General IDE chain device order question...

Not really an Abit specific question (as the mobo on this particular system
is from MSI:-) but I am not sure which group to post this question into and
I am sure I could tap the knowledge from within this ng...it would apply to
Abit as well of course...;^)

Having spent most of my time configuring top-end SCSI systems its now been a
while since I played with a simple system based solely upon IDE so please
bear in mind my stupid question...;^)

I am rebuilding a simple IDE based system for a friend and have installed a
new HDD to replace the existing single drive on the Primary IDE bus.

There is a combined DVD reader & CD-R/W configured as Master on the
Secondary IDE bus.

What would be the recommended order of devices on the IDE chain after the
new HDD has replaced the existing one?

I currently have it set as follows;

Primary IDE Master: HDD
Primary IDE Slave: No Device
Secondary IDE Master: CD-R/W
Secondary IDE Slave: HDD

Is this considered the 'best' order or should I put both HDD's on the same
bus?

Would it be advantageous to alter the Master/Slave settings on the Secondary
bus?

Is one configuration better than the other when it comes down to CD burning
or will I lose out when it comes to HDD->HDD file transfer?

--
Thanks & regards,
-pp-

>Primary IDE Master: HDD
>Primary IDE Slave: No Device
>Secondary IDE Master: CD-R/W
>Secondary IDE Slave: HDD

Your just looking to open a can of worms aren't you? ; )

Some say two hard drives on the same channel are slower then on their own IDE
channels. If it's possible to put them on their own IDE then it couldn't hurt
so to me the way you have it is fine.

It makes no difference what is master or what is slave as long as they work
correctly that way. I would normally make the hard drive the master, but it
really doesn't matter. A while ago it wasn't wise to put a cdrom on the same
ide as a hard drive because the hard drive would only run as fast as the
slowest device os it would only run as fast as the cdrom, but the IDE
controllers are a lot smarter now so it makes no difference.

If you ask me your setup is fine.

To speed up windows a bit you might want to create a permanent swap file on
your second hard drive.

"Pheasant Plucker®" <> wrote in message
news:413653c2$0$20253$...
> Not really an Abit specific question (as the mobo on this particular
system
> is from MSI:-) but I am not sure which group to post this question into
and
> I am sure I could tap the knowledge from within this ng...it would apply
to
> Abit as well of course...;^)
>
> Having spent most of my time configuring top-end SCSI systems its now been
a
> while since I played with a simple system based solely upon IDE so please
> bear in mind my stupid question...;^)
>
> I am rebuilding a simple IDE based system for a friend and have installed
a
> new HDD to replace the existing single drive on the Primary IDE bus.
>
> There is a combined DVD reader & CD-R/W configured as Master on the
> Secondary IDE bus.
>
> What would be the recommended order of devices on the IDE chain after the
> new HDD has replaced the existing one?
>
> I currently have it set as follows;
>
> Primary IDE Master: HDD
> Primary IDE Slave: No Device
> Secondary IDE Master: CD-R/W
> Secondary IDE Slave: HDD
>
> Is this considered the 'best' order or should I put both HDD's on the same
> bus?
>
> Would it be advantageous to alter the Master/Slave settings on the
Secondary
> bus?
>
> Is one configuration better than the other when it comes down to CD
burning
> or will I lose out when it comes to HDD->HDD file transfer?
>
> --
> Thanks & regards,
> -pp-
>
>
The way you've got it set up is just fine.
Some folks would reverse the secondary setup
but it makes no difference on a modern mobo.
If it ain't broke, it don't need fixin'.

On 01 Sep 2004 23:40:01 GMT, (PRIVATE1964) wrote:


>Some say two hard drives on the same channel are slower then on their own IDE
>channels.

Only when copying data between each other.

Thanks for the replies guys...

Just a little more info...this was originally purchased from Tiny Computers
with P4 1.7GHz with 256MB RAM

I have installed Win ME from the restore CD that originally came with it but
the HDD transfer rates seem very slooow....

Using StormTest that came with my own Canopus DVStorm indicates a transfer
rate of;

C: Maxtor D740X-6L Read 17MB/s Write 19MB/s
D: Western Digital WD600 Read 7705KB/s Write 9512KB/s

This cannot be correct...can it?

Is there a need to install Intel bus master IDE drivers, updated .inf files
or similar as the drives show up in Device Manager under Disk Drives as
Generic IDE Hard Disk type 47 and type 80 respectively instead of by
Manufacturer/model?

I have connected them using the 80 wire Ultra cables and both drives are
reported as LBA ATA 100 devices by the BIOS and DMA is switched on for both
drives under Device Manager.

I have found an MSI newsgroup and so have posted there also.

Thanks in advance for your help

--
Regards,
-pp-