RE: [PCTECH] Pri Slave Drive ATAPI Incompatible

[<Rick.Chevalier@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi John,

> If the hard drive & CD ROM are each alone on their IDE cables, check to
> see if they have a Cable Select (or something similar) jumper setting.
> Some drives prefer that  vs. master-slave/primary-secondary 
> when they're the only device on the cable.

I don't think I have tried this yet so I'll give it a try.

> If you brought the IDE cable(s) from PC1 to PC2, try using 
> the ones that came with PC2 as some IDE cables don't work well outside 
> their original machines.

PC2 didn't exist previously.  It is being built with parts from PC1 that have 
been replaced.  I purchased some of the new round cables which I would prefer 
to use.  I did try the cables that were on PC1 (it has new ones now) but no 
difference.
> 
> If the cable(s) are >18 inches long, go buy new cables as they are
> outside of spec.  (Yes, I know you can buy longer cables and higher
> quality cables can be 36" long, but you take chances when you 
> leave the spec)

I'll have to check this one.  I think they are 18"" but may be 24".  I didn't 
know about a length specification.

> And finally on cables, put the Master/Primary at the end of 
> the cable & the Slave/Secondary in the middle.  While specs say it doesn't 
> matter,
> sometimes it does.  

Originally they were set up this way.  I have since moved each one to it's own 
IDE controller.

> Go into the BIOS and put drive settings to "auto".  Try PIO 
> mode for the CD if it won't work in DMA mode.

I don't know what PIO mode is.  The CD/system board/memory/video card 
combination worked in PC1 so I didn't expect to have any problems building PC2. 
 The only added parts are the case w/ power supply, HDD, and floppy drive.

> If all of the above doesn't solve it, we can take a look at 
> the rest of the PC.  How big is the power supply and what other components 
> are in
> PC2?  What brand/model mobo does PC2 have?

The power supply is 425 watt that came with the case.  The system board is an 
Elitegroup ECS K7S5A with an AMD 1700 processor.  I don't recall the memory 
brand but it is 512Meg.

Rick