two hard drives with different speed 1

[hoc7hoi9]

I have a 30g harddrive with ATA 66, 7200rpm. I want to add a second one with ATA 100. The motherboard IDE controller is capable of handling ATA 100. My question is:
-Can I connect the new drive, as a slave, to the same primary channel with the old drive, and still fully use its ATA 100 feature?
Thanks

 

[Eguy]

Both devices on an IDE channel will operate at the speed of the slowest device. Which is why you never want to put a CD-ROM on the same channel as a HD.

Ed Please let me know if the sugestion(s) I provide are helpful to you.
Sometimes your the windshield... Sometimes your the bug.

 

[hoc7hoi9]

Thanks for your quick help, Eguy.

I guess I have to install a board PCI IDE controller to handle 2 HD's separately. The other on-board channel is already used for the CDR and CD-RW.

 

[Jakespeare]

Eguy nailed it.

However, I will add this:
Since you are going to add a HD controller,,,, here is what I would use:
PROMISE ATA/100 controller (seperate channels for BOTH HD's).........
They are literally giving these ATA/100 controllers now, because the ATA/133's are out now..........

>>> PROMISE ULTRA100TX2 CONTROLLER CARD

*** $23.00 ** no kidding
$10.00 for FedEx shipping.........
$33 for a Hi-Quality controller.............

http://www.newegg.com

 

[hoc7hoi9]

Thanks Jakespeare. I checked the mobo, Asus A7V, and found out that it actually has 4 IDE connectors: 2 regular IDE and 2 ATA100. I will certainly connect the new HD ATA with the primary ATA100. But I read somewhere that the ATA100 needs different type of cable, not the regular type that we use to connect harddrive and CDRom, in order to fully utilize the transfer rate. Please comment on that. Thanks.

 

[Jakespeare]

YES,,,,,,, You need an 80-PIN Ribbon Cable.

aka, ATA/66 (or higher) IDE ribbon cable.
You HAVE to have that cable or you won't get above ATA/33.

 

[fasttoon]

Hey all, if you have ata 66/100 you will fully utilize that speed regardless of what channel its on or its position if you are only using one device at a time, however it will default to the slowest speed if you are using both devices simultaneously, So your original question of can you use both hard drive on one channel the answer is yes, if you use both simultaneously then you'll only get ata66 speeds, if you are using your new hard drive and your cd (copying) you'll get cd speed only even if you have them on separate channels.

I suggest you move your ata66 contents over to your newer/faster ata100 and make that the primary bootable partion and make it master on ide 1, put your now blank ata66 as master on ide 2. So where do you put your cd? put it as slave on the channel that you won't be using simultaneously. Reason, only one device can use the channel at a time.

 

[nelljack]

I just installed a Maxtor 20.4GB HDD and also have a Conner 1.2GB as 2nd drive. Speeds are 7200 and 5400, respectively.
I have the maxtor as the primary master. I also have a CDROM and CD/RW. I believe those two are on a separate card.

If I am understanding fasttoon correctly, I should move, for instance, the CDROM to the cable I have the primary HDD on, and the CD/RW on the cable with the 2nd HDD (5400rpm)? Is this correct?

Also, I have a question RE CMOS settings now that I have installed all of my apps. Can I change the autodetect on the primary master instead of using "user" and NOT LOSE all of my installed software? The reason I ask is I have two different CHS settings listed. One was from the MaxBlast when I unloaded it from the HDD, and the other list is from a web site with specs.

I hope I made it clear. I hope someone can help me. I'd sure hate to have to redo everything again. Thanks in advance.

 

[nelljack]

It's me again. I forgot to mention I just upgraded my
BIOS chip. The system seems to slow down even more than my old HDD (no longer using). What would be causing the slow down? CMOS settings or what? TIA

 

[nelljack]

Well, there were no more responses so I will take what comes with what my setup is. Thanks anyway all.