Mac Hick builds Soyo barebones kit -- dopey questions

[bartbrn]

OK -- though it's probably the slowest PC build in history, I've now got everything in my Soyo barebones K7VME/Athlon 2800XP+ box, except the HD (Western Digital Caviar SE 200GB). This may sound exceptionally dumb, but bear with me. In the Soyo case are two tiers of drive bays: three 5.25" bays up top, and three 3.5" bays on the bottom.

Dopey question #1: Though all the 3.5" bays are marked "FDD," I assume THAT'S where the WD Caviar goes, yes no?

Dopey question #2: I pulled the 52X CD drive (anybody want to buy one?) out of the top 5.25" bay and replaced it with a Megastor (NEC) Dual Layer DVD Burner combo drive. The original 52X drive was connected with the "Master" connector of the single IDE cable. There is another IDE header on the mobo. Should I:

1. Connect the WD hard drive to the same IDE cable as the CD/DVD drive? If so, which drive -- CD or HD -- should be set to Master and which to slave?

2. Or should I run a separate IDE cable for the hard drive? If so, should I use the last -- Master -- connector on the IDE cable, and what should the HD be set to -- Master or slave?

3. Is it worth messing around with a floppy drive at all? I've seen some that are also multi-format readers -- Compact Flash, USB, etc. What's the scoop?

4. Do I *really* have to pay $100 for Windows XP Home?

Thanks for your patience. I can't wait to get it all ready to boot up so I can be bitterly disappointed when it doesn't.

Bart Brown

 

[Snoop]

Originally posted by: bartbrn
Dopey question #1: Though all the 3.5" bays are marked "FDD," I assume THAT'S where the WD Caviar goes, yes no?

Dopey question #2: I pulled the 52X CD drive (anybody want to buy one?) out of the top 5.25" bay and replaced it with a Megastor (NEC) Dual Layer DVD Burner combo drive. The original 52X drive was connected with the "Master" connector of the single IDE cable. There is another IDE header on the mobo. Should I:

1. Connect the WD hard drive to the same IDE cable as the CD/DVD drive? If so, which drive -- CD or HD -- should be set to Master and which to slave?

2. Or should I run a separate IDE cable for the hard drive? If so, should I use the last -- Master -- connector on the IDE cable, and what should the HD be set to -- Master or slave?

3. Is it worth messing around with a floppy drive at all? I've seen some that are also multi-format readers -- Compact Flash, USB, etc. What's the scoop?

4. Do I *really* have to pay $100 for Windows XP Home?

Thanks for your patience. I can't wait to get it all ready to boot up so I can be bitterly disappointed when it doesn't.

Bart Brown

1. Yes, any of those bays should work.
2. If your going to have two drives, I would put the Hard drive as Master on IDE 0 (or 1, if there is no 0), and put the burner on IDE 1 set to master(or 2 if the HD is on 1)
3. If you can do without it, drop it
4. That is up to you!

 

[MrChad]

3. It's still not a bad idea to have a floppy drive around, especially since Windows setup requires that you use a floppy to install third party SCSI/SATA/IDE controller drivers.

4. Yes, you have to pay for XP. If you are a student, you may be eligible for academic discounts.

 

[gdsqx9]

If you go to www.academicsuperstore.com they have XP Upgrade for 89.95, but you need a CD proving you have owned a previous version of Windows. That is XP Professional. I don't know the cost of a full XP pro version. You may need to check the site out for that answer.