Motherboard has 4 IDE controllers. How do I set jumpers?

[ddeder]

I am building a system with the Gigabyte GA-7VRXP motherboard (VIA KT333 Chipset). I didn't realize it when I ordered this board, but it has 4 IDE controllers and RAID 0.1. I know very little about RAID but as I understand it, this motherboard is meant to be used with two hard drives to take advantage of the RAID.

I only want to use one hard drive. I also have a DVD drive and a CD-RW drive.

Can I set all of the drives to MASTER and connect each to it's own IDE controller?

hard drive - IDE1
DVD - IDE 2
CD-RW - IDE 3

Or do I need to slave the CD-RW off of the DVD as is necessary when there are only two IDE controllers?

Also, I am assuming it is not a problem to use only one hard drive on a RAID board. Correct?

Thanks for any input.

 

[Hessakia]

Just when you put your IDE drive on a RAID channel, set it as a stripe (raid 0) and just use 1 drive.... also, you cannot run a CD Drive (or DVD) on a RAID channel--as far as i know atleast.

whenever you go to install Windows, make sure you push F6 when the install first starts to install 3rd party SCSI drivers and use the Floppy that came with the board for the RAID drivers or the install won't work...(win2k/XP/NT only)

 

[KillerCow]

If you don't want to use the RAID, then you can think of the extra IDE connectors as... extra IDE connectors. You can set each device to be master of its own channel if you want -- there shouldn't be any problems.

Just when you put your IDE drive on a RAID channel, set it as a stripe (raid 0) and just use 1 drive

That's not necessary. RAID should not be on by default -- just leave it off.

also, you cannot run a CD Drive (or DVD) on a RAID channel--as far as i know atleast.

You can, my box runs the burner and DVD off of the RAID controller.

whenever you go to install Windows, make sure you push F6 when the install first starts to install 3rd party SCSI drivers and use the Floppy that came with the board for the RAID drivers or the install won't work...(win2k/XP/NT only)

That is only necessary if you need the device on the RAID controller to be accessable during the instal. You can add the drivers for the controller after OS install if you dont need them during OS install.

edit: sync with previous reply

 

[ddeder]

Thanks for the replies. Okay, I have the computer up and running with no problems. Just one more question. When I open My Computer, there are two hard drives listed. The C drive which is valid and an M drive which does not exist. I assume this phantom drive being listed has something to do with RAID. Is it possible to remove this drive listing from My Computer?