Secondary IDE Controller - no connected devices work 3

[T2LE]

I encountered my problem after installing Windows XP, which I really like (after getting most of the "compatibility" problems worked out). My pc does not recognize my CD & Zip Drive. System is as follows:

Compaq Presario 5868
AMD K-7 Processor
256 Ram
20 GB HD
DVD
CD-ROM
Internal Zip Drive

I have tried every configuration possible. The Primary IDE is connected to the hard drive and the DVD, which work fine. I have connected the second connector to the CD-ROM and it worked, also to the Zip where it worked great. I have manually set up the Primary Slave and Secondary Master/Slave settings several times, depending on how the inside was configured.

I think my problem is the Secondary IDE controller. How can I tell if it is working? Can I use it to connect the hard drive and DVD as on the Primary IDE or does it screw up the BIOS, or something worse (if there is any such thing)?

The System Info shows the controller. I have updated the driver to Secondary IDE/ESDI controller - did not work - rolled it back and still did not work. All peripherals work when connected as master to the Primary IDE. ?????

I appreciate any help you may give. Thanks!

T2LE

 

[CitrixEngineer]

It won't screw up the BIOS, but it would help diagnosis; Try just connecting the HDD to the 2nd IDE, then go into the BIOS and use the Autodetect HDD feature. If the HDD is configured as Master, and doesn't get found, then it's highly likely that the IDE channel is dead.

When adding new disk devices, I usually run the autodetect feature as a force of habit - even though it doesn't show anything for CDs, etc. I then set Update ESCD to enabled (it only does it once, then resets itself to disabled), to force it to check for devices on the PCI channels.

Maybe there's a setting in the BIOS that has the 2ry IDE disabled? (Just a thought!).

I hope this helps

 

[T2LE]

Thanks for the tip - unfortunately it didn't work. My BiOS settings show the CD-ROM as the Secondary Master and my Zip drive (user settings) as Secondary Slave. I don't see anything that would suggest it is disabled.

I saw a tip in another question regarding Compaq using the Cable Select jumper, so I tried that but it also didn't work. Guess I'll have to get a new card - $50 at Staples!! Think I'll order online!

Thanks again.

T2LE

 

[cdogg]

If the BIOS displays information about both devices connected to the Secondary IDE controller, then it doesn't sound like a hardware problem to me. Have you checked device manager in XP? I'm not too familiar with XP yet, but I would bet that something is wrong with the one of the IDE controller drivers.

Have you tried just the CD-ROM by itself without the ZIP drive? Have you tried a different cable? I would try both before going out to buy a controller card.

On the bright side, if you do go with a controller card, you could move the DVD drive onto the card with the CD-ROM and ZIP drive leaving the hard drive to its own channel. That would surely improve performance!! Right now it's defaulting to the slower speed of the DVD-ROM and sharing bandwidth of the channel.

 

[T2LE]

cdogg, thanks for the input. Yes I have checked device manager, nothing connected to the 2nd IDE controller is recognized, even tho they are shown in the BIOS, manually selected. I have tried the CDROM by it self as well as the ZIP by itself, neither worked. I also purchased a new cable. As for the IDE controller drivers, I updated from the Secondary IDE Controller to the Secondary IDE/EDSI Controller - neither worked. Got any good places to purchase controller cards online???

T2LE

 

[T2LE]

What about this? Can I go to Device Manager => IDE ATA/ATAPI CONTROLLERS -> Secondary IDE Controller and DELETE the Secondary controller and reboot - will the system "find" it like it would a modem?

IRQ - 14 for Primary & 15 for Secondary

Check out

http://www.winutils.com

and download 30-day trial of Techfacts XP (works on all Windows OS) - it shows more info on my pc than System Information does. It also shows my Zip Drive and my CD Rom - so what's up with that??? I'm so confusened!

T2LE

 

[torque2k]

Have you updated the BIOS lately? There's a ROMPaq Update on Compaq's website for that model:

http://web14.compaq.com/falco/sp_sy...tmodel=5868&passOS=Windows XP&swDelivID=33424

The above should be all one line... There were quite a few updates regarding IDE and UDMA. Possibly your problem could be solved by this update, especially if you've never had a problem before upgrading to Windows XP!

Also, to check the hardware, find a Windows 98 system and build a System Boot Disk. If you can boot from that, and at the A:> prompt switch to either drive and get info from a disc in them, then obviously the hardware's OK.

Also note that Compaq's site has some updated drivers for audio, etc. for use under XP. You may want to bookmark this:

http://web14.compaq.com/falco/sp_list.asp?cat=Desktop

Insert your make and model, and OS, and you'll get an up-to-date list of available drivers and ROMPaqs.

Good luck!
Dan

 

[T2LE]

Thanks for all the info, Dan. I have visited the Compaq site many times. I even tried to update my BIOS and ended up with a major system crash - so I don't even want to try that again. Compaq sent out new hard drive, motherboard, modem. They said my HD was bad. Well when the new one was installed, I hooked up the "bad" one and copied most of my data to the "new" hd. The old one did have problems and finally quit working, but I was able to get my data off it.
I'll look at their site again and see if there is any updated data. That BIOS update is the same one that crashed my system. I have it on CD - from Compaq - maybe I'll try it again???

Terry

 

[cdogg]

T2LE,

There's a slight chance that a BIOS update would make a difference. One thing's for sure though. You're hardware is OK if the current BIOS sees it fine and you can access them from a DOS prompt.

To answer your question, yes, you could remove the IDE ATAPI Controllers, as the system should detect and reinstall them during the next boot process. At least this is how it would work in Windows 95/98/ME.

As far as controller cards go, visit

http://www.pricewatch.com

Promise ATA/100 cards have gotten a lot of praise. I think they're as cheap as $25-30 online. I honestly think it would be a good choice for you, even if you do fix your IDE controller problem!

 

[T2LE]

Well, cdogg, I tried deleting the Secondary IDE Controller from Device Manager list - rebooted, no luck. Still no CDRom or Zip drive. I looked at the 2ndry controller properties and on Drive 0 is lists Auto-Detect/None - I tried both and neither made a difference. Guess I will go shopping. Thanks for the help!

T2LE

 

[cdogg]

One last attempt...

Check these two websites. They suggest setting the Secondary IDE Controller in XP to either PIO Mode Only or DMA for both devices. Another idea is to remove the entire section for IDE controllers in Device Manager and let it rebuild. Sometimes when you just remove a single controller (such as the Secondary IDE), it doesn't reset the Parent controller's settings which might be causing the problem. Either way, the problem definitely lies in the OS. It's just a matter of finding it!

http://is-it-true.org/nt/nt2000/utips/utips38.shtml

http://www.yamaha.ca/computer/support/faq/g104.html

- scroll to the bottom section

 

[ceh4702]

Maybe the IRQ's are conflicting. In the BIOS some boards have a manual/auto setting and a reserved setting for IRQ's. On my ASUS board it said if the secondary IDE is disabled it frees up one additional IRQ.

On some Compaq's the CMOS is set up on the hard drive. This is something to look into. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[T2LE]

Well, it's fixed! After all your hard work (and mine) it all came down to selecting the "Load Startup Defaults" in the BIOS section. UGH! At least that's what I think happened. Thank you all for your help.

T2LE