[Bslforever]

Hi,

I have recently been given an ATA hard drive, and i bought an external case from amazon so that i could attatch it to my laptop. Ive opened the box and there are no instructions...fantastic. Its meant to be plug and play but when i do, my computer recognises it as a USB mass stroage device, but does not let me access it. Apparently, i need to set the drive as the master and i have no idea on how to do this. I have a jumper, if that helps.

In terms of connections, i have the long 41 pin socket and thats it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

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look at the pictures Here that's basically where the jumpers reside on a standard IDE drive...if y ou look at the drive you should see a few words (usually mstr, slv, CS) either etched onto the case near the jumper locations or on the label somewhere....move the jumper on your drive to the proper location based on the diagram that you find on your drive....some USB enclosures require your drive to be in the CS (or cable select) position...so if putting it to master doesn't work try CS

[dsenette]

look at the pictures Here that's basically where the jumpers reside on a standard IDE drive...if y ou look at the drive you should see a few words (usually mstr, slv, CS) either etched onto the case near the jumper locations or on the label somewhere....move the jumper on your drive to the proper location based on the diagram that you find on your drive....some USB enclosures require your drive to be in the CS (or cable select) position...so if putting it to master doesn't work try CS

[Bslforever]

Ok, thanks for the speedy reply

Quick question: the jumper goes on the smaller section right? How does that have any effect if i dont plug anythin in there?

[dsenette]

those pins in the jumper header are directly connected to the circuit board that controlls the hard drive...when you place the jumper across the pins in the header it creates a circuit which the drive interperates accordingly (i.e. "i'm the master" or "i'm usinc cable select")

[Bslforever]

Ok, looks like i got the connections sorted but, and i know this is terrible, i seem to have blown something on the hard drive. I knocked the power lead and there was a popping sound and smoke came out of the HD and now it wont start when i plug it in. Is is dead or can it be fixed?

[dsenette]

dead

[Bslforever]

Hah, that was what i was afraid of.

Bluntly said, but hey...

Thanks for the support. Will try and purchase another drive. No great loss as i received this free from a friend who upgraded.

[dsenette]

well...as a general rule to follow when messing with any electronic devices.....if there's smoke...you cooked it