Posted: 8/15/2005 5:08:01 PM EDT
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I'm throwing together a cheap-ass, back-up PC for someone (I'm using my junk parts stash). I'm using two hard drives and one CD-ROM; what is the proper set-up configuration (which IDE channel to assign and which to assign as master/slave)? |
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Actual position doesn't really matter that much, but keep the hdd's on separate channels, and it'll probably give a little performance boost. If I were doing it, I'd put the system disk as master on channel 1, the other hdd master on channel 2, and the cd a slave on either channel (doesn't really matter). |
+2 To really see it bog down - attach a Zip drive slaved to a DVD - likely you will be dropping frames cause that channel is running at the speed of the slowest device. (now days hardware is faster, but in the early pIII era this still caused major issues.) |
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Newer machines, no big deal, though some early DVD burners liked to be on an IDE channel by themself. For older machines, it depends on what you're doing. It's pretty straightforward that the HDD with the OS on it goes on IDE1 Master. What happens next depends on what the machine will be used for. If you're running a HDD-intensive application on the 2nd hard drive...maybe you want it to be on IDE2 Master...but for most situations, I'd put the CD on IDE2 Master and the 2nd HDD as IDE2 slave. Conflicts only appear when both devices on the same IDE channel want access at the same time. |