IDE Detection Problem

[SNeaKyTiKi]

Quick question, ive been trying to set up a computer with 3 harddrives attached to a Promise Raid controller. I got the drives attached and set the BIOS to boot off the right hard drive on the controller but the BIOS (GA-8IPE1000) is unable to detect any of the IDE devices which are 3 optical drives and a zip drive. The optical drive that i have set as the primary master always has the light stuck on and the loading screen reports "none detected" for primary and secondary masters and slaves.

Do i have to have a harddisk set as the primary master or am i missing a step? Ive checked the jumper settings and the cables and they're all fine. Basically the setup im trying to get is:

3 Western Digital 120GB drives attached to PROMISE SATA150TX2+ with the IDE Devices being: Primary Masterlextor Optical Drive, Slave:Zip Drive, Sec Master and Slave are 2 Lite-On optical drives. I am still able to get into Windows XP but there are no IDE devices being detected, ive tried everything i know of and was wondering if this setup is even possible. Ive gotten everything to boot up before but that was with taking out the zip drive and setting the main harddisk as the usual primary.


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[4Ryan6]

You didn't mention whether you had loaded the Promise RAID Controller card drivers or not.

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[SNeaKyTiKi]

lol sorry. Yeah i put those on before i connected the main drive with XP to the controller. XP said it detected it and it shows up in the device manager and the mobo BIOS.

<i>I'm a Sneakytiki!!!</i>

 

[endyen]

Not all bios support zip drives. Those that do, generally come with the zip support disabled. Have you enabled zip support in bios?

 

[SNeaKyTiKi]

Yeah its enabled, the BIOS seems to get lost for some reason after i moved the main harddrive over to the PROMISE card and replaced it with the Plextor optical drive. Once i disconnected the zip drive and reconnected the main harddrive as the master and set the plextor as the slave it worked fine and all the IDE drives were found. Could the PSU be an issue? Its only an Antec 400 Watt and they want 3 harddrives, 3 ROM drives, zip, floppy and im sure the computer consumes alot of power. They have 2 Gigs of corsair with a FX5700 256, audigy2 and a P4 3.0 w/HT. The case also has quite a few fans in it with temperature monitors and an audigy control panel. I dont know how far a 400W PSU can go but could that be the cause?

Thanks again for the help. Ive tried to tell them to just get a USB ZIP drive but they have to have it their way.....

<i>I'm a Sneakytiki!!!</i>

 

[SNeaKyTiKi]

I switched the PSU with an Antec 550W they had laying around, figured i'd try everything and it couldnt hurt, it still wont detect the IDE drives....sooooo usb zip drive it is, i got no clue on this thing.

<i>I'm a Sneakytiki!!!</i>

 

[Unolocogringo]

Are you sure you have the cables connected properly?
The light staying on is usually a sign of the cable being installed wrong.
Also check the jumpers on the drives. Make sure you have them jumpered properly. Master for the end of cable ,and slave for middle connector on cable.
One more thing, the long end from the middle connector connects to the motherboard. The short end from the middle connector connects to a drive or device.

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[SNeaKyTiKi]

Yeah i just ripped everything out and started over jumper settings, cables and all....now its working. Something was probably nicked or something. Thanks for all the help.

<i>I'm a Sneakytiki!!!</i>