You guys said that I could do this with my IDE cables - but it's not working

[QuiltingB]

I am having trouble properly mounting a 2nd HD in my crummy little compaq. To avoid having to buy a 3 mile long cable to get enough space between the 2 HDs, you all said that I could stick the center plug into the mobo and attach each of the outer end connectors to each HD. Well, I switched my primary HD to master, and my 2nd HD to slave (they were CS, along with CS IDE cable) and then attached the first connector to the new slave HD, the middle connector to mobo and the last end connector to old master HD. When turning computer on, I get an error that it cannot find OS, which makes me think that for some reason C:\ is not being read either first, or at all.
It can't be the cable, I tried 3 new ones, including the one that just came with my CD-rw yesterday - I left it CS on 2nd IDE with CD-rom, which brings up ANOTHER question, can primary IDE channel be master/slave, and 2nd IDE channel be CS???
Lots of questions, but something just isn't clicking, in the mean time, I have my 2nd HD literly hanging by the wires like you guys said I could.
Thanks for any help.

 

[Mday]

<< To avoid having to buy a 3 mile long cable to get enough space between the 2 HDs, you all said that I could stick the center plug into the mobo and attach each of the outer end connectors to each HD. Well, I switched my primary HD to master, and my 2nd HD to slave (they were CS, along with CS IDE cable) and then attached the first connector to the new slave HD, the middle connector to mobo and the last end connector to old master HD. When turning computer on, I get an error that it cannot find OS, which makes me think that for some reason C:\ is not being read either first, or at all. >>

that is NOT good. you should not have plugged in the cable that way at all. who told you to do this, name names, they are in big trouble. does the bios of the motherboard detect the drives?

<< It can't be the cable, I tried 3 new ones, including the one that just came with my CD-rw yesterday - I left it CS on 2nd IDE with CD-rom, which brings up ANOTHER question, can primary IDE channel be master/slave, and 2nd IDE channel be CS??? >>

it's not the cable. you should have no problems with your drives configured that way...

<< Lots of questions, but something just isn't clicking, in the mean time, I have my 2nd HD literly hanging by the wires like you guys said I could >>

that is NOT good. if the drive is actually hanging by wires, the drive can move, which is NOT good.

 

[Mday]

oh you guys are in soooooo much trouble

can anyone provide a picture that i can look at? QuiltingB?

of the inside of the case ;-)

 

[Demon-Xanth]

I'll put in a vote for flogging the &quot;just leave it hanging there&quot; person

 

[NelsonMuntz]

Yeah, I usually leave the hanging to trapeze folks and gymnasts. on a more serious note, I agree with Mday. You shouldn't hook the IDE cable up that way. The end with the two 40 pin adapters close together needs to be plugged into the devices and the end further away needs to be plugged into the mb. Even if the format you are trying were to work normally, there is no way it would work with drives set to CS (Cable Select). The cable wouldn't know what the he// to set the drives to in that configuration. IMHO it is always best to set the jumpers the way you want them, don't leave it up to the cable. If we all let cables do all of our thinking we would just sit in front of the TV all day (cable TV get it). Anyway, are the drives really that far apart or is there another way you can hook them all up so that your two current cables will get all of the devices connected? It might be better another way anyway. (Put burner on separate channel from CD-ROM to do on the fly burns, keep HDs on separate channels to speed transfer between them, etc.).

 

[QuiltingB]

There is a little ledge under the primary HD that I could set it on, in front of where the floppy is, or some more space under the 2 Cds, but the HD could not be screwed in in either of those 2 spots because this case is so sorry and I don't have a mounting bracket - but then, I am not really sure the cable would even reach to the 5&quot; bays.
I think I will log off now and move the 2nd HD there now, it will not be screwed in, but it will at least be sitting level where it shouldn't move too much.
Whats the deal on the cable plugs? When I take off cables, I really can't tell one end from the other.
Oh yea, and gee folks, thanks for the great advice! Some of us here are new at this and really searching for accurate answers!


UPDATE:
(yea, I would like to chunk the compaq, but I am a stay-at-home mom and this is just a nice toy my husband bought for me - but it didn't take long to outgrow the original config!)
Anyway, there is no ledge above the original HD, not even any holes?!? what are those compaq jerks thinking? their manual that come with this box instructs me to mount 2nd HD at VERY top of case, and I now suspect that they have a special cable just for the job with a price tage of $$$$$$.
So what I did was stick it in the last 5&quot; bay, below the 2 CDs, but to do so without a mounting kit, I used the 2 thin metal plugs that plugged the 5&quot; bays in the case, and made 2 holes in each and screwed one plug lengthwise on each side of the bottom of the HD, and left the edge flap of the metal plugs hanging over/on the ledge of the case to somewhat stabilize it. Had to do this because the floor of the 5&quot; bay had rivets that are holding the frame together and these 2 plugs made a smooth, raised base to sit HD on.
Sound OK? It's aKDE cable jungle in there, hopefully it can cool ok.
I had to leave it CS, whenever I switch 1st HD to master (always the jumper nearest the power plug, correct?) and 2nd HD slave (2nd jumper), and use a regular IDE cable, computer never recognizes HDs &amp; can't find OS, so I had to switch back to CS, only wanted Master/slave so that at boot up, primary HD could get spinning before 2nd spun up, because I also have a crummy compaq PSU.
Oh well, its working now, although not as I would prefer.

 

[DJFuji]

Quick, easy solution with plenty of other benefits: Chuck the compaq

Really, though, a case is like 50 bucks (enlight 7237 w/ 300psu), and you can get a mobo/cpu combo for like 200. And the best thing is that you no longer have a compaq!

 

[Mday]

well, getting a new case and mobo is not for the faint of heart.

stick with it for now.

--

if all else fails, drill holes in your case (after you removed everything from it) to accomodate screws. an HDD can be pretty much mounted in anyway, as long as it does not move, and the vent hole is not covered.

also, if you do decide to drill holes in your case to accomodate screws, make sure you DO REMOVE EVERYTHING, every circuit board, everything, even the power supply. little pieces of metal dust can kill your system ;-)

--

good luck quilting person ;-)

 

[mastertech01]

You can also opt for an external SCSI or USB drive if you just need extra storage, or even a Jaz drive.