I have only one DMA cable. Is that normal (DMA unavailable)?

[Harrier]

Hi.
I currently own one cdrw and one Dvd-Rom.
I'd like to have both of them joint on my PC.

The setting are such that one cable goes from the HD to the mother-board. From the mother-board one cable goes to the floppy drive and one (the UDMA cable) goes to the Cdrw/Dvd-Rom.

There's something weird (or is it conventional?) about the UDMA cable: It has one connection coming out of it in the middle of it and one coming out from the end.

I tried hooking one connection to the Cdrw and the other to the Dvd-rom but it won't work. I also tried vice versa, when the Dvd-rom goes in the middle input and the input in the end but it won't work as well. The only thing that does work is having one drive on the cable. I think it's because it might be the same channel and both drives can't share the same channel.

So what should i do?
You think i should scratch the mother-board for more and hopefully find the MIA cable?

By the way, was i supposed to receive one UDMA cable bundled with the retail package?

[cfitz]

It is normal to have three connectors (one at either end and one in the middle) on an IDE cable. This allows you to put two devices on one channel, a master and a slave.

Your problem is probably that you have both the CD-RW and DVD-ROM set to master. Look at the jumpers on the backs of the drives and set one to master and the other to slave (check your user manuals if the settings aren't embossed on the drive itself). Then you should be able to connect both drives to the same cable.

cfitz

[Harrier]

Thanks for clearing that up for me.
So, by jumpers you mean the small plastic covers that are mounted over the pins?

I'll try that.

[cfitz]

Yes. They actually have metal contacts within the plastic shells, and are used to electrically connect adjacent pins on the header, thus configuring the drive.

cfitz

[eliminator]

And make sure that the master drive (cdr-w) is on the end side of the cable, dvd-rom on the middle connector

[Harrier]

Yes. They actually have metal contacts within the plastic shells, and are used to electrically connect adjacent pins on the header, thus configuring the drive.

cfitz

Thought so..

And Eliminator, i thought of doing it the other way around.
Is that that important?

Config should be:
Pri Master: HD
Pri Slave: Dvd-rom
Sec Master: CDrw

Nix?

[eliminator]

Sometimes it improves the performance...

[Harrier]

What's the recommended configuration for all drived if i want to read my cds with the the Dvd-rom and usually burn files from my HD?

If thses are my preferences shouldn't the HD and the dvd rom be on the same channel? But then again, i usually burn files from my HD and not CD-CDrw.

So what should i put in the Sec master and the Sec slave?

Or maybe i should put the dvd-rom or the cdrw in the Pri slave?

Please answer promptly..

[cfitz]

If you are primarily copying from the DVD-ROM to the hard drive and burning from the hard drive to the CD-RW, while at the same time rarely make copies on the fly directly from the DVD-ROM to the CD-RW, then you should put the two optical drives together on the secondary channel and leave the hard drive by itself on the primary channel.

As for the master/slave settings on the optical drives, it really doesn't matter which is master and which is slave. There may be some modern drives with defective IDE interface implementations, but on the whole you needn't worry about it. "Master" and "slave" in IDE parlance do not reflect the connotations of common usage of these terms. Master is not faster or better or more capable than slave. These days the terms just serve to distinguish the one drive from the other.

If you have just one drive on a cable, do make sure to put it on the end of the cable.

cfitz

[CDRecorder]

This is what I would recommend if you burn mostly files from the HD:

Primary Master: HD
Primary Slave: nothing
Secondary Master: CD-RW
Secondary Slave: DVD

I have my desktop computer set up the exact same way (except I have 2 CD-RWs instead of a CD-RW and a DVD).

[CDRecorder]

Oh, I should also mention that it shouldn't matter which drive (CD-RW or DVD) is on which connector as long as they are jumpered as Master and Slave. AFAIK, it only matters when they are set up as Cable Select.

[Harrier]

If you are primarily copying from the DVD-ROM to the hard drive and burning from the hard drive to the CD-RW, while at the same time rarely make copies on the fly directly from the DVD-ROM to the CD-RW, then you should put the two optical drives together on the secondary channel and leave the hard drive by itself on the primary channel.

As for the master/slave settings on the optical drives, it really doesn't matter which is master and which is slave. There may be some modern drives with defective IDE interface implementations, but on the whole you needn't worry about it. "Master" and "slave" in IDE parlance do not reflect the connotations of common usage of these terms. Master is not faster or better or more capable than slave. These days the terms just serve to distinguish the one drive from the other.

If you have just one drive on a cable, do make sure to put it on the end of the cable.

cfitz

That's exactly the way i set the configurations.
And though i could connect both drives and they are both recognized i'm having another problem: The secondary slave insists on working at PIO mode. Watch the captured frame:


So.. Whatever's on the secondary slave, wheter it's the DVD-ROM or the CDrw i can't get it to work at DMA mode.

I know i jumpered them well. And the only thing i can think of that stinter as far as the PIO/DMA problem is the cable. And i think i tried both connecters with both the middle and the the conection in the end of the cable (Meaning middle->Slave & end->Master and vice versa).

Any suggestions?

[CDRecorder]

Try right-clicking on your secondary IDE channel, clicking "Uninstall", and then rebooting.

[Harrier]

Nope..
It won't catch.
There are two things i could consider:

1. The Audio cable isn't connected. Maybe that's the reason?
2. I have a SIS-chip based mother-board. Maybe i should uninstall the IDE controller. It's called "Sis PCI IDE controller".

[Harrier]

None of them work.

Could really use your help here, guys.

[Harrier]

Did it.
I was nothing more but i BIOS configuration.

[cfitz]

So everything is working now? Great! Well done.

cfitz

[CDRecorder]

Good job, Harrier!

BTW, the audio cable won't make any difference to UDMA. I don't use the audio cables in either of my two "newest" desktop computers.