Slave/Master and CSel

[Dingo]

Hi. I'm planning on installing a second hard drive in my computer. My
Dell book says to move the first hard drive to the lower bay, put the
new one in the upper bay and set both jumper settings to CS (CSel), but
all the tech sites that I have read so far insist on Master/Slave
settings for the jumper settings. Is there a good justification for the
techs choice? Thanks. Dingo.

 

[DL]

I believe CS requires a specific ide cable.
It is used by sys builders, for ease/speed of assembly
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/faq/ata_cable_select.html
Multiple hd's may have to be in a specific order on the cable
Use master/slave config. Theres no need to move the origonal hd, other than
for ease in cable routing.

 

[Steve Nielsen]

Hi. I'm planning on installing a second hard drive in my computer. My
Dell book says to move the first hard drive to the lower bay, put the
new one in the upper bay and set both jumper settings to CS (CSel), but
all the tech sites that I have read so far insist on Master/Slave
settings for the jumper settings. Is there a good justification for the
techs choice? Thanks. Dingo.

You can do it either way but not a mix, either set both as CS or each as
either M or S. CS = Cable Select and uses a cable that supports CS, with
marked connectors for which drive it should go to when using CS feature.
That's why Dell wants you to move the drive so the correct connectors on
the cable easily match up to the correct drives.

Steve

 

[Chris Knapp]

I believe all IDE cables support cable select. The position on the cable
determines master/slave. The device at the end of the cable is the master &
the one in the middle is the slave.

 

[D.Currie]

I prefer M/S over CS because it seems more likely that someone's going to
unplug and readjust cables than they are to fiddle with jumpers. If I set it
to master and slave I know it's going to stay that way, even if someone
decides to install 36" long glow-in-the-dark round cables.

On the other hand, if both drives are set to CS, you're not going to end up
with someone getting errors when they're trying to get 2 slaves or 2 masters
working on the same cable.

CS was used long ago by some of the OEMs, then it seemed to fall out of
fashion, and now they're using it again. It probably has a lot more to do
with their ease in manufacturing than it has to do with better or worse.

As far as cables, way back when, there were cables that didn't play well
with cable select. They're probably making them more universal nowadays, but
it's still possible that you'd find one that doesn't work.

 

[Plato]

I believe all IDE cables support cable select. The position on the cable
determines master/slave. The device at the end of the cable is the master &
the one in the middle is the slave.

Cable select works best on the new 80 conductor [40 pin] cables. ie the
"master" is put on the end.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I'm planning on installing a second hard drive in my computer. My
Dell book says to move the first hard drive to the lower bay, put the
new one in the upper bay and set both jumper settings to CS (CSel), but
all the tech sites that I have read so far insist on Master/Slave
settings for the jumper settings. Is there a good justification for the
techs choice?

It depends on the drives used. Most drives these days operate using
Master/slave, but if Dell specifically say CS for the ones that they
supply (and the cable - CS or Cable select does need a cable that
supports it) I would take their advice.

 

[Steve Nielsen]

I believe all IDE cables support cable select.

Nope. Need a cable that supports it. Most new 80 wire cables do, but
certainly not all IDE cables.

Steve

 

[Dingo]

Thanks all. I added round cables a few months ago, so will go with the
Master/Slave setting to be safe.