Member Avatar for tjl30

So I bought a 120GB HD for my computer, its a Western Digital Caviar SE. I want the make this HD my slave drive, but I bought it from Newegg and it came in a plain brown box filled with bubble wrap. So there is no manual on how to set the jumpers.

So I went on line and for my 10 pin thing I have to put the jumper thing on the 2nd to last pins closest to the power plug.

: : : | :

Above is my diagram lol... Anyways I did that then started up my computer then went to computer management, disk management, and there it says my HD is Not Initialize, so how do i Initialize the disk?

Any help would be great.

  • 2 Contributors
  • 2 Replies
  • 115 Views
  • 20 Hours Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by tjl30

Dani AI

Generated

Short summary tied to the thread: 's "Not Initialized" message means Windows sees the disk but it has no partition table (no MBR/GPT) or signature yet. 's pointer to the WD material is the right place for exact jumper diagrams; the rest below fills gaps on hardware checks, BIOS detection, and what to do next depending on whether the drive will be used by Windows or Fedora.

Hardware and BIOS checks: with two IDE drives on one ribbon, one drive must be Master and the other Slave, or both set to Cable Select with the drives placed on the correct cable positions. A conflict (both set Master or both Slave) or a bad ribbon/power connector will stop the BIOS from seeing the disk. Power down, confirm the jumper selection on the drive label, reseat the ribbon and power connectors, and check BIOS setup to verify the drive is detected before worrying about Windows.

Initializing in Windows vs leaving it for Fedora: if Windows should use the disk, open Computer Management -> Disk Management. The disk listed as "Not Initialized" can be initialized (choose MBR for a 120GB drive under XP), then create a partition and format (NTFS for Windows). If the intent is to install Fedora on that drive, it is fine to leave it uninitialized; Fedora's installer will create its own partition table and filesystems. For dual-boot, install Windows first, then Fedora so GRUB can detect Windows and handle booting, or install GRUB to the Linux drive and set BIOS boot order appropriately.

Troubleshooting notes and cautions: initializing/partitioning will erase any existing data, so back up if needed. If the BIOS does not list the drive after confirming jumpers and cables, try the drive alone on the primary connector or try a different cable/power lead to isolate a faulty part. If the drive is detected by BIOS but still not visible to Windows, report exact BIOS drive listing and Disk Management status for more targeted steps.

Recommended Answers

All 2 Replies

Member Avatar for DavidRyan

Firstly, did you not think to check the western digital site?
Jumper settings are usually printed directly onto the top of the hard drive casing. Anyway, there also .
If the Disk Signature Wizard didn't open automatically, try the instructions here.

Member Avatar for tjl30

Firstly, did you not think to check the western digital site?

I did go to western digitals site and was not sure how to set the jumpers. I installed another HD a while back and set it to be a slave drive which I used to store movies and photos, but now I took it out and added this new HD. My goal is to have a dual boot system, my main HD will have M$ Windows XP and my second drive (The WD) will have Fedora Core 5. So to do this I think I should set me second drive as a slave drive.

So I have a 10-pin Drive and there are two drives in my computer, so should I set the jumpers to Dual (slave)?

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.