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I have a HDD and CD connected to the Secondary IDE Channel as Master and Slave, respectively. Nothing is connected to the Primary IDE Channel. Both drives work correctly. When I move the flat cable from the Secondary Channel to the Primary IDE Channel neither drive is recognized. Same flat cable, same drive jumpers.
I have checked the BIOS and both the Primary and Secondary Channels are shown as "Auto".
Why is the Primary Channel not recognized? Hardware failure?
Elsewhere in a later BIOS screen there are options to Enable both the primary and Secondary IDE channels. Check to see if it is currently disabled.
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On-Chip Primary PCI IDE - Enabled
On-Chip Secondary PCI IDE - Enabled
IDE Primary Master PIO - Auto
IDE Primary Slave PIO - Auto
IDE Secondary Master PIO - Auto
IDE Secondary Slave PIO - Auto
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OK, I thought you were speaking about the drive configuration page.
Try going to that page and verifying that all four lines are set to Auto. If they all are currently then shutdown, unplug the computer and clear the CMOS with the on motherboard jumper.
Reboot with the IDE cable connected to the primary channel. Immediately enter the BIOS screens and reset values as needed.
If the drives are still not seen during the start up screens then most likely the controller is defective.
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It doesn't seem like it would matter as far as detecting the drives, but are they connected with a 40 or 80-wire cable?
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Hi Tomg - if you have not already done so, suggest having a close look at both connectors on the mother board.
a) look for a bent pin in the master connector
b) would expect both to have same number of pins.
Good Luck - Keep us posted
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1 The cable has 40 conductors.
2 The connector pins are undamaged.
3 Have not tried resetting the BIOS yet.
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The IDE cable will have a 40 pin connector. But some cables have 80 wires to give a coaxial shielding affect and some just have 40. Your motherboard is going to expect an 80-wire cable on the primary. It usually won't care what cable you're using on the secondary. As I mentioned above, I don't think using a 40-wire cable on the primary will affect its ability to detect the drive. But, if you are using a 40-wire cable you need to get an 80-wire.
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Dave - why do you advise a 80 wire cable is a must?
Unless I am missing something, Tomg has not advised his mobo or hdd maker/model.
He mentions a flat cable, which is the 40 wire version.
Regards - Mike
Tomg - what device does the computer boot from, as there is no device connected to the primary?
What drive/device letters (eg C:) are allocated for the two units on the secondary?
Good Luck - Keep us posted.
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I assume his system is the P4 he listed in the specs. And unless 'flat' has some PC cable-related meaning I'm not aware of, then both 40 and 80 wire cables are flat.
I think a 40-wire cable on an otherwise working primary will cause a bios message something to the affect that the drive speed will be limited to ATA33 but then go ahead and load. But still, if he's using a 40 he should replace it with an 80, just to make sure.
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