-=PCTechTalk=- Re: Installing DVD Rom

Hi Carr,
    Just to clarify a couple of points Don has made here, the way you can 
tell and set the Master/Slave designation is to look at the very back of the 
drive (the part furthest inside the system) for a small series of doubled 
pins that will look very sinilar to the following:

:::::

    More often than not, you will also see a small "jumper" that has been 
inserted across two of those pairs of pins.  That would look something like 
this (provided your system recognizes the character I used for the jumper):

::█::

    On the top of the drive, there is usually a sticker that shows the 
function of each position of these pairs of pins.  For example, the middle 
position may denote Cable Select, the 4th position may make the drive the 
Slave and the 5th may set the drive as the Master.  Although most drives 
follow the same order, it's always best to check with the sticker to be 
absolutely sure.

:Geek Info Alert:
    As Don explained, a single IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) data cable 
is designed to handle two IDE drives.  One end has a single connector while 
the other end sports two of them, one at the end and the other a bit closer 
to the middle of the cable.  The single connector goes to a dedicated slot 
on the mainboard so that it can communicate with both drives attached to the 
other end.  Now, in order for two drives to send and receive data over a 
single cable, the two drives must have different designations (kinda like 
apartment numbers at the same address) so that the data doesn't go to the 
wrong one.  That's where this Master & Slave idea comes in.  To make two 
drives work over the same cable, you usually have the following choice. 
Either one drive has to have its jumper set across the Master pin set while 
the other needs to be set to the Slave pin set OR both drives can have their 
jumpers set to CS (cable select).  When the drives are both set to CS, the 
drive at the very end of the cable automatically takes the Master 
designation while the one connected to the middle of that same cable 
automatically becomes the Slave.  For this reason, folks who use CS on the 
drives will install the Master drive above the Slave.

Incidentally, the IDE interface is officially part of the AT Attachment 
(ATA) specification, and the terms "IDE drives" and "ATA drives" are often 
used interchangably.
:End Of Alert:

    Chances are good that the drive you want to be the Master is already set 
correctly.  Chances are almost as good that the one you want as the Slave is 
not.  Assuming they are both trying to be the Master, the mainboard is 
completely confused as to which one it's dealing with, and that leads to all 
sorts of odd fun.  Fix the jumper(s) and your issues should disappear. 
:O)

Peace,
GMan

"The only dumb questions are the ones that are never asked!"

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Wilcox" <dwilcox3@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <pctechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2007 9:39 AM
Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Re: Installing DVD Rom


> In all computers I've had with two optical drives, the ROM drive has 
> always
> been in the top bay and has always been the master.  The writer has always
> been the bottom drive and the slave.
>
> The data cable ( flat thin cable) has two connectors on one end and a 
> single
> connector on the other.   The two connectors closest together go to the
> drives.  The one on the end goes to the master, the other one goes to the
> slave.
>
> Brand new, out of the box, a replacement drive is typically set to be 
> master
> or cable select.
>
> Check both drives and make sure they are set correctly and properly
> connected to the cable.  It may not matter, but I would make the ROM drive
> master and the writer the slave.  Top or bottom mounting position is
> irrelevant as long as the cable will connect correctly.
>
> Don
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Carr" <carr_kids@xxxxxxxxx>
> To: <PCTechtalk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Sent: Sunday, September 23, 2007 4:16 AM
> Subject: -=PCTechTalk=- Installing DVD Rom
>
>
>> Hi Group,
>>
>>  It's been awhile since I've actually posted anything to the group.
>> Usually I'm just lurking.
>>
>>  A long time ago I replaced my dvd rom drive with dvd writer in my HP
>> Pavilion desktop. All was working great until yesterday when I decided to
>> finally take out my cd-r writer and install my dvd-rom into it's location
>> and I just left the dvd-writer is previously installed. The computer
>> itself is seeing the DVD-ROM and DVD-writer (I rt click my computer and
>> open I see both drives). Problem is when I open any software to watch a
>> movie neither drive will play DVD and the DVD software just hangs up
>> system. I have to shut down computer before I can do anything else.
>>
>>  I'm recalling that one of the drives has to be set to master and the
>> other to slave. Now my question is if the all I did was replace one drive
>> with another shouldn't the master and slave already be set? Or is my
>> problem due to the fact that the DVD ROM is now where the CD-writer used
>> to be (top bay) and the DVD-writer is where the DVD-ROM drive was when I
>> originally purchased the machine (bottom bay)? How can I tell if master
>> and slave needs to be set and how do I do that?
>>
>>  Any and all assistance would greatly be appreciated.
>>
>>  TIA,
>>  P. 


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