Member Avatar for slama

Hello i wondered if i could pick your brains , i am looking to install another h/drive for extra storage i currently have an 80gb SATA as my main drive , running on an Abit BH7 mobo , (which has only one sata plug) , on ide 1 i have my two optical drives and ide2 is empty , i read in the manual that when using sata one of the ide2 channels is rendered useless , i cannot remember which one as i have lost the manual
i am looking to install a 200gb ide ata/133 HD , i was going to put it on ide2 and set it to slave , is this the correct way to wire it
this drive is only for storage , no OS will be installed , if anyone has any advice i would be most grateful
thanks Darren

  • 5 Contributors
  • 5 Replies
  • 286 Views
  • 3 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by goldeagle2005

Dani AI

Generated

For : short, practical clarification and a checklist to avoid the common pitfalls others have touched on.

Adding a PATA (ATA/133) 200GB drive to an Abit BH7 that already has an 80GB SATA is perfectly reasonable, but the critical step is confirming which IDE connector the board actually leaves active when SATA is used (the manual comment about a disabled IDE channel is important). Echoing points from and , check the motherboard silk‑screen and the BIOS drive-detection screen before wiring anything. If the secondary IDE is disabled, either move an optical drive or put the new HDD onto the only active IDE channel (or add a PCI SATA/IDE controller or external enclosure).

Practical wiring and jumper rules (to avoid speed/recognition problems): set the hard disk as the master when it shares the ribbon with an optical drive; if it will be the only device on that cable set it to master. Use an 80‑conductor (40‑pin) UDMA cable for ATA/133 — a 40‑wire cable will force much lower transfer modes. On ribbon cables the end connector is normally master and the middle connector slave (unless using Cable Select and a CS-capable cable). Use a direct Molex power connector from the PSU; avoid weak splitters.

Quick step checklist:

  1. Power off and fit an 80‑wire IDE cable to the motherboard and drives (end = master).
  2. Set jumpers: HDD = Master (or CS if using cable‑select and the cable supports it).
  3. Connect Molex power to the drive.
  4. Boot to BIOS and confirm the drive is detected; set drive mode to Auto/UDMA.
  5. In the OS, partition and format the new drive for use.

Troubleshooting: if the drive is not seen, swap cables, try the drive alone on the cable, or try the drive on the primary IDE. If exact bootable CD replication is needed, follow ’s point — use an imaging/direct disc copy method that preserves the boot sector rather than copying files to HDD and back.

Recommended Answers

All 5 Replies

Member Avatar for McReagant

Sure, you can do that w/o any problem ;)

Member Avatar for techniner

Just make sure your bios has it enabled and you can add as any normal IDE drive would.

make sure SATA is set to boot first and that you have the IDE channels enabled.

Member Avatar for slama

thanks , i will try this when the courier co decides to deliver it , thanks again

Member Avatar for Thong_Ispector

Since your manual said you lose one of your IDE's when You use the sata and you are not using the secondary ide I think you will find that the secondary IDE will not work for adding your new drive.

You will probably need to lose one of the optical drives.
(Why are you running two?)
Add the new drive as slave on the primary IDE

Copying discs works better when copied to the hard drive then back to the same disc...

Member Avatar for goldeagle2005

Yes, you shouldn't have any probs with such a setup.

In response to thong inspector's statement

Copying discs works better when copied to the hard drive then back to the same disc...

I agree it's better, but doing so will NOT copy the boot sector off of bootable disks. A direct disc to disc copy will make an exact replica, including boot sector.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.