Member Avatar for vite

Hi all
Situation is: old motherboard don't have SATA connector and had plugged on it one HD on the primary IDE and one DVD drive on secondary IDE connector. I wanted to connect new SATA HD (WD 5000 AAKS ) and bought IDE-to-SATA adapter, plugged it on the primary IDE, add new HD and moved old HD into the secondary IDE like master drive (DVD is slave). I bought the new HD without jumper and I don't think I need it because it is the only device on the primary IDE connector. Old HD and DVD has correctly set jumpers. When I start the computer it don't recognize anything and can't boot. If I remove the new HD it recognize both HD and DVD and everything is ok.

Thank you in advance

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Useful clarification and a short troubleshooting plan. described a setup using an IDE<->SATA adapter and raised the master/slave angle — that is relevant, but the real failure modes are usually adapter compatibility or how the adapter exposes the SATA drive to the PATA bus. The quickest way to diagnose is to isolate the adapter and confirm whether it can present a drive correctly to the BIOS.

  • Inspect the adapter for a tiny jumper or switch labeled M/S/CS (Master/Slave/Cable Select). Many inexpensive adapters require that setting to be changed on the adapter itself rather than on the SATA drive.
  • Test the adapter + SATA drive alone: disconnect all other PATA devices, attach only the SATA drive (with the adapter) to the IDE channel, power up and check BIOS detection. If the BIOS does not see the drive by itself the adapter is likely incompatible.
  • Verify power and connectors: make sure the SATA drive has correct SATA power (not a broken molex-to-SATA lead) and the 40-pin ribbon is seated correctly on the adapter. Some adapters depend on which side of the ribbon is used.
  • If the drive is detected alone but disappears when the other PATA device is reconnected, set one device to Master and the other to Slave (or use Cable Select consistently), paying attention to the adapter’s setting.
  • If problems persist, consider updating the motherboard BIOS or using a PCI SATA controller to add native SATA ports — these are far more reliable than passive converters.

A final note: many adapters do not pass through advanced SATA features (NCQ, full SMART) and support varies by drive model. When asking for more help, post the adapter model and your BIOS version so the compatibility picture is clear.

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Member Avatar for Freaktech

You can only have one master drive in a system period. It doesn't matter what IDE controller it is on.

Member Avatar for vite

You can only have one master drive in a system period. It doesn't matter what IDE controller it is on.

Yes, that it is the current situation. The new WD disk is without jumper on it and it is alone on one of the IDE connectors.

Member Avatar for Freaktech

Yes, that it is the current situation. The new WD disk is without jumper on it and it is alone on one of the IDE connectors.

Then you need to clone your OS install onto that HHD or get a HDD with Jumpers. You may also be able to buy a new cable that will select the master for you.

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