I am having a problem with two new Socket 478 motherboards. One is an Aopen and one is an ASUS. Both are brand new. I am replacing a defective motherboard in an E-machines computer. I have installed a new power supply and have tried both motherboards. Neither board with detect any devices connected to the secondary IDE interface. I have replaced hundreds of systemboards and have never had this problem. I have checked to make sure that the BIOS has this device enabled. One board is an Aopen MX46-800N and the other is an ASUS P4S8X-MX-UAYZ. I feel that I must be missing something obvious. I may try another power supply or is it possible for a CPU to be defective and cause this? I can't imagine that two new Motherboards would have defective secondary IDE connections.

A defective IDE cable or defective drive(s) or wrong jumper settings? And if you are using the 80-wire cable, then it does matter which plug goes where.

Pretty much covers it right there. Only other thing would you have two motherboards that are DOA, which is hard to believe especially since they are both having the same problem.

I have used different cables and the same hard drive on the primary and secondary. It is detected on primary but not on secondary. I have used different cd drives using both cs and master. Nothing works.

I have resolved the problem. Both the ASUS and AOPEN motherboard has a front panel audio connection that appears to be compatible with the EMachines front audio cable. The pins match up perfectly. When this cable is connected the secondary ide will not detect any devices connected to it. Unplug it and it works fine. This is a lesson to be learned when replacing a branded manufacturer"s systemboard with a generic replacement. Thank you for your response and I hope this saves time and grief for others.