PC harddrive help!!!!

Amiga1992 · 03 August 2002, 05:34

OK this bastard is driving me crazy.

I took my good ole Western Digital Caviar 8.4Gig to my friend's house for backing it up... All I noticed over there is that Windows 2000 almost assraped it making it read every second some shite! After W2K installing all it needed to make the drive work (what a fuckwit! it needs files to make it run!), teh peecee asked for a reset and after that, all seemed to work well...

Anyway, brought it home, and it wouldnt work... At first it showed up on the BIOS screen but later it stopped appearing. I was like OMG!
Fiddling with the cables, and finally the jumpers, the drive resurrected when I put it in single drive mode. It doesnt get recognized in Slave, Master or Cable Select.

Anybody has a CLUE about what the fuck is up with the drive? Mind you, when it doesnt get recognized, you can hear a "clicky clicky" inside, like if its reading something.

If it dies I'm in deep shit. I can't afford a new one!

Amiga1992 · 03 August 2002, 08:02

If it is of any help....

Connected to the first IDE channel, with an 80 cables ribbon, but the drive doesnt support UDMA.

Soyo 7VBA motherboard.

Shadowfire · 03 August 2002, 14:32

master = sets drive as master (use this if you also have a slave drive on the same channel)
drive only = sets drive as master (use this if there isn't another drive on the same channel)
slave = sets drive as slave (use only when another drive is attached to the same channel as a master)

WD drives are unique in they have 2 settings for naster (master & drive only) but it is important you set it right or it will drive (heh heh) you up a wall

also don't use cable select unless your computer mentions that you need to use it in the manual (very rare!)

and an 8gig drive should support SOME flavor of UDMA, at least UDMA/33

7-Zark-7 · 03 August 2002, 18:33

What's happening within Wndows itself Akira-is the drive still showing?
Also,check your BIOS & see if you have a setting to enable SMART monitoring-When my old 2.1Gb drive was dying on my old Compaq crapbox,I got warning messages before it died.
And as Shadowfire said,you should have at least UDMA 33 too-whether the DMA is enabled or not is another matter.

Silly question,but have you double checked all your connection's? Unplugging & replugging can be a hassle to refit things again sometimes.

jrom · 03 August 2002, 19:00

Quote:

Originally posted by Akira
Connected to the first IDE channel, with an 80 cables ribbon, but the drive doesnt support UDMA.

Well... I hope your IDE doesn't support 66/100 UDMA modes... I once hooked up a 33 UDMA Drive to a 66UDMA channel with a 80 ribbon cable and the drive freaked out and died! So best option is to use a 40 ribbon cable and pray it still works

jmmijo · 03 August 2002, 20:06

Quote:

Originally posted by jrom
Well... I hope your IDE doesn't support 66/100 UDMA modes... I once hooked up a 33 UDMA Drive to a 66UDMA channel with a 80 ribbon cable and the drive freaked out and died! So best option is to use a 40 ribbon cable and pray it still works

This really shouldn't happen, I use this option all the time as the UDMA 66/100/133 cables are taking over and it's getting harder to find the older UDMA 33 cables, at least here in my neck of the woods

Truthfully all the new 80-wire cables do differently is add a ground wire for each data signal wire hence 40-wire x 2 equals 80-wire

I suppose it's possible that that particular old drive had some sort of timing problem with the new cable, shouldn't have but it seems to

Amiga1992 · 03 August 2002, 20:56

Well, it's fixed. seems like some BIOS setting was fucking up teh bootup, and not the drive, who is working like a charm! I love WD :P

I booted with a diskette and saw all the contents of teh drive were there, so I thought WTF!

Fiddled around with the BIOS and now boots again, and as master (with a ZIP as secondary)

It's hooked with the 80 cable ribbon, to primary IDE0. I dont know how to activate UDMA but the drive's manual doesnt say a thing about it being UDMA compliant! It's a WD Caviar 38400.

Anyway, thanks for your help! Much apreciated!

jmmijo · 03 August 2002, 21:28

It's a UDMA 33, the IDE interface should automatically detect the drive and set the xfer mode itself, nothing to configure on the drive

Check out the full specs on Western Digital's page:

http://www.wdc.com/products/legacy/Legacy.asp?r=2

Amiga1992 · 03 August 2002, 23:08

Hmm.. I heard nasty things about UDMA and using HDs as Master.. So far no problems but, will I have any? Or does this just apply to UDMA66/100?

