3 harddrives..how do i do it

[kronoSX]

right..i have the 3 drives
1-vista is on it
2-xp is on it...dual booting
3-formatted drive and ready for installation

ide1 has vista as master and xp hdd is as slave
ide2 dvd as master and cd writer as slave
i took the cd writer out and chucked it in the bin.So i have a spare slot now
I hook up 3rd hdd to where the cdwriter was and made this hdd a slave...right

I restarted pc and boom nothing happens..i fiddle a bit and i get a error about..actually 2 errors sometimes..
First error..something about boot not found,and sometimes a error about os not found...
i tried the jumper settings from cs(cable select) to slave.

Is there a better config to do this...

 

[ColinR]

As long as your drives are configured for Master/Slave properly using the jumpers, you shouldn't have any hassles.

Can't think of any 'better' way to do it.

 

[cyberarmy]

Faulty cable?

 

[The_Unbeliever]

First, try with one HDD.

When that works, add the second one.

When that works, add the third.

Start from basics, and progress from there.

 

[kronoSX]

Faulty cable?

i dont think so as the cdwriter was working

 

[kronoSX]

First, try with one HDD.

When that works, add the second one.

When that works, add the third.

Start from basics, and progress from there.

I have done that already...but as soon as a 3rd is added i get a error..i think its got to do with the boot loader...

 

[cyberarmy]

i dont think so as the cdwriter was working

Similar story happend to me, the CD writer works fine, but then I add a extra HD, BIOS won't pick up the HD or it shows some weird distorted characters during boot up. Swop the cables then fine. Just be sure it's not the cable.

Enough power for your PC to run the third HD?

 

[ColinR]

BIOS won't pick up the HD

New enough PC? BIOS Update?

 

[cyberarmy]

New enough PC? BIOS Update?

Faulty cable.....and strange windows problem after I hooked up another HD on the same hardware system. Got to re-format and re-install the system.

 

[StrontiumDog]

Try making the 3rd HDD a master or single on ide2 without the DVD writer and see if that works.

Then add the DVD writer as a slave and see if it still works, making the 3rd HDD Master if it was set to Single.

My 2 cents worth.

 

[rvanwyk]

try deleting the mbr on the third drive.

 

[quik1]

Did you check wether the bios is set to actually boot from your ide 1 - Vista/Xp drive?
Can you boot without the 3rd hdd? Unplug IDE 1 (Vista/XP drive) and see if ur bios detects the 3rd hdd then try to boot and see if you get the same error - if you do ur bios is probably set to boot off 3rd hdd!
Did that make sence to you?

 

[Glordit]

On your mobo, do you have 1 or 2 IDE ports?

as far as I can remeber from my IDE days [on SATA now ] that you could only have 2 HDD/CD/DVD drives on one cable.

Try making it:
Primary HDD - Master
Secondary HDD - Slave
Third HDD - Salve on second IDE slot

That shold work I have run 3 HDD's and 1 DVD dsrive off my old PC's IDE slots

 

[howardb]

Are you using a 40-pin or 80-pin cable on the DVD/HDD connection - most DVD/CD cables are the 40-pins, and most modern HDD's need 80-pin cables - the DVD writer should still work on an 80-pin.

Glordit is correct with the Master/Slave issue - you had it right as per your original post - depending on your cable wiring will also depend on if master is the first or second connector - maybe take the DVD writer out and have the 3rd HDD hooked up as either slave or master (change jumpers accordingly), and get it to boot correctly, then add the DVD writer back in...

Also check your BIOS settings on the boot configuration section - your bios may have crapped out with the change and set it to default - ensure that your boot drive is selected in the boot option list - which mobo make and model do you have?

 

[The_Techie]

Are you using a 40-pin or 80-pin cable on the DVD/HDD connection - most DVD/CD cables are the 40-pins, and most modern HDD's need 80-pin cables - the DVD writer should still work on an 80-pin.

Glordit is correct with the Master/Slave issue - you had it right as per your original post - depending on your cable wiring will also depend on if master is the first or second connector - maybe take the DVD writer out and have the 3rd HDD hooked up as either slave or master (change jumpers accordingly), and get it to boot correctly, then add the DVD writer back in...

Also check your BIOS settings on the boot configuration section - your bios may have crapped out with the change and set it to default - ensure that your boot drive is selected in the boot option list - which mobo make and model do you have?

I suspect that as well.

 

[dam]

I had the exact same problem just the other day. I tried everything I could think of so I dont know what actually fixed it in the end. I reset the bios, I booted from CD, I kicked the machine, I ran fdisk, I cried to momma, I swapped cables, I switched jumpers and somehow suddenly it worked. Wish I knew what the problem actually was.

 

[howardb]

I had the exact same problem just the other day. I tried everything I could think of so I dont know what actually fixed it in the end. I reset the bios, I booted from CD, I kicked the machine, I ran fdisk, I cried to momma, I swapped cables, I switched jumpers and somehow suddenly it worked. Wish I knew what the problem actually was.

...if at first you don't succeed, kick it, then run to mommy for a new one...

 

[damocci]

Haven't read everyone else's responses, but it's pretty simple. Check the jumpers and IDE connections to make sure that:

Hard drive 1 (Vista) = Primary master
Hard drive 2 (XP) = Primary slave
DVD writer = Secondary master
Hard drive 3 (empty) = Secondary slave

Then in your BIOS set Hard drive 2 as the boot up drive.

Once in Windows XP, go to System Properties, Advanced, Start Up and Recovery Settings, then you can set how much time you have to choose between choosing XP and Vista at the boot up screen.

 

[HavocXphere]

If you shuffle HDDs then the BIOS looks for the boot record on the wrong one and give you an OS not found error.

First check that all 3 hdds are being detected then check that its booting off the correct one.

 

[kronoSX]

Similar story happend to me, the CD writer works fine, but then I add a extra HD, BIOS won't pick up the HD or it shows some weird distorted characters during boot up. Swop the cables then fine. Just be sure it's not the cable.

Enough power for your PC to run the third HD?

thats exactly what i am getting as error