Swapping IDE cable from dead Master Slave cd to Secondary Slave cd in Dell Dimension 2400

[Saddys]

My Mother In Law has 2 drives on her Dell D 2400, a cd/dvd rom(1st slave) and a cd/dvd rw(2nd slave). The 1st drive (cd/rom, primary slave) is not working. Can I just take away the IDE cable from both drives and then set the last part of the cable on the 2ndary slave (cd/rw) drive, building it the new 1st slave drive? That would depart the middle link of the IDE cable blank. The manual doesn't provide very excellent instruction and I'm a guy which is use the laptop. I have turned the faulty cd/rom drive "off" in BIOS system, though it will not re-boot cleanly. You have to inform the system to carry on with the boot up due to it not being clever to discover the primary master drive. I thinking to just create the 2nd cd/rw drive the 1st drive and then possibly the pc can reboot as usual. It's no big problem only my Mother In Law will be puzzled if she ever has to reboot.

[Vicky Woodley]

Yes, you can do this, but with a suggestion. Make sure the jumper on the back of the unit is set to cable select. Thus, the position on the cable determines whether it is master or slave. The connector on the end makes the master unit, and it is perfectly possible to leave the connector half unplugged. Please message again and I want to know if you need more help……..

[Hymavath]

Yes, you can move the connector "primary" or end of the other unit. They are not "slaves" as you call units. The units use "Cable Select" device instead of master / slave address and the system assigns the primary or secondary, based on the location of the drive cable. Because it is defective also remove the power connector of the unit. The drives are PATA (IDE) interface style if you want to replace the defective unit.

[Saddys]

I call the master and secondary units "slave" because that's how they are called in the BIOS setup. There are other units, as the primary drive (hard drive [c:] and the drive, but the cd drives are seen as primary / secondary "slave."
QUESTION:
1) How do I disconnect the second (half) connection? The last connection on the IDE cable out only, but the middle seems stuck?
2) Where is set to "cable select" on the back of the CD. All I can see is where cables or plugs might be the ticket?

[Amadou]

I removed the two units, and even changed their physical positions. Damage CD / ROM is now the second (bottom) and disconnect the unit completely. Both units have a bridge in the first group of pins (three sets total). Also in the BIOS setup everything correctly. However, on reboot, I took to get the same "main unit is not found, strike F1 to continue ......” Anyway, I found a relevant thread with some saying it could be possible sign of no hard drive! Oh No. Osprey4had then published and communicated to the OP for the configuration of Internet Explorer or something? Cap lock, Scroll Lock, Num Lock, press Alt + E Alt + F, save / exit. Then the system was re-discovered and all hardware. It worked perfectly. Now the system re-starts as it should and can read CD boot, etc. Take care and thanks for the help.

[Dabert]

It seems that it’s all sorted out, but I had these thoughts ... each of the optical drives have a jumper that you can set to different modes. a way "cs" for "cable select", which means that fulfill the role of teacher (primary) or slave (secondary) based on their physical position on the cable (the one at the end of the cable is the master). On the other hand, each could be jumper as 'master' or 'slave', in which case their physical position on the cable would have no consequence in their logical order. the use of CS has almost completely replaced the master / slave configuration, as it allows you to install a single unit without having to worry about setting the other unit (if any). The error sounds like you were complaining about the hard drive. may not be turning in time, a sign of potential failure (you may want to run diagnostic tests to make sure it is healthy), or maybe the battery from the motherboard must be replaced (by what is forgotten System configuration and "thinks" that have changed since the last time you used the machine). Coin-shaped room size battery is a CR2032 motherboard and is available in many places (Target, RadioShack, Wal-Mart, etc.) and easy to install.