Re: How to configure a 2nd SCSI SATA drive?
- From: "Patrick Keenan" <test@xxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 1 Oct 2007 13:55:35 -0400
"Nak" <Nak@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:D15BE9D6-1164-4F91-8D0C-904D8F5FCD8B@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
22:26 01/10/2007
How to configure a 2nd SCSI SATA drive?
Your drives are either SCSI or SATA, they cannot be both. From the model
numbers you p;rovided , these are SATA drives.
In reality, SATA and SCSI are different things. SCSI is recognisable by a
totally different connector (much wider than SATA). Also, SCSI drives are
not common, and tend to have smaller capacities and be much more expensive
than SATA.
NT, 2000 and XP for some reason grouped these drives with SCSI.
Generally, to add and configure a 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) SATA drive to a
system, you shut down, plug the drive(s) in, restart, allow Windows to
detect them. From Disk Management, select each raw drive and create
partitions, then format them and assign drive letters as appropriate.
Start using them.
That's it. Your system will have one primary drive, and then as much space
and as many drive letters as have been added with your disk installs of
non-primary drives.
You appear to be trying to make this much more complex than it is.
---------------------------------------
Specs: Win XP Pro SP2, Pentium 4 3 GHz, 445 MB RAM
Following drive specs obtained via 'Computer Management' and 'Device
Manager':
Disk 0: ST316081 5AS SCSI Disk Device / 75 GB
Disk 1: ST380811 0AS SCSI Disk device / 150 GB (just added & initialized;
not yet configured, partitioned, formatted, etc.)
These drives are SATA drives. I know v little about SCSI and SATA drives
except
for what I'v just read on the Net. SEAGATE Website says no jumpers need be
set
and that all drives are considered as Masters. I do not know the
implications
of having 2 Master drives. The following is from SEAGATE Website:
<snippage>
There are 4 SATA connectors on the mobo - 2 red (1 & 2); 2 black (3 & 4) -
and I don't have a clue as to the difference between the red and the black
ones - unless maybe the black ones are for 'Slave drives'.
They are generally marked for identification. The function doesn't differ.
No slaves and no masters and no jumpers with SATA. It's very easy to use.
There are four SATA channels on your motherboard. One drive attaches to
each.
I would suggest that you start with 1 and work towards 4, sequentially.
I would like to make the new 2nd drive a Slave (if possible and if
adviseable)
Why? You say this several times and give no reason.
This terminology is not applicable to SATA. I would suggest that your
desire to do this may be due to a simple misunderstanding or lack of
information.
It's much easier than you appear to think.
but have no idea how to go about it. Wouldn't have a clue about
any "host adapter documentation"; seems like a bit of overkill, just to
make
a drive a slave drive.
Why is it that you wish to make a drive a "slave"?
Thought Windows might give the option. With IDE it's a
matter of simple drive jumper relocation.
No need for jumpers with SATA as there is only one drive per channel.
In Disk Management I got confronted w/ a riske "Dynamic Volume" wizard.
"The
Elder Geek" provides some articles on this which made my hair stand on end
and my skin crawl. For sure I don't want to convert the Disk to Dynamic
Volume or RAID, etc. No way!
Correct You want Basic disks for most purposes.
The article also givesa warning about not being able to convert back; yet
Windows Help (via 'Computer Management') says it's a simple matter and
gives
the steps.
Who's right?
"simple" depends on what you did and what your skills and knowledge are.
Fortunately and somehow I got the wizard to finally give me the 'basic
disk'
option.
It's the default.
------------------------------------------
1. All I want to do is to make this 2nd drive a simple FAT32 backup drive
Why do you want FAT32?
with a total of 4 partitions - and hopefully Windows XP will give me the
FAT32 option somewhere along the line. I don't want NTFS for several
reasons.
If the partitions are over 40 gig or so, XP will not allow you to format as
FAT, only as NTFS.
You would need to boot the system with something else and format the
partitions there.
There are a lot of good reasons for formatting as NTFS.
The few good reasons for *not* doing so include having to dual-boot with an
OS that does not support NTFS, or regularly attaching the drive to such an
OS. If the other OS is accessing it via XP and a network, the format isn't
an issue as XP does the translation.
2. If I cannot get the 'Slave drive' option,
You can't, it isn't part of the SATA concept. You would need to use IDE
drives for this, but in any case, I don't believe you will find any benefit.
Why do you want this, or why do you *think* you want this?
While the master/slave model does not apply to SATA where it's one drive per
channel, it's also not relevant to partitioning or formatting.
is it OK to just go ahead and
assume it'll turn into a 2nd Master?
No.
Each SATA channel in use will have one drive. The system will have a
primary drive.
What are the consequences of this?
There will be one primary system drive, and other non-primary drives.
That's it. The boot sequence is determined elsewhere.
3. How do I partition this thing? Should I / do I need to first create a
primary
partition and then an extended partition, which I then partition into 3
logical
drives? or how?
How you partition it depends on your needs. Drives this size many people
leave to one partition and format NTFS.
There's this idea that partitioning somehow allows some safety for backups.
This is true in the sense that if you accidentally format or remove one
partition, the others are safe. However, it's just as common for drives to
fail, and then all partitions are equally inaccessible. Also, a single
backup location is asking for trouble. Drives and disks fail. Make more
than one copy to more than one physical disk and store them in physically
different locations.
Creating one partition and then four directories that you then map or subst
so that these folders appear as drives, is another approach that removes the
size limitations necessarily imposed by partitioning.
But how you partition depends on your needs. Don't know what those are.
4. Do I need to / can I (if I want to) install an OS (like Win XP Pro) on
the primary partition?
So you now also wish to have a second install of XP on the system? Why?
Yes you can create a dual-boot system, but only you can tell if you "need"
to do so.
Is there any advantage to this?
That depends on whether you "need" to install XP again. You will need a
second license.
Would there be a conflict created
between the existing OS on Disk 0
And what *is* this "existing OS"?
It can "conflict" if you are not careful. Dual-boots have to be
implemented with some care.
and the new one on Disk 1 or would the
system boot normally via the OS on the C: drive?
That would depend on how you performed the second install and where its
files are. Normally with dual-boots you set up a selector screen.
I did not see any answers to any of the above specific questions in the
Windows Help on the issue in Computer Management.
Some of the questions aren't relevant to its topics.
Could someone please supply me with some understandable answers to the
above?
Frankly, I will suggest that you need to rephrase some of your questions and
provide more information with them.
HTH
-pk
Thank you very much,
--
Nak
.
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