[DBSnipe]

I am trying to install a CD ROM drive and a Hard drive into an old PC... I can hook the 2 peripherals up separately fine, but when I put them together, it doesnt recognize the CD ROM drive... I have changed the jumpers, to no avail.. Any help would be appreciated!

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It's considered best practice, particularly on older PCs, to have hard-drives and cd-rom drives on separate cables anyway, because of the slower speed of the cd-rom drive effectively stopping the hard drive from reaching it's maximum performance. So you should keep them on separate IDE cables anyway and don't worry about it. I imagine it's a compatibility issue that won't allow the hard disk and cd-rom to share the same cable, but in a way it's done you a favour. They shouldn't be sharing the same cable if you want the best performance from the PC in general.

Edited by pip22, 17 July 2007 - 03:15 AM.

[pip22]

It's considered best practice, particularly on older PCs, to have hard-drives and cd-rom drives on separate cables anyway, because of the slower speed of the cd-rom drive effectively stopping the hard drive from reaching it's maximum performance. So you should keep them on separate IDE cables anyway and don't worry about it. I imagine it's a compatibility issue that won't allow the hard disk and cd-rom to share the same cable, but in a way it's done you a favour. They shouldn't be sharing the same cable if you want the best performance from the PC in general.

Edited by pip22, 17 July 2007 - 03:15 AM.

[DBSnipe]

Well, I tried putting it on two cables. But when I do that, it doesn't recognize the second cable in the POST or BIOS... It only shows the Hard Drive. But when I put the CDROM in the primary cable slot and the hard drive in the other it just shows the CD ROM... suspect bad motherboard? Or is there some settings I need to look for? I do not see a dip switch on the motherboard which is an Abit-VH6...The CD ROM is a GCE-8527B... And the harddrive is a Seagate 40gb. I put all the parts into a case so It's not a specific brand.