Help Needed: Installing New (Maxtor) HDD with Controller Card

[Salvador]

Hi,

This is my first time installing a new hdd and I was wondering about the master and slave settings.

I have a ATA100 controller card and there is only going to be one hdd installed off of it at this time. What would I set the hdd to? Master, slave or cable select?

Can I install any other devices to this controller card other than a HDD?

What's weird is that it seems as though the cable is backwards. If I install the IDE cable on the controller card the right way, it's upside down and backwards. The same goes for the way that it connects to the hdd. It just doesn't seem right.

Is there a rule of thumb on how to install the ribbon cable? Is the red line always to the right?

Thanks!

Sal

 

[dingdongdingdong]

allway master cos when you got other new harddrive than you when remember what is your jumper set up and also it run without a click .

 

[Salvador]

Got it! What threw me off was "cable select" I had never come across that before. Apparently it is a feature in some Compaq computers?

Can I run the cd rom drive off this ATA100 card or should I just leave it on the mobo? Also, since I removed the original hdd and I'm running this new hdd off the controller card, should I move the cd rom to the other IDE slot or keep it where it's at?


Thanks again,

Sal

 

[rw120555]

Lots of computers, e.g. Dell, offer Cable select. If you've set the jumper on the HD or CDROM or whatever for cable select, then whether the device is slave or master depends on which of the two connectors on the IDE cable you are using. I think it is mostly a mild convenience but not all machines/ide cables support it. When in doubt, do the master/slave settings yourself.

You may or may not be able to run other devices off the ATA 100 controller. The docs on mine said not to, but I found that things worked fine (actually better) using the ATA100 controller. A potential hassle, however, is the length of the cable; I found I could just barely get the cables to stretch long enough for my devices.

If all you've got is the new HD and the CDROM, probably the best bet for the CDROM is Master on the Mobo's secondary IDE channel, or else maybe master on the ATA100's secondary channel.

I remember being confused about the cables too, but I think it was partly because the docs that came with the controller were wrong, and had master and slave reversed. Angle and length might also be issues, since the add-in card may not be positioned as well as the motherboard is for hooking up devices.

 

[NelsonMuntz]

If you only have two devices in the system, why did you get the controller card? Stupid question, it was probably free with the hard drive, right? Anyway, I would keep the CD-ROM on the mobo where it is and you would not even need to change the settings on it keeping it on the secondary is no big deal. Attach just the new drive to the controller card on the primary channel and set the new drive to master. Piece of cake!

 

[rw120555]

The ATA 100 controller card would be useful if the motherboard only supported a slower rate, e.g. ata33. That was the case when I added a Maxtor drive to my three year old dell optiplex. But if the machine already supports ATA100, then the new card may be a waste unless maybe you've got a whole bunch of ide devices you want to cram in there.

 

[Salvador]

I bought the drive to have for a new system that I'm building, not for this Emachines Celeron 366. I only got the controller card because it was free after rebate and I thought that I'd like to possibly add more than 4 IDE devices in the future without adding a RAID setup.

Anyway.. I just put the hard drive on the primary IDE channel of the controller card (by itself set to master) and then put the cd rom on the secondary IDE channel on the controller card (by itself set to master). I have just the two devices running off the card and (hdd and cd rom) I don't have any IDE devices running off the mobo right now.

I'm waiting for a shipment of Crucial memory tonight, so I can fire this thing up and see if I can get everything to work.

Do you think I will have a problem running the cd rom off the second slot on the ATA controller card?

Thanks again,

Sal

 

[rw120555]

<< Do you think I will have a problem running the cd rom off the second slot on the ATA controller card? >>



You'll find out Sal! But even if it does seem to work, you might check to see if you can access the cdrom when you boot from a startup disk. I can on one machine but not on another, and I suspect the use of an ata100 controller is why.

 

[WhatWasIThinking]

I have heard (don't ask me where) that it's a bad idea to put a CD and an UltraDMA (ATA3366100) drive on the same cable. I think it's because CDs run in PIO (slooow) or at best ATA33 mode and will cause anything on the cable to slow down to that speed. Sal, if you have a case like mine (Antec SX830, which I love), you will be glad you have that card. I have one hd in the lower 3.5&quot; bay and one (removable) in an upper 5.25 bay. Because of where the connectors are on my cable I can't put them both on it, since they don't reach both. But if I don't want to put either one with the CD then what do I do? There may be some stupidly easy solution to this, so anybody please let me know if there is. I have PCI slots to spare so I just paid 10 bucks on ebay for an ata33 controller to hook the CD up to. It will be worth that to not be swearing at the stupid #$$#%^ cables anymore.