I cannot use more than 1 hard drive in my computer

[Boris Morozov]

hello

i have a issue with my computer. i have 2 cd rom drives, and 1 hard drive. but evrytime i put in another hard drive, the computer no longer recognizes anything. it just say "not detected" fro everything. but when i disconnect the extra hd, everything works fine.

y? motherboard issue?

amd sempron 2400+
asus motherboard

and pls dont tell me to get new comp. i know im behind but i only use it for simple task.

thx

 

[DSF]

How are the jumpers set on the drives?

 

[RebateMonger]

As DSF notes, the most likey cause is improperly set IDE drive jumpers (or cabling).

IDE or SATA or ? drives?
If IDE drives, there are jumpers and cable types to consider. (Master/Slave/Cable Select)

 

[Boris Morozov]

one drive is a maxtor and the other is seagate. the maxtor is set as slave and the seagate is set as master.

 

[nineball9]

Make sure the master is the drive at the end of the cable. (Or set them both to CS)

 

[corkyg]

Nowadays, the safest approach is everything (PATA) at CS. That way it doesn't matter if you forget where the jumpers are. It is position on the cable that matters. Master and slave is yesterdays news for PCs and so-o-o-o Apple.

 

[RebateMonger]

Yeah, if the drives and cables were made in the past eight years or so (the cable is 80-conductor (40-pin) and one end connector is blue):

Set both drives to CS (Cable Select).
Attach the BLUE IDE connector to the motherboard.
Attach the drives to the other two cable connectors.
The drive at the END connector will become the "Master" drive in the BIOS.

If nothing happens when booting, consider that one of the drives may be defective. This can cause both drives to not be detected by the BIOS. If this is a possibility, then test each drive individually by setting them to CS and attaching them one-at-a-time to the end IDE connector.

Note: These instrucitons apply if attaching both drives to the same IDE cable.

 

[Boris Morozov]

thank you guys. i will try that and i will update you