[SOLVED] Mobo Won't Detect HD on IDE Slave With Another HD

hvrio · 05-04-2008, 08:26 AM

I'm making my own NAS from salvaged old CPU parts littered around the house. It works fine. It boots.
Here's what the PC contains.
3 Hard Drives
1 CD Rom

I have two IDE (PATA) ports on my mobo so that's 1 HD + 1 HD and 1 HD + 1 CD Rom.
My problem is, the hard disk that I place as the slave of an IDE that has another HD on its master doesn't get detected by BIOS. I already switched everything around trying to figure out what's wrong. The HDs get detected by the BIOS as long as they stay out of the slave of any IDE (1 or 2 - doesn't matter, it's the same). I also replaced the IDE cable, but still nothing. I don't know if the cables can't hold the capacity of 2 HDs or if the mobo just won't accept 2 HDs on the same IDE.

I'm clueless. Help please.
Thank you. :)

**linderman** · 05-04-2008, 10:02 AM

verify the master hard drive is at the end of the ide data cable and jumpered for master

or you could try cable select (CS) setting / make sure both drives are set to CS then have the master at the end of the IDE data cable

Rob 1 · 05-04-2008, 10:03 AM

Well first, it wouldn't hurt to reset the bios to default settings.

Are you sure the drive jumpers are set correctly?
Try all the variations.

Main drive set to master first then cable select.
2nd drive set to slave, then cable select.
And all the combinations there.

And try all of that on both cables if necessary.

**linderman** · 05-04-2008, 10:20 AM

worse case senario / if your motherboards IDE controller is damaged

you could get a bootable IDE controller card like the ones made by Promise technologies

http://www.nextag.com/norob/PtitleSe...title=60524789

hvrio · 05-05-2008, 09:55 AM

It's funny that I've been assembling and repairing PCs for 2 years now and never bothered to check the jumper settings of the drives.

I set all the drive jumper settings (including CDRom) to cable select and it works like a charm (apparently, all the HDs were set to master except the CDRom). Thanks to you guys.

Question though. Will setting everything to cable select affect anything? Performance? Reliability? If not, then why have those options in the first place?

Thank you.

**linderman** · 05-05-2008, 04:28 PM

it does not effect performance at all

it will also work if you just set the master and slave too

OEM computers are always set-up as Cable select

05-04-2008, 08:26 AM	#1 (permalink)
hvrio Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 2 OS: WinXP (SP2), Ubuntu (8.04)	[SOLVED] Mobo Won't Detect HD on IDE Slave With Another HD I'm making my own NAS from salvaged old CPU parts littered around the house. It works fine. It boots. Here's what the PC contains. 3 Hard Drives 1 CD Rom I have two IDE (PATA) ports on my mobo so that's 1 HD + 1 HD and 1 HD + 1 CD Rom. My problem is, the hard disk that I place as the slave of an IDE that has another HD on its master doesn't get detected by BIOS. I already switched everything around trying to figure out what's wrong. The HDs get detected by the BIOS as long as they stay out of the slave of any IDE (1 or 2 - doesn't matter, it's the same). I also replaced the IDE cable, but still nothing. I don't know if the cables can't hold the capacity of 2 HDs or if the mobo just won't accept 2 HDs on the same IDE. I'm clueless. Help please. Thank you. :) __________________ HTWong Last edited by hvrio : 05-04-2008 at 08:30 AM.

05-04-2008, 10:02 AM	#2 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12,517 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Re: Mobo Won't Detect HD on IDE Slave With Another HD verify the master hard drive is at the end of the ide data cable and jumpered for master or you could try cable select (CS) setting / make sure both drives are set to CS then have the master at the end of the IDE data cable __________________ IF YOUR HARD DRIVE DIED RIGHT NOW; WOULD YOU CRY ??? ASK US FOR HELP DEVELOPING A DATA BACK-UP METHOD

05-04-2008, 10:03 AM	#3 (permalink)
Rob 1 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 307 OS: XP Pro	Re: Mobo Won't Detect HD on IDE Slave With Another HD Well first, it wouldn't hurt to reset the bios to default settings. Are you sure the drive jumpers are set correctly? Try all the variations. Main drive set to master first then cable select. 2nd drive set to slave, then cable select. And all the combinations there. And try all of that on both cables if necessary.

05-04-2008, 10:20 AM	#4 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12,517 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Re: Mobo Won't Detect HD on IDE Slave With Another HD worse case senario / if your motherboards IDE controller is damaged you could get a bootable IDE controller card like the ones made by Promise technologies http://www.nextag.com/norob/PtitleSe...title=60524789 __________________ IF YOUR HARD DRIVE DIED RIGHT NOW; WOULD YOU CRY ??? ASK US FOR HELP DEVELOPING A DATA BACK-UP METHOD

05-05-2008, 09:55 AM	#5 (permalink)
hvrio Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 2 OS: WinXP (SP2), Ubuntu (8.04)	Re: Mobo Won't Detect HD on IDE Slave With Another HD It's funny that I've been assembling and repairing PCs for 2 years now and never bothered to check the jumper settings of the drives. I set all the drive jumper settings (including CDRom) to cable select and it works like a charm (apparently, all the HDs were set to master except the CDRom). Thanks to you guys. Question though. Will setting everything to cable select affect anything? Performance? Reliability? If not, then why have those options in the first place? Thank you. __________________ HTWong Last edited by hvrio : 05-05-2008 at 09:58 AM.

05-05-2008, 04:28 PM	#6 (permalink)
linderman Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 12,517 OS: win 2000 pro / Win XP pro My System	Re: Mobo Won't Detect HD on IDE Slave With Another HD it does not effect performance at all it will also work if you just set the master and slave too OEM computers are always set-up as Cable select __________________ IF YOUR HARD DRIVE DIED RIGHT NOW; WOULD YOU CRY ??? ASK US FOR HELP DEVELOPING A DATA BACK-UP METHOD