Regarding IDE Primary/Slave and orientation of cable....

[ZigZag Master]

It has just come to my attention that manufactures label their 2 device IDE
cables with the Slave in the middle and the Master at the end of the cable.

Considering the fact that most peoples CDROM/DVD drives are physically above
the hard drives, this creates a small cable routing problem.

So, 2 questions....

1) Would it be OK to make my CDROM/DVD the master and hard drive the slave
to make the connection easier....if not, why ?????

2) Does it really matter if I plug a CDROM/DVD (slave) in the connector on
the cable marked MASTER.....and....vice/versa....can I plug the Hard Drives
(master) into the connector marked SLAVE ????

confused...thanks

 

[JK]

The position on the cable only matters if you use the cable select mode.
I never use the cable select mode, and set each device to either master or
slave, so the position on the cable doesn't matter.

 

[Ed Light]

The position on the cable only matters if you use the cable select mode.
I never use the cable select mode, and set each device to either master or
slave, so the position on the cable doesn't matter.

I recall reading that if you have one drive on the cable to put it at the
end -- something to do with reflections in the cable.

On channel 2, can you have 1 slave and no master?


--
Ed Light

Smiley :-/
MS Smiley :-\

Send spam to the FTC at
(e-mail address removed)
Thanks, robots.

 

[GTS]

I recall reading that if you have one drive on the cable to put it at the
end -- something to do with reflections in the cable.

On channel 2, can you have 1 slave and no master?

This is from www.maxtor.com - they actually recommend putting the master
drive on the middle connector, even where it is the only drive on that
channel:
Using a shielded IDE / ATA (40-pin, 80-conductor) cable will most certainly
help improve your system's performance. The secure cable has grounding lines
running between the signal lines, which ensure a clearer signal to all
devices. You should also attach the master drive to the middle connector on
the cable and not the end, so that there is as short a distance as possible
between the drive and the motherboard.

 

[iTsMeMa]

This is from www.maxtor.com - they actually recommend putting the master
drive on the middle connector, even where it is the only drive on that
channel:

Yet elsewhere on Maxtor's site,

** How do I know if I am using the right kind of cable for my ATA
66/100/133 drive? Why must I use this type of cable? **

** This FAQ applies to all Maxtor/Quantum ATA 66, ATA 100, and ATA 133
drives. **

** Ultra ATA cables can be purchased from your system vendor or reseller and
are fully backward compatible for operation on all standard/legacy ATA
devices and hosts. However, these cables will typically utilize the cable
select (CS) configuration on ATA drives for defining a master or slave
device (drive 0 or drive 1). The drive placement convention used on an
80-conductor cable is also different from the previous generation of cable
select type cables. The 80-conductor Ultra ATA cables require the master
drive (drive 0) to be installed at the end of the cable and the slave drive
(drive 1) to be installed on the middle connector. **

Always a different read dependant on where you want to look.

Garry

 

[GTS]

Yet elsewhere on Maxtor's site,

** How do I know if I am using the right kind of cable for my ATA
66/100/133 drive? Why must I use this type of cable? **

** This FAQ applies to all Maxtor/Quantum ATA 66, ATA 100, and ATA 133
drives. **

** Ultra ATA cables can be purchased from your system vendor or reseller and
are fully backward compatible for operation on all standard/legacy ATA
devices and hosts. However, these cables will typically utilize the cable
select (CS) configuration on ATA drives for defining a master or slave
device (drive 0 or drive 1). The drive placement convention used on an
80-conductor cable is also different from the previous generation of cable
select type cables. The 80-conductor Ultra ATA cables require the master
drive (drive 0) to be installed at the end of the cable and the slave drive
(drive 1) to be installed on the middle connector. **

Always a different read dependant on where you want to look.

Garry

Too true! However this paragraph does seem to be describing the use of the
cable for cable-select purposes, and having run lots of benchmarks I find it
does'nt make a blind bit of difference when using jumper select. I actually
started looking into this when I found that Sandra was giving poor buffered
read speeds for my Maxor ATA133 drive, only 40MB/s, compared to another
drive on the 2nd IDE that is ATA100 but gets 95MB/s buffered read. Having
tried every permutation possible the benchmarks all came out the same
wherever it was connected...

 

[Canus_Lupis]

Just as a matter of interest, I mount my primary hard drive over the CD
burner using a couple of metal mounting frames so it will fit the large bay.
Next up is a second hard drive which is my secondary slave and right at the
top is the DVD burner which is the secondary master. I use 80 wire cables
and everything is set at cable select. Setting everything in this manner
eliminates the fancy bends and kinks you were talking about. Everything
works well and I get the benefit of being able to see the temps of the hard
drives. It works for me.

 

[JS]

It has just come to my attention that manufactures label their 2
device IDE cables with the Slave in the middle and the Master at the
end of the cable.

Considering the fact that most peoples CDROM/DVD drives are physically
above the hard drives, this creates a small cable routing problem.

So, 2 questions....

1) Would it be OK to make my CDROM/DVD the master and hard drive the
slave to make the connection easier....if not, why ?????

2) Does it really matter if I plug a CDROM/DVD (slave) in the
connector on the cable marked MASTER.....and....vice/versa....can I
plug the Hard Drives (master) into the connector marked SLAVE ????

confused...thanks

You can configure either the DVD or CD as master or slave. You must use the
jumpers on the back of the drive to configure the drive as master or as
slave. See your documentation or the manufacturers website for information
on how to configure the jumpers and for preferences as far as master or
slave goes. Configure the jumpers on one of the drives to set it up as a
slave. Configure the jumpers on the other drive to set it up as a master.
Some manufacturers prefer that the DVD be configured as the master but it
can also be the slave. After setting the jumpers, connect the drive
configued as a slave to the slave connector and connect the drive
configured as a master to the master connector.

 

[JS]

Too true! However this paragraph does seem to be describing the use of
the cable for cable-select purposes, and having run lots of benchmarks
I find it does'nt make a blind bit of difference when using jumper
select. I actually started looking into this when I found that Sandra
was giving poor buffered read speeds for my Maxor ATA133 drive, only
40MB/s, compared to another drive on the 2nd IDE that is ATA100 but
gets 95MB/s buffered read. Having tried every permutation possible the
benchmarks all came out the same wherever it was connected...

Did you set the jumpers for cable select when you used the cable select
cable?

 

[FeMaster]

After setting the jumpers, connect the drive
configued as a slave to the slave connector and connect the drive
configured as a master to the master connector.

If you are using the settings on each drives jumpers, it doesn't matter
which connector on the IDE cable is hooked to which drive, because the
drives designate what each is, not the cable... The ONLY time the connector
location matters is when each drive is set to CS (Cable Select).

 

[iTsMeMa]

I had a similar problem to yours insofar as my optical drives are above my
hd's and I did not want to get rid of my rounded IDE cables, nor buy longer
ones. My solution was to set all drives to cable select and connect as cable
length dictated, that being CD and HD1 as master and slave respectively on
IDE1 and CD-RW and HD2 on IDE2. The master and slave configuration was
chosen by the cable termination, blue to board (middle) grey to slave and
(top) black to master. So far no hiccups, and no apparent loss in
performance.

My .02

Garry.