BTW, what is this S.M.A.R.T. Capability thing I can enable from the BIOS?

jmmijo · 03 August 2002, 23:20

Not sure where you would hear something like that, seems to be just rumors or some other mis-informed person

You would normally want to run the first HD as Primary-Master, where the Primary means the first IDE channel and Master is the first physical HD. Of course if you have only that one drive connected to the IDE port/connector/channel then it has to be jumpered for either Master or Single drive depending on the manufacturers settings guide

No you shouldn't have any problems as long as both the BIOS and the OS see the full capacity of the HD and no it does not apply to only UDMA 66/100/133, it applys to all HD's connected to an IDE controller

As for the S.M.A.R.T. setting, here's Western Digital's Glossary info on what it means:

S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) —
S.M.A.R.T. enables a drive’s internal status to be monitored through diagnostic commands at the host level and during off-line activities. S.M.A.R.T. devices employ data analysis Algorithms that are used to predict the likelihood of some near-term degradation or fault conditions. When used with a S.M.A.R.T. application, the drive can alert the host system of a negative reliability status condition. The host system can then warn the user of the impending risk of data loss and recommend an appropriate action.

Fred the Fop · 04 August 2002, 00:18

Western Digital sucks ass.

Amiga1992 · 04 August 2002, 15:31

No, it doesn't Fred

Tell my 10-year-old-and-still-kicking 30MB WD on the A600 that he sucks. Never had a Pish-E drive for so long!

jmmijo: thanks a lot for that info! I suppose I'll turn it on then because I think I turned it off

7-Zark-7 · 05 August 2002, 14:54

Hey, Akira, I suggested you switch the SMART monitoring on!!
But all credit to Jmmijo for knowing what it all meant,he's a whiz & been helpful to me with PC hassles too.
But it's a handy feature Akira, I had at least 2 weeks warning before my old Hard disk finally died thanks to that nift warning & so was ready for it.

jmmijo · 05 August 2002, 19:13

The trick with SMART monitoring is this, all the drives you have on your system should support it before you turn that feature on in the BIOS settings, i've heard but have not seen it, that it can cause problems if a drive doesn't support it and you have that feature turned on

Amiga1992 · 05 August 2002, 19:43

Well, it's WD so it supports it

03 August 2002, 05:34	#1
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	PC harddrive help!!!! OK this bastard is driving me crazy. I took my good ole Western Digital Caviar 8.4Gig to my friend's house for backing it up... All I noticed over there is that Windows 2000 almost assraped it making it read every second some shite! After W2K installing all it needed to make the drive work (what a fuckwit! it needs files to make it run!), teh peecee asked for a reset and after that, all seemed to work well... Anyway, brought it home, and it wouldnt work... At first it showed up on the BIOS screen but later it stopped appearing. I was like OMG! Fiddling with the cables, and finally the jumpers, the drive resurrected when I put it in single drive mode. It doesnt get recognized in Slave, Master or Cable Select. Anybody has a CLUE about what the fuck is up with the drive? Mind you, when it doesnt get recognized, you can hear a "clicky clicky" inside, like if its reading something. If it dies I'm in deep shit. I can't afford a new one!

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Floppies, CD or Harddrive?	Zeewolf	New to Emulation or Amiga scene	2	18 July 2007 13:34
Harddrive trouble	robotriot	support.Hardware	6	16 August 2005 01:49
Amiga Harddrive > PC	DeAdLy_cOoKiE	support.Hardware	4	29 June 2005 16:53
adf to harddrive	vertigo	New to Emulation or Amiga scene	10	26 July 2004 09:35
harddrive problems..	poppe	support.Hardware	12	09 December 2001 21:25

03 August 2002, 08:02	#2
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	If it is of any help.... Connected to the first IDE channel, with an 80 cables ribbon, but the drive doesnt support UDMA. Soyo 7VBA motherboard.

