WD Drive will not recognize as master

[JaySwint]

I have a western Digital WD 80 Cavair, I wish to set it as a master, but it will not recognize, and help would be much appreciated. I am running, AMD XP 1700, MX 400 Gefore 2 card. 512 Ram and my secondary drive is a 20 gig maxtor. I have set the jumps and everything, but even if I put it in by itself, it does not recognize

Justin

 

[Dreamland]

JaySwint - have you gone into the BIOS setup and seen if it is recognized, or are you just watching the machine as it boots?

Most BIOS setup programs allow you to set drive recognition to 'automatic' and/or permit you to force the BIOS to scan for drives (usually called something like HDD auto-detection). If you *manually* configure the drives in BIOS, then any subsequent changes to the drive arrangement are not 'seen' by the BIOS.

You want to configure your BIOS to automatically detect the drives each time the computer starts - most BIOS will have this capability. You also need to make sure the drive(s) are actually recognized while you are still in the BIOS setup program. Don't worry about the on-screen messages when the computer boots. The goal is to see them configured properly while you're in the BIOS setup.

 

[wolluf]

JaySwint - does it recognise drive as slave? Is the drive definitely ok? Have you tried drive on both IDE connectors?

Does your bios support drives that large (do you need a bios upgrade to do so? - I would have thought ok running XP1700, but worth checking)

 

[smah]

FWIW, WD drives have 2 different 'master' jumper positions. One is master, single (or something like that). This is for only 1 drive on the cable. The juper is positioned horizontally (but I can't remember exactly where). The other master setting is master with slave present. In this case the jumper is positioned vertically, but once again I can't remeber exactly where - check WD's website.

 

[JaySwint]

I havent upgraded my Bios, and I have gone in so that it recognizes the drives automatically in the system bios. It will be seen as a slave, but not as a master. where can I get my Drivers, they dont seem to just have the K7S5A, it is usually a PSD or a pro, how do I find out which one mine is? thx

Justin

 

[Bobg1]

If it is seen as a slave, then you need to change the jumper on the drive so it will be a master.

 

[JaySwint]

it has been set on the jumpers thou

Justin

 

[Dreamland]

Justin - There are no drivers to download for your motherboard that are related to this problem, just ones for the AGP port, sound, etc. I've never heard of a "PSD". Are you perhaps confusing this with the motherboard revision number (something like "PCB 1.x&quot? It's printed on your motherboard next to the model number. Here's your drivers:

http://www.ecsusa.com/downloads/drivers_k7s.html

Now, as far as configuring your drive (and just to make sure we're talking abou the same things)

Your BIOS setup listings for "Pri Master" and "Pri Slave" correspond to devices on your motherboard's socket labeled "IDE1" and the cable attached to it. The secondary devices correspond to the motherboard socket/cable labled "IDE2". When you get into the BIOS HDD setup screen, you may have to hit the F3 key to force the BIOS to look for and configure the drives.

You also can't move the drive or cable while you're in the BIOS setup - the change will be ignored. You can only detect what was connected when the computer powers up. If you need to test another IDE port or move the drive to a different position on the cable (or even re-jumper the drive itself) you *must* power down the whole system, change the cable/drive and restart to check the effect in the BIOS. Just hitting the 'reset' button (a soft reset) will usually not work - you need to power-off reset to get the BIOS to recognize changes.

For describing this testing (if you already have not done this) make sure the WD is the *only* device on the cable and it is at the very end of the cable, not the middle position. You can add the other drive later - just want to eliminate it as a problem for now. Test the drive on both IDE ports with both of your cables to see if it shows up as a master with any combination. The fact that it's *only* showing up as a slave (if it's on a cable by itself and jumpered as such) is interesting but of little use. Even if you don't want it configured as a master on any cable, it should be able to be set as such and show up in the BIOS correctly.

OK - what is the model number of your 80MB drive? It will look something like WD800XX and I need to know what the 'XX' letters are (may be more than just two). The label probably has a short number like "WD800" on the top right corner in large letters - it's useless. Look below the second bar code for the longer version of the model number and post back.

Second, I *think* you might have the ten-pin jumper block. If you do, you should be trying to find the drive in BIOS without *any* jumpers on the drive. This is the standard setting for a single master alone on the cable for your drive. Note: this is *not* how they're shipped when new. Western Digital is shipping drives jumpered as 'Cable Select'. I doubt your BIOS supports CS, and you probably are only using 40-conductor cables since your SIS chipset is only ATA-33. At any rate, you *don't* want to use CS for now - we're trying to force the drive as "master".

Don't even put the jumper in the 'park' or 'neutral' position on the drive - take it (or both, if two of them) off completely for the BIOS test. If you don't have a ten-pin block, check this WD page and tell us which size block your drive does have and how you have it jumpered:

http://support.wdc.com/techinfo/general/jumpers.asp

The only possible configurations your drive might have are six, nine or ten-pin blocks, so let us know which one.


Please don't be offended if any of the above is already obvious to you - I don't mean to suggest you're doing something wrong right now. On the other hand, I don't want to waste your time by assuming that you automatically know all of the odd, non-intuative things that troubleshooting IDE drives require.

 

[JaySwint]

The model number is WD800JB. The HD has been set up all the ways taht you have explained it, and it just comes up as not detected in the system boot, or even when i go in to format it. There is no jumper in it, making it set to the master as shown on the back of the HD. THe HD is a 10 pin as you said. Thank you so much for your help. I really appreciate it

Justin

 

[bcastner]

Jayswint,

The drive needs a jumper on cable select. You must use an 80 conductor cable (not the older style 40 wire cable). You must plug in the black, or end of cable, connector to the drive.

 

[wolluf]

Justin - so drive is seen as slave on primary connector, but not as master. Have you tried it on secondary IDE connection as master as I asked (also in other machine as i asked)? If nothing works - is it still under warranty - if so return it!