Moved Dell Dimension 2400 to new case, IDE controller problem

[Chris 96 WS6]

Since I added a DVD burner, front panel connector plate for my video capture card, and a floppy/card reader combo, my Dell Dimension 2400 no longer fit in its cute little case.

So I popped $15 for an ultra cheap Coolmax case. Man this thing is cheap....flimsy....but it will work until I can spring for a nicer case.

Anyway, I swapped everything over last night but it wouldn't load the OS. The hard drive wasn't recognized.

Turns out none of the IDE devices were. I have 2 HDDs on the primary controller and a DVD burner and a CD burner on the 2nd controller.

I finally got it to boot by disconnecting the DVD and CD burners. With all 4 connected it won't recognize any of them.

The one thing I haven't checked is to double check the slave/master settings aren't in conflict on the DVD and CD. It was late last night and once I got it to boot and load XP that was a stopping point.

Any suggestions? The only difference from before is I only had the two HDDs and the DVD burner...no CD because of lack of slots. So I might try disconnecting the CD only as well. Wonder why having all four devices would render the IDE controllers inoperative like that though?

 

[iss]

First, check to make sure that no metal in the case is in contact with the mobo. (You did use stand offs when installing the board didnt you?)

second make sure you connected the IDE cable correctly, there is a red stripe on one side of the IDE cable. that stripe should be on the outside facing you when installed correctly.

 

[Chris 96 WS6]

Thanks for the tips. I had some time to mess with it last night.

Turns out to have been a bad IDE cable. I have a set of those fancy round cables....well shall we say cheap fancy round cables. On a whim I decided to swap it out just to rule it out, and poof....problem solved!

Needless to say I went on and put all known good ribbon cables back in

FWIW yes I used standoffs and the IDE cables had the little keys on them so you can't put them in backwards. I guess you could force it but I'm usually pretty good with that stuff.

 

[iss]

Yeah, NEVER buy the cheapo round cables they are junk. if you want to use round cables go with Antec or vantec cables, they are high quality.