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Primary Master...Primary Slave...Secondary??

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by Breakout, 2004/01/17.

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  1. 2004/01/17
    Breakout

    Breakout Inactive Thread Starter

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    I have an Epox 8K3A+ mb and am having a problem getting all my hardware recognized.

    In the IDE1 slot I have two harddrives hooked up as Primary Master and Primary Slave.

    In the IDE2 slot I had a DVD hooked up as Secondary slave, and everything worked fine, but I tried to install a CDRW as Secondary master, and neither the DVD or the CDRW would show up in Windows.

    Where did I goof up?

    When I go into Bios it looks like this:
    • Primary Master..........Maxtor HD 920394
    • Primary Slave............Maxtor HD 920385
    • Secondary Master.....CDRW/Plextor
    • Secondary Slave.......DVD/Pioneer

    But, when I open the control panel in windows, only the harddrives show.
     
    Last edited: 2004/01/18
    Breakout,
    #1
  2. 2004/01/18
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    Secondary Master.....CDRW/Plextor

    Secondary Slave.......DVD/Pioneer


    They should have Jumper pins that need to be defined "correctly." Should be able to set them to CS for cable select...
     
    Steve R Jones,
    #2


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  4. 2004/01/18
    Breakout

    Breakout Inactive Thread Starter

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    Okay, I set both the DVD and the CDRW to cable select. Once again, they showed in the Bios correctly, but didn't show in control panel.

    I unplugged the CDRW (Secondary Master) and rebooted, and the DVD (Secondary Slave) shows up.
     
    Breakout,
    #3
  5. 2004/01/18
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    Do you by any chance have TweakUI installed? If so, look under My Computer Drives and make sure ALL are checked.
     
    Steve R Jones,
    #4
  6. 2004/01/18
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    I had trouble with some combinations of the HDD, the DVD-ROM and the CD-R/RW. With the CD-R/RW as primary slave it was OK but with the DVD-ROM as primary slave, the BIOS didn´t detect the HDD and concequently didn´t boot. All of them set to Cable Select.

    My optical drives were both pre-WinXP and new firmware (WinXP compatible) had been released for each one of them. Everybody I discussed this with, including Samsung, said that the frimware had nothing to do with my problem so, updating would not resolve the situation.

    My logic wanders along mysterious paths and I thought that the frimware is what the BIOS is "talking to" so, I went against the advice and updated the firmware, not only on the troublesome DVD-ROM but on the CD-R/RW too.

    The problems were history and I can use any combination now!

    Maybe Your solution is similar to mine?

    When researching this I picked up some good points:

    Never flash the firmware update from within Windows. Always use a bootable disk to do it from DOS.

    To be 100% sure that each firmware would be flashed to the correct optical drive, I unplugged the one that was not the target.

    HTH,
    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #5
  7. 2004/01/18
    Breakout

    Breakout Inactive Thread Starter

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    Ok, I've learned some new things. I tried the TweakUI utility (cool utility, btw) and all drives were checked.

    I have another CDRW in an older computer and took it out and installed it in place of the one I'm having trouble with. Bingo, no problems installing and all drives show in control panel.

    So, I took out the good one and put it back, and replaced the one I'm hsving trouble with.

    Okay, I'm thinking it's not plug and play or something, so I boot up and use the ADD hardware function or windows. No dice, it can't find any new devices.

    Maybe a broken CDRW? The tray opens and the lite blinks when I'm booting?

    Thanks for the info Christer. I'm running 98SE and this is an older CDRW (12x10x32)...should see it, I think.
     
    Breakout,
    #6
  8. 2004/01/18
    Breakout

    Breakout Inactive Thread Starter

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    I just thought of something. I'm using an "ATA UDMA Ribbon cable ".

    Would an older CDRW might not be compatible, and require the earlier type of ribbon cable?
     
    Breakout,
    #7
  9. 2004/01/18
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    The difference between the "old" 40-pin cable and the "new" 40-pin cable is that the latter has 80 conductors, every second conductor being grounded to get better cross talk shielding.

    The "new" cables are backwards compatible but the Cable Select jumping only works with the "new" cables.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #8
  10. 2004/01/18
    Breakout

    Breakout Inactive Thread Starter

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    Okay,problem solved.

    After closer inspection, I noticed a pin had been pushed against so hard that it was barely sticking out.

    I guess whomever owned the drive before tried to intall the cable backwards and was gonna "make it fit "!

    Pulled it back out with a pair of needle nose, and installed fine.

    Thanks for the feedback! :D
     
    Breakout,
    #9
  11. 2004/01/18
    mattman

    mattman Inactive Alumni

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    Thanks for the feedback yourself!! :D

    The guys here are not sitting in front of the machine with the problems. You have investigated and solved it. Well done to you all.

    Matt
     
    mattman,
    #10
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