adding a fifth ide device

davelerave

i've got four sockets in use(2 hard drives ,a dvd-rom and a cd/rw)
i wish to add a dvd-r drive what do i need to do

conZ

Normal Motherboards can only support up to 4 devices (2 ports and 2 slots on each ide cable). After that you need a RAID or IDE Card (Fit into a PCI slot).

Any normal IDE card should cost you between €10 - €30 on the Classifieds Board.

The IDE Card works the same as your motherboard, 2 slots on the card, and you connect your extra devices (HDD/CDRW) to the card.

davelerave

thanks

deckie27

Maplins have them for €35
This card will allow a max of another 4 devices also includes raid capabilites
I got one a few months ago works very well. except id delays boot by 20-30 secs
By keeping drives on seprate ide lines makes for a vast improvement in preformance. Eg you can read a cd and burn at the same time, complete CD takes about 3 mins

dazberry

Be forewarned that some RAID IDE controllers do not support ATAPI devices.

So if you purchase one you will have to move your hard disks over to the card, and use the onboard IDE for all your ATAPI (CD) devices. In that case, remember to install the new controller and drivers before you move the disks across (on NT derived systems anyway).

D.

deckie27

I have my DVD drive and 2 HDD's running on the card I mentioned above
and have my primary HDD and my CD-rw on the onboard lines

dazberry

Originally posted by deckie27
I have my DVD drive and 2 HDD's running on the card I mentioned above
and have my primary HDD and my CD-rw on the onboard lines

I've a 2 channel (4 device) RAID controller that I bought from Maplins prior to the yoyo changeover - it was about £45, and the doc says it doesn't support ATAPI devices. When I was in Maps (Dub City Centre) the other day, I saw the same card. I'm running 2x20gb drives mirrored on it, but I never tried ATAPI devices, so I suppose either my docs are wrong, or maybe the firmware was upgraded in the meantime?

D.

disco_rob_funk

if it's a half-decent dvd-r drive you're adding, you shouldn't need the cdrw anyway - problem solved!

check komplett for cheap decent combo [dvd(+-)r/rw & cd-r] drives.

RC

whosurpaddy

Originally posted by deckie27
I have my DVD drive and 2 HDD's running on the card I mentioned above
and have my primary HDD and my CD-rw on the onboard lines

whats the name of that card deckie

deckie27

Controller in maplins I think this is it.

The brand name is CMD afaik
I was a bit confussed at first when looking at the box= inst.
as I seen CMD as command ie dos

dec

spongebob

Promise make very good cards of this sort. They are generally called outboard ide controllers.

I stuck one of These into a box recently

M

gurramok

When adding more IDE devices, dont forget to watch the power consumption !!