Multiple HDD set-up

[Stallion]

I am setting up a new rig for my wife and I am having trouble with my HDDs. I have 2 40G WD units.

I set one to master w/slave and the other to slave. Then put the cable on. Whe n Ibot up for the first time it goes all the usual stuff and I hear the POST. Then it says something is wrong with my HDD or my format. So what I did was remove the ribbon cable off the slave drive and it is now formating the drive that I have set on Master.

So what could be the problem as to why it works now but not when I had both drives hooked up?

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

First of all, I would get a new cable, as I have had that problem several times, and it's a good thing to check before messing with everything else. Second, I would put both of the hard drives on cable select (CS), and see how that works. If you do both of these things, and you still get the same error, I would be worried about the HDD controller on the mobo...
Tas.

 

[Stallion]

I have plenty of cables so that is easy enough. just what is cable select any ways?

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Cable select overrides the master / slave setting, kind of. It sets the drive to master / slave, depending upon it's position on the cable. On a IDE cable with two connectors, the one at the end (not mobo side, but device side) will be the master, and then the drive connected in the middle will be the slave.
Tas.

 

[Stallion]

The HDD on the end of the cable will be the master and the HDD in the middle is slave? my cable says that the middle device should be master and the end is slave and that's how I have them hooked up. that's wrong?

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I'm pretty sure master is at the end, but I will double check when I get home, and I'll get back to you on that. If you set the drive's jumper to master / slave, then it doesn't matter their position on the cable...
Tas.

 

[JDCentral]

MASTER IS ON THE END!!!

(I'm 99.999% sure... and if it's incorrect, I would really like to know how all my computers are booting... hehe)

I thought that the master/slave setting told the MB which end of the cable to use... but I could be incorrect. In which case, it doesn't matter where the master is, but I happen to like it on the end.

 

[CrispyFried]

Im pretty sure master is on the end also when cs is used.