Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Quick IDE question

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
  • #1

    Quick IDE question

    Okay. I bought a second HD today since I was running low on space. Also picked up a 'standard' IDE cable. Guy at Fry's told me it would be fine.

    Apparently, it's not.

    The main drive is recognized just fine if I keep it connected to the one that came with it (which has one of the peg holes 'filled in') but doesn't read with the other, and I've noticed it has all the holes open, instead of one filled in.

    So do HDs need a nice, special little plug like that, or should it even matter? Is the cable defective, or do I need to search for the ones with the filled in hole today?

    I'd like to make sure the second HD even functions in my PC before too long, so I can take it back and all, yanno.
    "If you keep me waiting much longer, it damn well better be the end of the Galaxy." ~ Kaidan

    ~There's gonna come a day, and I can't wait to see your face...~
    Tags: ide, question, quick
    • Thanks 0
  • #2
    Re: Quick IDE question

    Shouldn't matter whether that hole's filled or not on the cable. Are you sure you're attaching the cable the right way 'round? It's likely got a blue connector, a black one, and a gray one. Blue goes to the motherboard, black to the master drive, gray to the slave.

    Edit: While we're at it, check to see what the jumpers on your hard drive(s) are set to.
    Ellipses on Fenrir
    There is no rush. If you're not willing to take your time, don't be surprised when no one wants to give you much of theirs.
    ,
    . . .
    • Thanks 0

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Quick IDE question

      Jumpers are set as they should be. Master and slave blah blah. The IDE cable I have doesn't have lovely color-coded plugs.

      The one that came with the system does, but it's fail and has no slave connector.
      "If you keep me waiting much longer, it damn well better be the end of the Galaxy." ~ Kaidan

      ~There's gonna come a day, and I can't wait to see your face...~
      • Thanks 0

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Quick IDE question

        Hopefully it's an 80-wire and not a 40-wire. Do the individual wires seem the same thickness as the one you have?

        Without the colored connectors, you should still have one wire/one side of the cable red. That goes to pin 1 on the motherboard and drives. (On the drives pin 1 is closest to the power supply. On the motherboard... Dunno, honestly, but you can always look at what side your current cable has the red stripe on when connected).
        Ellipses on Fenrir
        There is no rush. If you're not willing to take your time, don't be surprised when no one wants to give you much of theirs.
        ,
        . . .
        • Thanks 0

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Quick IDE question

          It's a 40, yeah, I did make sure of that when I bought it. I'll try that, make sure it's all facing the right way. Thanks for the help.

          Next up will likely be: cajoling this PC to recognize a 320GB HD. :D

          *goes off to rape her pc again*
          "If you keep me waiting much longer, it damn well better be the end of the Galaxy." ~ Kaidan

          ~There's gonna come a day, and I can't wait to see your face...~
          • Thanks 0

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Quick IDE question

            Originally posted by Ellipses View Post
            Without the colored connectors, you should still have one wire/one side of the cable red. That goes to pin 1 on the motherboard and drives.
            Modern (as in made in the last 10-15 years) IDE cables only plug in one way. The problem is that most recent cables, or the motherboard itself are cable select even if you don't choose that setting on the drive. If you have one drive on the bus then it doesn't matter where they go, but if you have a Master and a slave, it does.

            IIRC, Master is in the middle, slave is at the end of the cable.
            I use a Mac because I'm just better than you are.

            HTTP Error 418 - I'm A Teapot - The resulting entity body MAY be short and stout.

            loose
            • Thanks 0

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Quick IDE question

              Nah, master's at the end, slave's in the middle. (Easy to remember: Going up from the mobo, master's on top. Rar.)
              Ellipses on Fenrir
              There is no rush. If you're not willing to take your time, don't be surprised when no one wants to give you much of theirs.
              ,
              . . .
              • Thanks 0

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Quick IDE question

                Well, either my PC is retarded, or there's something wrong with the new HD. System won't boot with both in w/ the new cable, or with just the old one w/ the new cable.

                It will boot with the 'old' cable (factory one) on the factory HD, but it won't read/communicate with the new one if I plug it up to that one instead. So I'm not sure if it's the HD, the Cable, the PC, or all of the above.

                Tried master/slave, no dice. Factory was pre-set cable select so I went back to that on both of them, same problem. Nothing.

                And the store I bought this thing at? Yeah, over an hour from here and idk the way, so I'm vaguely fucked. If only Best Buy didn't overcharge for everything... I'd buy it there. There's one nearby.
                "If you keep me waiting much longer, it damn well better be the end of the Galaxy." ~ Kaidan

                ~There's gonna come a day, and I can't wait to see your face...~
                • Thanks 0

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Quick IDE question

                  Originally posted by Telera View Post
                  Well, either my PC is retarded, or there's something wrong with the new HD. System won't boot with both in w/ the new cable, or with just the old one w/ the new cable.

