Mounting Drives

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Mounting Drives

Assuming that your hard drive, CD drive and zip drive are all internal IDE devices, you should jumper them all now. It is generally best (for various reasons) to connect the hard drive to the motherboard using one of the IDE cables, and hooking the zip drive and CD drive to the motherboard using the other cable. The vast majority of motherboards only have two IDE connectors, so you can only attach two IDE cables to the motherboard. Since each IDE cable can be connected to two IDE devices, most computers allow you to connect up to four IDE devices to the motherboard using those two cables.

In general, there are three different settings that the jumpers can be in. The drive can be configured as Master, Slave or Cable Select. Jumper the hard drive as a Master. Usually, the jumper settings are printed on the outside of the hard drive, but you may have to consult the documentation. In the below picture, the hard drive is jumpered as Master, as shown in the upper left corner of the diagram. All IBM Deskstars have identical jumper diagrams.

The jumper diagram also could also be on the top of the drive. Generally, it will be on the top or on the back of the drive. It should also be contained in the documentation that you get with the drive.

Occasionally, if the hard drive is the only device on an IDE cable, the only configuration that will work is not jumpering the drive at all. If you jumper the drive as Master, and it is the only device on that IDE cable, and it doesn't seem to work, try removing the jumper(s) and test to see if that works.

Since the zip drive and CD drive have to go onto the same cable, one has to be jumpered as Master, and one has to be jumpered as Slave. No IDE cable can have two Masters or two Slaves attached to it. When talking about zip drives and CD drives, it doesn't matter which one is the Master and which one is the Slave, as long as one is Master, and the other is slave.

Next, mount the hard drive. Fast hard drives generate a lot of heat, so make sure that you do not mount another drive in an adjacent bay. It is important that the hard drive is mounted horizontally or vertically (not at an angle).

Afterwards, mount the CD drive and the zip drive. Slide the CD drive in from the front of the case.

When the drive is flush with the front of the case, use screws to secure the drive in that position.

The zip drive was mounted in a sled in this computer so that it would not have to be mounted right next to the hard drive. A sled is just a piece of metal that allows you to mount a 3 1/2" drive in a 5 1/4" bay. Use screws to connect the sled to the drive.

Regardless of whether you're using a sled or not, slide the drive into the bay from the front of the case.

Then secure it with screws.

Next, connect the IDE cables. There are two types of IDE cables. It's not a question of using the "right" or "wrong" cable. There's just an optimal choice. There is the regular type. And then there is the (faster) type that should be used with ATA/66 and ATA/100 hard drives. The main difference is that the faster type has twice the number of wires, and those wires are smaller. In the below picture, the upper cable is the regular type, and the lower one is the faster type. Note that on both cables, the wire on the right is red, indicating which one should connect to pin 1.

The faster type should be used with the hard drive, and the regular type of IDE cable should be used with the CD and zip drive. If you use the regular type with the hard drive, the hard drive will still work, but it may not work as quickly. If you use the faster type with the CD drive and zip drive, you will notice no difference.

Locate pin 1 on the hard drive, and connect one of the fast IDE cables to it properly.

Then connect that IDE cable to the primary IDE controller on the motherboard - again making sure that the side of the IDE cable that has the red dots lines up with pin 1. You may have to consult the documentation for your motherboard to determine which IDE channel is the primary, and which is the secondary one. Usually, it's marked right on the motherboard itself, though. And usually, the primary IDE channel is blue. In the below picture, the primary IDE channel is the lower one.

Note that if your fast IDE cable has a blue connector, that end (the blue one) should be connected to the motherboard, not one of the black connectors. Also note that the middle pin in the top row of the connector in the below picture is not really a hole at all. All IDE connectors will have a "missing pin". Make sure that the missing pin on the drive lines up with the "missing hole" on the cable. Often, it is quicker to do this than to determine the location of pin 1.

Connect one of the regular IDE cables to the zip drive. I used the middle connector on the IDE cable for the zip drive so that the IDE cable could reach the CD drive that is mounted in an upper bay in the case.

Repeat the procedure for the CD drive.

Connect this IDE cable to the secondary IDE controller. The secondary IDE controller is the middle connector in the below picture. You can determine this through the process of elimination. The blue one has to be the primary IDE controller, and the smaller socket is the floppy controller. So, the middle one is the only one left.

After all of the data cables have been connected, connect power cables to all of the drives. The power connectors and cables should look like the below picture. You will need to push firmly to make sure that the power cable is properly seated in the socket of the drive.

Finally, connect the CD audio cable from the CD drive to the sound card. If your motherboard has on-board sound you will have to look for the appropriate connector on your motherboard. Generally, the audio cable comes with the sound card when you buy it. However, they often don't come with motherboards that have on-board sound. The connector on the sound card (or motherboards with on-board sound) may look like the below picture.

Other motherboards and sound cards will have multiple sockets, to accommodate multiple kinds of CD audio cables, such as the motherboard in the picture below. Determine which one will interface with your CD audio cable, and use that one.

The other end of the CD audio cable should connect to the corresponding socket on the back of the CD drive. On the drive in the below picture, there are two different audio cable sockets (you can use either, depending on what kind of CD autdio cable came with your sound card). The two sockets are ones right next to each other on the far left. The most common type is the kind that plugs into the one that is second from the left, though.

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