Secondary IDE controller problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steve
  • Start date Start date
S

Steve

i have a Dell Optiplex GX110 Desktop and i am using Windows XP with 2
hard drives and 2 CD drives when i put both hard drives on the primary
IDE the computer cannot find either of them but when i put just the one
hard drive on it it works fine. Also it cannot find either of my CD
drives. but then i put the second hard drive on the secondary IDE with
just one of the CD drives it is able to find the CD and both Hard drive
perfectly.

but i was wondering if there is a way i can put the secondary hard
drive in with the primary IDE and the other hard drive, and be able to
use both of my CD drives in the Secondar IDE slot.

please help me
 
Sounds like you need to check the drives jumper configuration. When
conncecting 2 drives on the same channel, one drive has to be designated as
a master and the other as a slave - or, configure both drives for Cable
Select and let the BIOS determine which is Master and Slave relative to the
drives position on the IDE cable. Most of the time the drive manufacturer
will have the jumper settings printed on the drive. Also, most drives sold
today ae pre-configured for Cable Select.

Here is a site that explains:
http://www.microcenter.com/understand_tech/article/harddrive_install.html
 
PS: Some hard drives, if they are of different manufacturers, will not
ce-exist without troubles. I don't know if this problem has gone away with
the more modern drives, but it used to be that Maxstor, Quantum, and Western
Digital had diffuculties being the "Slave" to the other -- they all wanted to
be "Master" on the buss.
 
When yoiu swap disks from one controller to the other, do you check the
jumpers for Master/Slave? If they aren't matched properly, various problems
such as your become evident. I would recommend that you put one hard drive
(Master) and one CD (Slave) on the primary controller and one Hard drive
(Master) and one CD (Slave) on the secondary controller. With this
arrangement, transferring data to/from CDs and disks will enjoy faster
throughput.

The most important thing is to make sure of the jumper settings however you
connect them. In most cases you just can't swap them without changing and
jumpers.
 
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