[rshaffer61]

Have you checked the bios to see if it even identifies the hd at all?

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Any reason why Windows is installed on the F drive at this point?

[rshaffer61]

Any reason why Windows is installed on the F drive at this point?

[chuckgibson]

Windows is not on the F drive. This drive contains music, pictures, documents etc.

After my last post I left the F drive unhooked, removed the XP Pro disk and inserted the Linux Puppy disk. It did not find the C drive.

Knowing that a week or so ago I had this computer up running the Linux disk and was moving Pics, Docs and such from the C drive to the F drive with no problem. I shut down the computer and hooked the C drive as well as the F drive back up the way they were.

Now get this.... The Linux drive found and will open both drives as long as they are both plugged in to the computer! What is up with this?

[rshaffer61]

Are these drives SATA or IDE connections?
That may be a reason why they won't work if they are not both connected.
On the back of the drives which of the connections does it have below.

[chuckgibson]

IDE connections. I just don't understand why the computer recognizes both drives running the Linux disk but only finds the F drive while running the XP Pro disk...

[Wolfeymole]

You may find that the BIOS "sees" both drives but that's because they are merely connected to the motherboard.

What is your arrangement regarding connecting these drives to the motherboard and we also need to know the jumper settings?

For example the C: drive should be on IDE 0 (or 1 on later boards) set as Primary Master and the jumpers set to Master

The F: drive should be connected as Primary Slave and the jumpers set to Slave

[chuckgibson]

Due to my lack of knowledge working on computers I "TRIED" to make sure to not move anything that I did not move back to the original hook ups. At this point, "TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE" the drives are both back and hooked up to run where they have ran for years.

The IDE wire has not been unplugged from the motherboard for ages. Under the socket that the IDE cable is plugged into, the words are printed on the motherboard "PRI IDE".

The IDE cable runs from the Motherboard and the middle connection is plugged into the "F" drive or slave drive. The jumper wires are set in the Slave drive position. The end connection is plugged into the "C" drive and the jumpers are set to the master drive position.

Thank you for your patience and I hope I have explained this clearly...

[chuckgibson]

Have you checked the bios to see if it even identifies the hd at all?

No. After checking the bios the only hd that is listed is identified as Maxtor 6Y080Po]. I looked on the "F" drive to see if I could find that number and it is not on there. But regardless, the slave drive is a Maxtor 80 Gig hd and the master drive is a Maxtor 40 Gig. I can't help but believe that the "80" in the id 6Y080P0] indicates the slave drive as the only one being recognized. What do you guys think?

Why will the Linux disk find and run this hd but the XP Pro disk won't?

[chuckgibson]

You guys might shoot me when I post this....
While double checking plug connections on my hd's I noticed that a pin is missing on the IDE plug on the master hd. It is either #2 or #39. ( I can't find a good map of this connection) When you unplug the hd and look directly at it with the label side up, it is on the far right side on the bottom. Could this be my culprit? If so why does the Linux drive still recognize and open it?

[rshaffer61]

Does it look like this below?

[chuckgibson]

Yes. As far as the type of drive connections. A pin looks like it is missing right next to where the hand pictured middle finger knuckle is at. It is not at the configuration socket that the needle nose pliers are working on, it is at the main IDE connection at the left of it. I believe that this problem occured during this process because before it was finding the hd and running me through the whole Norton GoBack circle.

[rshaffer61]

Look at the cable end itself because if I remember IDE correctly you should have one hole missing on it also.

[chuckgibson]

#20 is missing. It is a blank spot right in the middle of the plug opposite the alignment tab. You can actually see the end of the pin where it broke off. It is either #2 or #39. ( I can't find a good map of this connection) When you unplug the hd and look directly at it with the label side up, it is on the far right side on the bottom.

[rshaffer61]

Try this picture and see if it gives you a better look at the actual connection.

[chuckgibson]

I do not know how to put an arrow on a picture. If I did I would show you the pin that is broken....