Trouble adding new hard drive

[josthebomb]

I want to add a second harddrive onto a computer.
I've got everything connected. But the second harddrive is not responding to the CDs I put it. The first one does. How can I get both of them to respond? Do I have to install the second drive before it can respond? If so, how do I do this?

Thanks!
-Jen

 

[johnjkr1]

You might want to be a little more clear about your problem and what you are trying to accomplish. It sounds like you are trying to put a cd into your hard drive from that description.

 

[josthebomb]

My brother brought a new computer, it has a drive that doesn't play DVDs.
So, what I did was.. I took the drive from the old computer (which plays DVDs), and planted it into the new computer. Now, this new computer has two drives.

The drive that came with the computer works fine. When I put in a CD, the computer recognizes it and plays it.
The second (older drive that can play DVDs) however, does not respond to the CD when I put it in. It responds to the "Eject button" but that's about it.

My question is.. How can I get BOTH drives to respond to the CD. I want to use the newer drive for regular programs. And the old drive JUST for DVDs.

Thanks.

 

[johnjkr1]

Ahh, ok, let me see if I have this right. You are trying to add a dvd drive to your computer. That is all, right? Because in your first post you said hard drive.

 

[josthebomb]

Yeah that's what I meant. I'm trying to add another drive to play DVDs.

I thought a DVD drive was the same as a harddrive. Sorry about that.

 

[johnjkr1]

Well, that should be easy. Step one, is the drive seen by the bios? On many models of computers like Dell's and HP's, the secondary channel on the cables are turned off. When it is off, the drive will open and close but it will not be detectecd. Next, did you set the jumper right? What is your other drive set to? (master, slave ?). I would make sure you have the hard drive by itself on one cable, then put the two optical drives on another cable by themselves, one set to master, one set to slave.

Once the drive is properly identified by the bios, windows will install it.

 

[TheVyper88]

You are referring to 2 optical drives correct? one is a cd-rom the old drive is a DVD-rom? if that is the case did your OS recognize the new hardware after you installed it and rebooted? Look in my computer and see if the drive shows up if not then you either have it hooked up wrong or need the drivers to install it. What OS do you have 95,98,me,2k,XP (i presume since it's new) Xp should easily recognize the drive and install it. Maybe you have the jumpers set wrong? If you have it on the same IDE cable as the newer cd-rom make sure the older dvd-rom jumper is set to slave. in fact if you have it connected along with ANY other device on the same IDE cable make sure you have it set to slave.

Both of your posts are very unclear of your issue.

 

[josthebomb]

When I look in MY COMPUTER, the drive doesn't show up. My guess is that I have to activate it.. but I don't know how.

I'm not sure what you mean by setting it to a master/slave drive...
Wouldn't the new one that comes with the computer automatically be considered the master-drive?

Yes, I believe I connected all the cables right. Afterall, there's only two to connect.

I have windows XP.

 

[josthebomb]

Oh yeah.. I forgot to mention...

When I switched the old and new drive around... the old one works, but the new one doesn't. (You see... there are two spaces for 2 drives). So, my guess is that the second drive-space is miscommunicating with the computer.

 

[TheVyper88]

master /slave is set by the jumper on the pins on the rear of the drive. they are located right between the power connector and the IDE connector. Should be 5 sets with 1 set missing a pin not all drives have the jumper settings the same. so you can simply remove the jumper (the little plastic thing) that fits over 2 of the pins. That will set it to slave place it on the same IDE connector as your newer CD-rom make sure you use a 12v power cable not a fan only connector. If you are unsure use the power connector that splits off the cd-rom if it has one. then restart. XP should detect it and install it. If it does not install get your drive model and search on the manufacturers website for the XP drivers. download them and install. Hope that helps.

Also do as Johnjkr1 said and check in your bios to see if the drive is recognized after doing what i said. If it is see if there is any options to open the secondary channels on the IDE controllers if they are closed. If bios sees it but XP does not then you need the drivers from the manufacturer.

 

[johnjkr1]

From your description, you either have it jumpered wrong or the secondary channel is set to off. You do not have to activate or install any drivers for cdroms to work. At this point you should ignore windows completely and focus on the bios level. If your drive is not seen by the bios, it will not be seen by windows. What type of motherboard / computer is this?

The vyper gave you some great advice / descriptions of master/slave jumpers, you should check those very carefully.

 

[josthebomb]

How do you turn on the secondary channel?

 

[johnjkr1]

Well, that would depend on your motherboard / computer maker. Usually, you go to the first page in your bios, maybe the second. It will list primary and secondary ide. They should all be set to AUTO.

 

[josthebomb]

I have a dell.
Wheres the bios?
Sorry, I'm computer-illiterate, haha.

 

[johnjkr1]

Well then, your channel is definetly off. Having worked at Dell, that was how we sent them out. The bios is accessable by either pressing F2 or del when you first boot the computer (at the Dell Screen).

 

[johnjkr1]

Well then, your channel is definetly off. Having worked at Dell, that was how we sent them out. The bios is accessable by either pressing F2 or del when you first boot the computer (at the Dell Screen).

 

[josthebomb]

What do you do when you get to the BIOS?

 

[johnjkr1]

what model dell do you have?

 

[josthebomb]

I have dimension 4600.

 

[johnjkr1]

Go to the page labeled "drive configuration". Make sure secondary 0 and 1 are set to auto.

 

[josthebomb]

I set them all to auto. It said no device is recognized or something to that degree.

 

[johnjkr1]

You have to keep going through the menu untill it goes to AUTO. If it says off, then you now know why it was not working.

 

[josthebomb]

All of the ones I set to AUTO say "Device unknown."

 

[johnjkr1]

Ok, once they are all set to auto, make sure you did the jumpers correctly, check the power cables, reboot and you should see it just fine. Be sure to check the jumpers, if you have two set to master, it will not work right.

 

[josthebomb]

How would you know if one is set to master or not?
I just plugged in what fits, lol.