* Skips In *

Well, it's been a week today and I have finally done my last install of XP for a good long time. Read if you dare this is the VERY condensed version It's been one heck of a week...

I ran into a bit of a problem that was quite a puzzler which at first I took to be a bad disk that came with my GFX card. When I put the disk in to install the drivers my puter locked up and even removing the disk wouldn't get me operational again. Proceeded with downloading the drivers and installing other driver updates via download along with odds and ends..browser, spyware tools, etc. figuring I was going to have to buy a new CD drive.

Remembered Chris had his old CD drive in the closet so I put that one in figuring it was good enough so I could install my software...not so, same thing happened, locked up no matter what disk I put in. Device manager showed everything was ok and my temperamental DVD drive was performing as usual ie: it would occasionally let me browse a disk and let me drag files to the desktop. I had everything torn down and put back together so many times I lost count...same with the HD's and no luck. Halo *hugs* has been so helpful offering suggestions, and hunting up links for different drivers to try not to mention, reading all my 'scenarios' of things I thought I should try to see if it would resolve the issue(s). He agreed with all of them so he either skimmed them while shaking his head and rolling his eyes thinking it was the ravings of a psychotic blond woman or I actually knew what I was talking about...maybe

So, to make an even longer story short(er) I had decided (Halo approved) to start over again with another format. I would disconnect my 250g completely, make sure the 40g was set to master format and install. Ok...we're off and running...NOT! XP's all installed but won't boot without CD ROM support I get a DISK BOOT FAILURE INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER. *THUD* Double checked jumper and ribbon, both are master so I try a different ribbon..same thing. Ugh. Hooked 250g back up puter boots up in a flash. Slave disk, no OS on it..how can this be? Is my 40g drive dieing and that's why it won't boot on it's own?

What I found out through trial and error:

A.) For whatever reason I cannot use the IDE drivers for my MB...the ones on the supplied disk and the updated version I downloaded and installed (both done on a clean install of XP) cause my puter to lock up if I try to use the CD drive. The only way to recover is to hit the power button and don't try to use the drive. Uh gee...kinda hard to get my software installed that way.

B.) Remember my "I feel like such a blond over the jumper thing? And remember me crawling around on the floor looking for the jumper..even going through the *gag* (lol) dirt cup for the vacuum to see if the jumper was in there and I couldn't find it ANYWHERE? I couldn't find it cuz there never was one! uhmm..guys? -> My original 40g drive if used as a single master drive can't have a jumper on it at all! If there is a jumper on there it won't boot..hence the DISK BOOT FAILURE I was getting last night and this morning. Once I removed the jumper my puter booted right up and it was smooth sailing after that.

Now the CD drive is working fine, puter boots as it should (fast as hell too) temps are most excellent and I'm really liking the AMD Cool'n'Quiet feature too. Now if we could just have some peace and quiet..we have been slammed this past week with calls from Realtors and I had to keep putting everything on hold to make sure things were 'presentable' which meant putting away all my puter stuff *sigh* We won't get into the "No Shows"

Anyway...had to share my *cough* adventure as I'm quite proud of myself not just for doing the build but for figuring out these two rather odd (to me at least) issues. That and I never 'lost' it or got mad, frustrated and a little discouraged, yes but I didn't give up. Such a little thing but such a PITA! LMAO I think I would have figured it out sooner had it not been for all the traffic through here this past week. hmmm...a single hd, put a jumper on it and it fails..whoda thunk it? *THUD*

 

Ya done good Abby. ALL of us have been tripped up at one time or another by something that made us smack our foreheads once we figured it out.

In the bad old days, master hard drives had to be at the end of the IDE cable, and slave had to be in the middle (plus the proper jumper settings). Done it that way for years. Told others to do it that way. Suggested that might be a problem to somebody here in the tech forums a year or more ago and was politely corrected. That hasn't been a problem for some years now. (forehead slap)

 

Nice job Abby...great to see you up and running again

I love my cool and quiet feature after listening to my old PC run turbines in my ear

 

you mean its not like that nomore??? hows does it have to be now? lol

 

Great, now take a break before you start OCing the sucker.

 

Its not like that now, unless using cable select.

Were you trying to make a funny?

 

Let me know if you have trouble installing your video card drivers AbbySue, I'm here for you.

 

not trying to make a funny i did not know they changed. feel free to pm me on what it has to be now. maybe thats why i am having a problem with a pc i am buliding now

*hits head on keyboard*

 

No, the proper response is to smack your forehead with your hand. Less wear & tear on the keyboard.

With current mobos and IDE controllers, master/slave is determined strictly by the jumpers on the drives. In cable select mode, both drives must be set to cable select, and the master drive is automatically the one at the end of the cable. If your primary hard drive shares a cable with an optical drive, you MUST either set master/slave correctly or put the hard drive on the end of the cable in cable select mode, but the current system is more forgiving than the old way.

 

huh well ok lol i guess i get it. seems good thanks i did not know that. i still thought it was the old way

 

This is why I like SATA. No jumpers

 

It would be great if optical drives were SATA as well.

There are some, but they haven't really taken off.

I know there's no performance benefit, but I hate IDE cables and jumpers.


You can now get SATA backplates (if your motherboard supports it), so you can run external SATA drives.

 

Good deal on getting your computer up and running. Now you can :"blaze the trail", with the blistering speed, LoL!

Yep, for one H.D by itself, normally you don't need a jumper, and if one is provided, it's in the 'park'(P) position (i.e. just holding the jumper there, so doesn't get lost). As said, sometime it's put in sideways. This is for the same purpose (not to loose the jumper) For Cable Select (CS), or slave, a jumper is required. I suppose ya already know this by now.