Riging up 2 hard drives...

[smaxted]

I have never hooked up 2 hard drives in 1 computer and I have tried it but I don't understand how to make it work...umm I connected 2 hard drives to my computer installed WinME on the 1st one and just formated the second one but I can't get it to work...I also set the jumpers correctly.. Scotty Mac a.k.a smaxted

"Another day, another problem"

 

[pctechnician]

What do you mean exactly when you say you can't get the 2nd HD to work?

What are you trying to accomplish with the 2 HD's?

you must explain a little bit more in depth what your problem is.

 

[smaxted]

sorry about that....it seems whenever I connect 2 hard drives that the computer won't boot or doesn't recognize the 2nd hard drive, always odd little quirks that don't seem too let me have 2 hard drives. I just wanted to add another hard drive so I could use the 2nd hard drive too dump all my downloads onto it. Scotty Mac a.k.a smaxted

"Another day, another problem"

 

[Grunt2002]

Hi,

If it does not detect the 2nd drive or does not detect any drive, then your problem is a low-level one : there is a (physical) conflict on your IDE channel(s).

You've been normally been granted with 2 IDE ribbon cables, each with 3 connectors. The first of the 3 connectors is plugged on the motherboard. The two others are for peripherals. When you want to install 2 hd, you may use 2 different connection schemes : one disk on each cable, that is one disk on each ide port (IDE-0, IDE-1), or both disks on the same cable (port, slot).

I prefer the second one, so i'll explain how and why to connect your drives this way.

How : the first disk is that you already have with your os installed. It must be connected to the last plug. The intermediary plug will be plugged into the new disk.

As you will have two disks one the same cable, you must set up one as 'master' device and the other as 'slave'. Only master devices have the ability to boot.
All disks have on their rear panel a set of 8 or 10 pins that precisely define if the device will behave as a 'master' or a 'slave'. By covering a pair of pins with a jumper cap, you will change your drive's setting.
Check out your drives' manuals (and/or manufacturer website) for technical schemas that will instruct you which pins to cover.

If you set the system drive (holding the os files) as master and the other one as slave, you'll have no problem anymore.

Make sure you use the 80-pin ribbon cable (sometimes holding a blue connector on the motherboard side) : hard disks need those cables to work at maximum speed. The other cable manufacturers often supply is a 40-pin cable which is slower but sufficient for reading cd's.

The cd-rom drive should be set up as secondary master device (thus alone on IDE-1).

... Tell us what you get

Cheers and good luck !

The first time I installed a second drive, I thought I was becoming mad ;-) Actually it's a piece of cake since the second time.

Grunt

 

[smaxted]

Thanks for your help...I am at school right now and it's about 10:30 so at about 4:00 I will try it and fill you in on how it went. Thanks Scotty Mac a.k.a smaxted

"Another day, another problem"

 

[drdebit]

Two other simple things which I mess up on sometimes:
A) Remember to change bios setting for the second ide device on the harddrive channel from none to auto.
B) If your ide cable is not keyed, be sure it is oriented properly (on BOTH ends).

Also - I've seen a lot of discussion about slow and fast harddrives on the same cables. If this second drive you're adding is a lot older and slower than your main drive - you might want to ask the forum if it would be more appropriate to slave it to the cd so it doesn't slow down your main drive. I don't have any newer drives to work with and I still don't really understand the criteria for judging when to combine and when to separate.

 

[Comtech]

If the second drive was partitioned and formatted, and the primary partition was made active, then Windows ME won't see it. You can't have two active primary partitions and use ME. Just a thought... Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/

 

[smaxted]

So when rigging up both hard drives I can't partition it...I'll I do is just format it????
Scotty Mac a.k.a smaxted

"Another day, another problem"

 

[Comtech]

You can partition it, but only as a logical drive, not a primary drive, or Windows ME won't like it. Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/

 

[smaxted]

Thanks for your help you guys are amazing! Scotty Mac a.k.a smaxted

"Another day, another problem"

 

[Lokiworm]

what does anyone suggests for setting the jumpers of the second harddrive if i dont have the manual?? How would i know where to put it??

any ideas or help??

-jeremy-

 

[Comtech]

Look it up on the web.
Find the manufacturer and model number.
There's usually a diagram of jumper settings right on the drive.

Cheers,
Jim

http://members.cnx.net/reboot/