IDE cable question (master/slave ide connection location)

[broadwayblue]

does it really matter which of the two ide connectors you attach to your ide devices? in my WD manual it says that the connector at the end of the cable is to be used for the master and the connector in the middle of the cable should be used for the slave. must i connect my devices this way? i ask because it would be easier for me to connect the master (hard drive) to the middle connector and the slave (cd) to the end connector. will i have any problems doing that? thanks!

 

[sohcrates]

you can connect master/slave to any of the connectors. i don't know where the WD manual gets that from, but it's not true.

 

[broadwayblue]

thanks for the info. i think maybe the manual was just trying to simplify the installation procedure.

 

[noxipoo]

since when can you connect any to the cable? thats false. the end is master and the middle is slave. doing the reverse could break stuff

 

[sohcrates]

sorry noxipoo, but you're not correct. i've done it a hundred times.

 

[sohcrates]

IDE cables are wired in parallel to allow just that

 

[noxipoo]

never worked here. since when can you reverse master slave setup

 

[sohcrates]

well, i don't want to get into a flame war here, so we'll just sit and get some more opinions (even though i've personally done it countless times)

 

[noxipoo]

well i think you have the in cable select mode and not master/slave.

edit: oh if it can, since when?

 

[broadwayblue]

now i have a new problem. i'm setting up my new pc and i originally set it up to have my two hard drives running off my primary and secondary ata 100 controller and my cd and cdrw as my primary and secondary ide. now i find out that it's difficult to set it up this way because windows will not recognize the promise controller so i need to move the hard drives to the ide channel. well, the ide cables have the connectors too close together so i can't even connect a hard drive and a cd on the same cable. do they make ide cables that have more "cable" between the connectors?

or should i just connect the 2 hd's on one cable and the 2 cd's to the other (that will work cablewise) and then move everything back once i get windows installed and it recognizes the promise ata controller?

 

[noxipoo]

why wouldn't win2k detect the card? anyway, a longer IDE cable has longer length between the connectors too

 

[broadwayblue]

i don't know...i just read another post about how windows would only detect the primary and secondary ide channels (during installation). is that not true?

 

[sohcrates]

it's true that in the old-school days you had to put the master on the end and the slave in the middle, but i can guarantee you that if you try it with any respectably modern system, the drives will work fine as master / slave on ANY connector along the cable. (and i'm NOT referencing the idea of cable select)

broadwayblue, you can get IDE cables pretty long (though i've heard you want to keep them under 24 inches), or you can certainly do what you said (connect the two drives together and the two cd-roms together then switch them later).

 

[sohcrates]

of course that's true, because you have 4 IDE devices (master and slave on primary and master and slave on secondary = 4 devices)

 

[broadwayblue]

but what if i had 4 masters? primary and secondary on promise and ide? would windows automatically recognize the promise controller and the hard drives connected to it?

 

[sohcrates]

i need some more info. so your mobo has both a ata100 and a regular IDE controller right? so in that case you COULD have 4 distinct masters, sure.

how are you setting it up (i.e. plugging what devices in where)? is this WinME?

i'd assume your trying to connect your main hard drive to the promise controller, right?

 

[noxipoo]

you could change them to slaves... or cable select.

soh: i never heard of switching masters/slaves even in new systems. is there some docs on the web that shows that? how new is new btw

 

[broadwayblue]

i have an asus a7v133 which has an onboard promise controller with primary and secondary channels. i was advised to configure my drives like this:

Promise Primary Master - Maxtor 7200
Promise Secondary Master _ WD 5400

IDE Primary Master - Plextor CDRW
IDE Secondary Master - Memorex CD

i am planning on triple partitioning the maxtor and installing win98 and win2000 on the first two and using the third for apps. the WD will be used for mp3's and backups.

this is how everything is currently connected. i haven't turned the system on yet. i will have the win disks tomorrow.

 

[sohcrates]

well, i work at my college building and troubleshooting computers, and have worked there since 1998....and since then i have never seen a system that would not detect devices correctly because of cable placement. i just talked with my roomates who have been building computers since the very early 90's (i started about '96) and they agree that technology has advanced to allow master/slave positioning anywhere along an IDE cable, but as far as a date when that switch occured, i cannot produce one. since broadway is building a brand new system, i could say with confidence that he can wire them up anyway he wishes and they will be detected by his setup

 

[broadwayblue]

i agree with you on the master/slave issue...one of my friends recently told me the same thing.

so my only real concern now is whether the promise controller (and thus my hard drives) will be recognized out of the gate?

 

[sohcrates]

ok broadway, here's watcha do

1) partition and format the drives

2) install 98 FIRST to C: on the maxtor

3) then, install win2k (boot off the cd)...RIGHT AT THE START of the install of the cd, you MUST hit F6 to install additioned devices (it will prompt you)...then you put in the promise ata100 controllers that you have downloaded off asus's site and put onto a disk...this will allow win2k to actually see the drives connected to the promise controller

since they're all master, just get 4 ide cables (make sure the cables connected to the hard drives are ATA100 cables (66 wires as opposed to regular IDE cables with 33 wires). and just to make everyone happy, since your gonna need 4 separate cables, you CAN connect them to the end connector on each IDE cable because they're master (but it's not necessary)

btw..you DO realize that to make them all masters , you'll need 4 IDE cables right?

 

[broadwayblue]

cool...yes I already have the 4 drives connected to the ends of 4 ide cables. just thought i might have to redo the connections. thanks for the info!

oh yeah...but will win 98 recognize the maxtor if it's already on the promise controller?

or should i disconnect everything but the maxtor and connect it temporarily to the primary ide channel?

 

[marcio]

I have actually seen instructions where they say that the master is at the end of the cable and slave at the middle. In the computer I'm using right now, they are reversed from said instructions. I have never paid any attention to the order of the cable and I have never had any problems (several computers and drives).

 

[sohcrates]

yes, according to the book i have with my promise 100 controller, 98 should see it and you can install it fine, but remember to go into device manager AFTER 98 is installed and you will see the controller listed there with a question mark. at that point, you need to install the ata100 win98 drivers.

you might also need to go into the bios and check that it's set to boot from the ATA100 controller first (if that's an option)

the ONLY problem i foresee if formatting and partitioning the drives...i'm not sure if a run-of-the-mill 98 boot disk will see a drive on an ata100 controller..to format and partition, you MIGHT need to move your maxtor over to the regular IDE's, do your thing , and THEN move it back to the ATA100 controller for the win98 , etc. install.

good luck!

 

[broadwayblue]

thanks for all the help. i truly appreciate it. the fun begins tomorrow!