                  It will boot with the 'old' cable (factory one) on the factory HD, but it won't read/communicate with the new one if I plug it up to that one instead. So I'm not sure if it's the HD, the Cable, the PC, or all of the above.

                  Tried master/slave, no dice. Factory was pre-set cable select so I went back to that on both of them, same problem. Nothing.

                  And the store I bought this thing at? Yeah, over an hour from here and idk the way, so I'm vaguely fucked. If only Best Buy didn't overcharge for everything... I'd buy it there. There's one nearby.
                  I'm sure you've already tried this, but when you plug in the drive and you try to boot up the system, do either of the drives show up in the BIOS during POST? I'm probably wrong about this, but the new cable may require you to detect the old hard drive (Master) in BIOS and then activate the new drive (Slave) in there as well. If they show up during the POST then you have to get into windows and format the new drive and assign it a drive letter, then it should show up.

                  EDIT: And yeah Geek Squad and Firedog are garbage. This guy I work with bought a laptop from CC and the warranty went up around the time it broke. He ended up paying $65 for them to "Look At" it and they told him they couldn't fix it and gave it back.
                  Last edited by Durahansolo; 11-07-2008, 12:45 PM.
                  {New Sig in the works}
                  -----------------------
                  "There will come a day when the world will realize that Superman can no longer create miracles. If my name was Superman, that day would be today." 4/29/2009 - Me

                  Originally posted by Aksannyi
                  "Hello! 100+3 Leathercrafting, your materials, 5k! Mention code LTH74 for a special discount!" - they'd get blisted by everyone they sent that to.
                  Originally posted by Solymir
                  What do you have against Ants? Is iVirus some new Apple product?
                  • Thanks 0

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Quick IDE question

                    I could give that a try. Because I'm honestly baffled at this point. It's sending out mixed signals as to what the problem is. On one hand it sounds like the HD, on the other it sounds like the damn cable.
                    "If you keep me waiting much longer, it damn well better be the end of the Galaxy." ~ Kaidan

                    ~There's gonna come a day, and I can't wait to see your face...~
                    • Thanks 0

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Quick IDE question

                      if the problem shows itself when using just the cable, its most likely not the HDD, its the cable

                      is it a custom built system or a Dell or something?

                      also even it the cable is not colored, the two connections closest to each other are more then likely the ones for the HDDs, and the one off by itself is the one for the MB
                      -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Kain (FFIV): I am aware of my actions, but can do nothing about them.
                      • Thanks 0

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Quick IDE question

                        Well, I went into the BIOS (lul computer guts) just now, and while initially it shows the serial number of the factory HD, once you go into it and try to re-detect it, it no longer reads it. And naturally still isn't reading the new one.

                        It's a Compaq, but I've put plenty of shit in it in the past and never had issues. It's been a very good PC for me.
                        "If you keep me waiting much longer, it damn well better be the end of the Galaxy." ~ Kaidan

                        ~There's gonna come a day, and I can't wait to see your face...~
                        • Thanks 0

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Quick IDE question

                          Originally posted by Telera View Post
                          Well, I went into the BIOS (lul computer guts) just now, and while initially it shows the serial number of the factory HD, once you go into it and try to re-detect it, it no longer reads it. And naturally still isn't reading the new one.

                          It's a Compaq, but I've put plenty of shit in it in the past and never had issues. It's been a very good PC for me.

                          odd... well all I can think of by your description for now is try a new cable


                          also can the bios see the new HDD, with the old cable?
                          -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          Kain (FFIV): I am aware of my actions, but can do nothing about them.
                          • Thanks 0

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Quick IDE question

                            No, it couldn't, oddly, but I stole the IDE off my CD and DVD drives and now it all works just fine. :D

                            Thank you all very much for the patience and suggestions. Cookies~

                            Only downside is I'm CD less until I can get around to buying a new IDE cable. XD
                            "If you keep me waiting much longer, it damn well better be the end of the Galaxy." ~ Kaidan

                            ~There's gonna come a day, and I can't wait to see your face...~
                            • Thanks 0

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Quick IDE question

                              Originally posted by Telera View Post
                              No, it couldn't, oddly, but I stole the IDE off my CD and DVD drives and now it all works just fine. :D

                              Thank you all very much for the patience and suggestions. Cookies~

                              Only downside is I'm CD less until I can get around to buying a new IDE cable. XD

                              try using the other "new" IDE cable on the CD/DVD drives and see if they work, if so shrug it off as a win and mnove on lol, if not get a new cable.
                              -------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              Kain (FFIV): I am aware of my actions, but can do nothing about them.
                              • Thanks 0

                              Comment

                              Previous template Next
                              Working...
                              X