Slave IDE and which option in FDISK to use?

[DJW]

I am putting a slave IDE hard drive in my computer running Windows
98SE. Do I have to use Create Extended DOS Partition and not use
primary DOS partition with Fdisk? Later I may want to install an OS on
it and switch the jumpers to master and remove the old hard drive now
set as master with the OS on it. Or at that time I will need to wipe
it clean and select create primary DOS partition?

 

[TVeblen]

I am putting a slave IDE hard drive in my computer running Windows
98SE. Do I have to use Create Extended DOS Partition and not use
primary DOS partition with Fdisk? Later I may want to install an OS on
it and switch the jumpers to master and remove the old hard drive now
set as master with the OS on it. Or at that time I will need to wipe
it clean and select create primary DOS partition?

Create the primary partition.
It will, have no affect on your other primary partition.
And you can only create an extended partition after creating a primary
anyway.

 

[Don Phillipson]

I am putting a slave IDE hard drive in my computer running Windows
98SE. Do I have to use Create Extended DOS Partition and not use
primary DOS partition with Fdisk? Later I may want to install an OS on
it and switch the jumpers to master and remove the old hard drive now
set as master with the OS on it. Or at that time I will need to wipe
it clean and select create primary DOS partition?

In FDISK terminology "Primary DOS" = bootable, so if you make
the new HDD Primary DOS (in whole or part) Windows will recognize
it as Drive D: and you can later instal an OS and boot from that
drive (without swapping jumpers, probably, depending on your
grub or bootstrap configuration.)

FDISK "extended DOS" means non-booting. If you FDISK the new
HDD Ext DOS (in whole or part) Windows will assign drive letters
in sequence following all drives on your master HDD. (If the master
HDD is all drive C: the first logical drive on the slave will be D:
If you have three logical drives on the master HDD the first drive
on the slave HDD will be F:.)

 

[DJW]

In FDISK terminology "Primary DOS" = bootable, so if you make
the new HDD Primary DOS (in whole or part) Windows will recognize
it as Drive D: and you can later instal an OS and boot from that
drive (without swapping jumpers, probably, depending on your
grub or bootstrap configuration.)

FDISK "extended DOS" means non-booting.  If you FDISK the new
HDD Ext DOS (in whole or part) Windows will assign drive letters
in sequence following all drives on your master HDD.   (If the master
HDD is all drive C: the first logical drive on the slave will be D:
If you have three logical drives on the master HDD the first drive
on the slave HDD will be F:.)

OK since I posted the first question I went back and partitioned as
Primary Dos but I already had a hard drive in it as master with one
other partition so C and D were taken. During reboot after I ran Fdisk
I saw the make drive but it referred to it as D in all that text you
get in Windows 98SE at boot up. It did not appear in My Computer. I
thought if I went and tried to force its drive letter in the control
panel I could. But only the two CD drives seem to let me change that.
The place to change the letter was there but would not let me enter
any letter. The two CD drives on the other ID buse were already G and
H.
So I then re-partitioned the drive as extended DOS partition. This
time after reboot it was there in my computer as E then I right
clicked on it and chose format and now I can use it. I need to go back
and see how the other drive was jumped pretty sure it was not cable
select but what is the option “single” drive master or something like
that it might have as a configuration if the jumpers are set that way.
I already once got a system hang up where it sounded and the access
drive lamp just flashed like the hard drive actuator was caught in a
loop of movement back and forth. Not sure which if not both hard
drives it was happening too.
Also my plan in the future was to unplug the master and re-jump the
slave in question and re-plug in as master and install an OS. So now
will that also mean to reformat as a Primary DOS partition before or
right after I change things internally. Ih and can I reverse the
drives and have that master as the slave or because it has been
partitioned most likely as the primary a long time ago I would have to
repartition and lose all the data on it.

 

[TVeblen]

OK since I posted the first question I went back and partitioned as
Primary Dos but I already had a hard drive in it as master with one
other partition so C and D were taken. During reboot after I ran Fdisk
I saw the make drive but it referred to it as D in all that text you
get in Windows 98SE at boot up. It did not appear in My Computer. I
thought if I went and tried to force its drive letter in the control
panel I could. But only the two CD drives seem to let me change that.
The place to change the letter was there but would not let me enter
any letter. The two CD drives on the other ID buse were already G and
H.
So I then re-partitioned the drive as extended DOS partition. This
time after reboot it was there in my computer as E then I right
clicked on it and chose format and now I can use it. I need to go back
and see how the other drive was jumped pretty sure it was not cable
select but what is the option “single” drive master or something like
that it might have as a configuration if the jumpers are set that way.
I already once got a system hang up where it sounded and the access
drive lamp just flashed like the hard drive actuator was caught in a
loop of movement back and forth. Not sure which if not both hard
drives it was happening too.
Also my plan in the future was to unplug the master and re-jump the
slave in question and re-plug in as master and install an OS. So now
will that also mean to reformat as a Primary DOS partition before or
right after I change things internally. Ih and can I reverse the
drives and have that master as the slave or because it has been
partitioned most likely as the primary a long time ago I would have to
repartition and lose all the data on it.

If you are using a modern ATA 80 wire ribbon cable you can use Cable
Select on *both* devices, making sure to put the Main system Drive-0(C:
Drive) on the end (Black/Master) connector and the Auxiliary Drive-1(D:
Drive) on the middle (Gray/Slave) connector.

Or, regardless of cable type, set the MASTER and SLAVE drive jumpers
respectively.

The Optical drives should be jumpered in the same fashion as the hard
drives: Cable Select for all 4 devices, or Master/Slave configurations
for all 4 devices.

The SINGLE drive option is for just what it sounds like: a system with a
single drive on the cable.
Not for you.