

Personally I've never used cabel select settings. I've always jumpered
each drive as slave or master. This way it doesn't matter what order on
the cable you attach the drives.

Yes, all the drives are set to cable select, which is the method
Dell uses. This will be the third new drive I've installed in the
system -- all were cable select, and all (before this one) were
recognized fine by the system.

What are the drive type entrys in the bios set to ?
Best to set them all to AUTO.
That may be the problem if the first drive type entry isnt AUTO.

Yes, all drive entries are AUTO. I'm stumped!

 

[Rod Speed]

Yes, all the drives are set to cable select, which is the method
Dell uses. This will be the third new drive I've installed in the
system -- all were cable select, and all (before this one) were
recognized fine by the system.


Yes, all drive entries are AUTO. I'm stumped!

Try with it as the only drive on the ribbon cabe.

You do sometimes see a particular pair that dont like to coexist.

You might find that you can for example have the
two hard drives as masters on the each ribbon
cable with a cdrom drive as slave on that cable.

What models are the boot drive and the 120GB drive ?

 

[John Galt]

Try with it as the only drive on the ribbon cable.

You do sometimes see a particular pair that dont like to coexist.

You might find that you can for example have the
two hard drives as masters on the each ribbon
cable with a cdrom drive as slave on that cable.

What models are the boot drive and the 120GB drive ?

That's another head-scratcher -- they're both Maxtors.
Previously I had a Western Digital on the same cable as the boot
Maxtor, and the system saw both fine, but when I replaced the WD with
another Maxtor it only saw the boot Maxtor. I also tried replacing
the cable; no luck. I suppose next I could try setting the boot drive
to master. (I've already tried setting the new drive to slave and
leaving the working boot drive on cable select). I'm limited by
physical constraints in what drives I can put on what cables.

 

[Rod Speed]

That's another head-scratcher -- they're both Maxtors.

Some of the Quantums, since bought out by Maxtor, were quite
fussy about what other drives they would coexist with, with just
that result, the other drive not being visible at boot time.

Previously I had a Western Digital on the same cable as the boot
Maxtor, and the system saw both fine, but when I replaced the
WD with another Maxtor it only saw the boot Maxtor. I also tried
replacing the cable; no luck. I suppose next I could try setting the
boot drive to master. (I've already tried setting the new drive to
slave and leaving the working boot drive on cable select).

Yes, certainly worth trying.

I'm limited by physical constraints in
what drives I can put on what cables.

Yeah, thats often the way.

 

[John Galt]

Some of the Quantums, since bought out by Maxtor, were quite
fussy about what other drives they would coexist with, with just
that result, the other drive not being visible at boot time.


Yes, certainly worth trying.

Well I tried setting the boot drive to master & the new drive to
slave, but it still doesn't see the new drive. At this point I'll
have to throw in the towel and connect the new drive to my CD burner's
position on my secondary cable, where it's seen. And manually swap in
my CD burner when I need it. That's a pain, but I plan to replace the
system soon anyway, and hopefully the new drive will be recognized
more easily by the new system. I think you're right, Rod, that these
two Maxtors just don't like each other. Thanks for your help!

 

[Rod Speed]

Well I tried setting the boot drive to master & the new
drive to slave, but it still doesn't see the new drive.

Pretty clear evidence that those two dont like to share a ribbon cable.

Guess you could try them the other way around, with the new drive as
master and the boot drive as slave. If they are seen fine like that, you
could just clone the boot drive to the new drive and use them like that.

Its generally best to have the new drive as the boot drive
anyway just because its usually a substantially performer.

At this point I'll have to throw in the towel and connect the new
drive to my CD burner's position on my secondary cable, where
it's seen. And manually swap in my CD burner when I need it.

Too wimpy an approach for me. Grab the bugger
by the balls and make it do what you want it to do |-)

That's a pain, but I plan to replace the system
soon anyway, and hopefully the new drive will
be recognized more easily by the new system.

Yeah, very likely it will.

I think you're right, Rod, that these
two Maxtors just don't like each other.

Yeah, looks that way. They may well be happy to coexist on
the cable when the master/slave relationship is reversed tho.

Thanks for your help!

No problem, thanks for the feedback. Too rare in my opinion.