[cbell]

Only uninstalling the primary channel might not have solved the problem since both channels are set to PIO... just suggesting he try uninstalling both at once.

[philthomas]

I was under the impression that the original 30gb drive had the OS and was Primary Master and the added drive was the Primary Slave.
If the added drive is on the Secondary channel as Secondary Slave, this would not affect the Primary Controller, if reinstalled.

Maybe hbhungarian can confirm the configuration. If as I deduced, both drives are on the Primary channel, I would still suggest checking the IDE cable is an 80 conductor ribbon.

[hbhungarian]

well i just noticed that the original hard drive doesn't have the jumpers set up, and the larger newer one is set as slave but it is set up as slave (16 head)...there are other slave options like 32 gib clip, 15 heads, and auto spin disable...which one should i use, and could the problems be because the original doesnt have the jumpers set up? im pretty sure they are both primary tho, but i could i check to make sure? they both run on PIO mode even after i uninstalled the primary like stated before...i am using my original IDE cable, which im guessing might be 40 because of the age but i also have a new one...the problem is i cant tell anywhere on the cables whether they are 40 or 80??? i wish i knew more about computers, thanx guys

[philthomas]

Just count the number of wires in the ribbon .... you dont have to count all of them, just make sure when you get half way, there are more than 40

You could also try setting the new drive up as Secondary Slave (or Master), using the new cable.

[hbhungarian]

haha the old cable was actually 80 so i guess that doesnt make a dfference...the thing is my motherboard only has two slots for IDE cables, one is already the old one and the other is for my cd n dvd drives... so i cant set it up as secondary or can i? should i set the original hard drive jumper up as master or does it matter even if it was the original one..? thanks philthomas

[philthomas]

You could swap one of the Optical drives over to the Primary channel, as a Slave and fit the New HDD in its place on the Secondary channel ... making sure your jumpers are set correctly.

I'm noot sure this will help though, as I am beginning to think that your original HDD is pulling down the DMA on the Primary channel and causing it to run in PIO mode for both drives.
If I am right, doing this will mean that your Optical drive will get pulled down to PIO as well as the old HDD.

If you try it this way and the new HDD works ok in DMA Mode with the Optical drive on the Secondary channel and the Optical drive reverts to PIO on the Primary channel, that will prove that the old HDD is the root of your trouble.

If so, you may want to consider ditching the old drive and installing your OS on the new HDD and making that the Primary Master.

Hope that makes sense.