Installing an IDE Device
This section outlines the procedure for installing an additional IDE device. You can use a similar procedure when installing the first drive in a new PC or changing IDE configuration.
Determining the Configuration
Most motherboards have two IDE controllers: IDE1 (primary) and IDE2 (secondary). Each IDE controller can support a 40-pin cable with up to two devices attached. The devices must be configured by jumper settings as slave or master.
If there is only one device on the cable, use the master setting. (Some devices have a specific single jumper setting for this).
If you add a second device to the cable, use the slave setting. Configure the drive from which you want to boot as the master device on the primary controller, unless the boot sequence options in the BIOS settings let you choose otherwise.
Certain configurations give better performance than others.
You should configure the hard disk as the master drive on the primary controller and the CD-ROM as the master drive on the secondary controller. Less contention will occur because IDE can only service one request from one device at a time. Also, the CD-ROM is a much slower device and if you attach it to the same controller as the hard drive, it will slow down access.
Set Jumpers for Each Device
Use a pair of thin-nose pliers (or fingers) to set the appropriate jumper settings for each device. Instructions on configuring the jumpers are either contained within the documentation supplied with the device, or may be written on the device itself. If this documentation is not available, the Internet is an ideal source of reference.
Connecting the IDE Device- Take anti-static precautions.
- Turn off the PC. Remove the power cable and the cover.
- Check that there is a free drive bay to hold the extra disk.
- Connect the IDE cable to the drive and the drive controller. The IDE cable must be correctly orientated. Usually it has a red stripe that should be aligned with Pin 1 on each connector (this is often marked with a white spot). The master and slave drives can be plugged into any connector on the cable. Cables are not usually supplied with the PC but may be supplied with the new hard drive. You may require an IDE cable with connections for two drives or a second IDE cable (if the secondary controller is to be used). Check that the data cable is correctly orientated.
- Attach a cable from the power supply to the power connector on the new drive. The plug will only fit one way.
- Fix the disk securely into the drive bay, using the screws provided.
- Replace the cover and turn on the PC.
Configuring CMOS
All but the oldest PCs automatically detect and configure the BIOS to recognize the new device. If an auto-detect option is not available, use the CMOS setup utility to select the device-specific parameters. The settings for a hard disk drive include cylinders, heads, sectors, translation type, PIO mode and DMA mode. Ensure that you save the changes before exiting from the setup. Preparing a Hard Disk A new hard disk drive requires partitioning and formatting before it can be used; the FDISK and FORMAT commands are used for this purpose.
The jumper settings will look something like this:
but they differ for every drive