03 August 2002, 14:32	#3
Shadowfire Registered User Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Connecticut USA Posts: 617	master = sets drive as master (use this if you also have a slave drive on the same channel) drive only = sets drive as master (use this if there isn't another drive on the same channel) slave = sets drive as slave (use only when another drive is attached to the same channel as a master) WD drives are unique in they have 2 settings for naster (master & drive only) but it is important you set it right or it will drive (heh heh) you up a wall also don't use cable select unless your computer mentions that you need to use it in the manual (very rare!) and an 8gig drive should support SOME flavor of UDMA, at least UDMA/33

03 August 2002, 18:33	#4
7-Zark-7 Zone Friend Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Brisbane/Australia Posts: 1,270	What's happening within Wndows itself Akira-is the drive still showing? Also,check your BIOS & see if you have a setting to enable SMART monitoring-When my old 2.1Gb drive was dying on my old Compaq crapbox,I got warning messages before it died. And as Shadowfire said,you should have at least UDMA 33 too-whether the DMA is enabled or not is another matter. Silly question,but have you double checked all your connection's? Unplugging & replugging can be a hassle to refit things again sometimes.

03 August 2002, 20:56	#7
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Well, it's fixed. seems like some BIOS setting was fucking up teh bootup, and not the drive, who is working like a charm! I love WD :P I booted with a diskette and saw all the contents of teh drive were there, so I thought WTF! Fiddled around with the BIOS and now boots again, and as master (with a ZIP as secondary) It's hooked with the 80 cable ribbon, to primary IDE0. I dont know how to activate UDMA but the drive's manual doesnt say a thing about it being UDMA compliant! It's a WD Caviar 38400. Anyway, thanks for your help! Much apreciated!

03 August 2002, 21:28	#8
jmmijo Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: PDX Age: 62 Posts: 2,395	It's a UDMA 33, the IDE interface should automatically detect the drive and set the xfer mode itself, nothing to configure on the drive Check out the full specs on Western Digital's page: http://www.wdc.com/products/legacy/Legacy.asp?r=2

03 August 2002, 23:08	#9
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Hmm.. I heard nasty things about UDMA and using HDs as Master.. So far no problems but, will I have any? Or does this just apply to UDMA66/100? BTW, what is this S.M.A.R.T. Capability thing I can enable from the BIOS?

03 August 2002, 23:20	#10
jmmijo Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: PDX Age: 62 Posts: 2,395	Not sure where you would hear something like that, seems to be just rumors or some other mis-informed person You would normally want to run the first HD as Primary-Master, where the Primary means the first IDE channel and Master is the first physical HD. Of course if you have only that one drive connected to the IDE port/connector/channel then it has to be jumpered for either Master or Single drive depending on the manufacturers settings guide No you shouldn't have any problems as long as both the BIOS and the OS see the full capacity of the HD and no it does not apply to only UDMA 66/100/133, it applys to all HD's connected to an IDE controller As for the S.M.A.R.T. setting, here's Western Digital's Glossary info on what it means: S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) — S.M.A.R.T. enables a drive’s internal status to be monitored through diagnostic commands at the host level and during off-line activities. S.M.A.R.T. devices employ data analysis Algorithms that are used to predict the likelihood of some near-term degradation or fault conditions. When used with a S.M.A.R.T. application, the drive can alert the host system of a negative reliability status condition. The host system can then warn the user of the impending risk of data loss and recommend an appropriate action.

04 August 2002, 00:18	#11
Fred the Fop flaming faggot Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Versailles Age: 55 Posts: 2,808	Western Digital sucks ass.

04 August 2002, 15:31	#12
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	No, it doesn't Fred Tell my 10-year-old-and-still-kicking 30MB WD on the A600 that he sucks. Never had a Pish-E drive for so long! jmmijo: thanks a lot for that info! I suppose I'll turn it on then because I think I turned it off

05 August 2002, 14:54	#13
7-Zark-7 Zone Friend Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Brisbane/Australia Posts: 1,270	Hey, Akira, I suggested you switch the SMART monitoring on!! But all credit to Jmmijo for knowing what it all meant,he's a whiz & been helpful to me with PC hassles too. But it's a handy feature Akira, I had at least 2 weeks warning before my old Hard disk finally died thanks to that nift warning & so was ready for it.

05 August 2002, 19:13	#14
jmmijo Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: PDX Age: 62 Posts: 2,395	The trick with SMART monitoring is this, all the drives you have on your system should support it before you turn that feature on in the BIOS settings, i've heard but have not seen it, that it can cause problems if a drive doesn't support it and you have that feature turned on

05 August 2002, 19:43	#15
Amiga1992 Registered User Join Date: May 2001 Location: ? Posts: 19,645	Well, it's WD so it supports it

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)