Re: 160 Gb drive in a removable caddy give "disk error press ctrl alt del" on boot

I have a couple in use...it is called ez-swap by vantec. operation is
simple, the case has a dip switch arrangement on the outside that allows you
to select m/s/cs. on the inside there are 3 pair of wire connectors (2pin)
that you plug into the normal connections on the HDD. Perhaps a little bit
easier then taking off the lid and changing the jumper pin/plug?

"Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uTa8LRENIHA.6108@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dave:
That's interesting. I've worked with dozens of different makes & models of
mobile racks over a fairly long period of years and I've never come across
one with jumper selectors on the rack itself. A most unusual arrangement
to say the least. Could you let me know the make & model of such a unit?
Thanks.
Anna


"Lil' Dave" <spamyourself@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23DnZUZDNIHA.1168@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A few bay mounted ide hard drive enclosures I've used have a jumper(s) as
part of the enclosure. The ide hard drive must be set master or slave,
the jumper on the enclosure is set per that setting of the hard drive.
Cable select setting on the hard drive is not an option for proper
operation in such cases.

--
Dave


"neil" <neilp67_@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:zxW3j.8123$B97.1122@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Hi Anna,
I have tried the drive connected to the internal IDE and in the caddy,
using master & cable select but no change. I now have the drive with a
copy of XP SP2 fully installed and if I put it in the caddy I get the
error message "disk read error press ctr alt del" at boot, but if I
connect it to the internal IDE cable using the cable that is normally
connected to the caddy (primary master) then it boots into XP and works
without error.
I did put it into the same tray as my normal 120Gb drive and the error
is the same. Both 120Gb & 160Gb are set to "cable select".

Any ideas
Neil

"Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"neil" <neilp67_@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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Just to ensure we're talking about the same type of component - a
mobile rack that's affixed to a desktop's 5 1/4" bay that has a
removable tray (caddy) housing a HDD -- that's right, isn't it? And
if so, you're working with only a single mobile rack, right?

That is correct..

1. First of all, has this problem just arisen, i.e., has the Seagate
*ever* worked properly while it was installed in the mobile rack or
has it *never* properly functioned while installed in the mobile
rack?

The Seagate drive has never worked in the caddy, I thought it was
faulty and sent it back under warrantee but the replacement acts just
the same as the original drive. This made me investigate further by
connecting it directly to the IDE cable and that is when I found out
it will boot in that configuration...

2. And you say that when the removable tray contains your bootable
120 GB HDD it boots & functions just fine, right? Obviously
indicating there's no problem with the rack itself, right?

That is correct..


3. But when you insert your bootable Seagate 160 GB HDD in the *same*
removable tray in the *same* mobile rack, you get the "disk error..."
message you refer to and the drive is not bootable. Right?

I fit it into my second removable tray and that is when I get the boot
error..I have always left the 120Gb drive in what I call my 1st tray,
suppose I could try putting the Seagate in the second tray..


4. But you know there's nothing wrong with the Seagate because it
boots & functions just fine when you connect it as an internal HDD,
right? And when you do this the Seagate is jumpered as Master and is
connected to your Primary IDE connector on the motherboard, right?
And your mobile rack is similarly connected as Primary Master when
it's in use? So that when you connect the Seagate as an internal
Primary Master (for testing purposes), you disconnect the mobile
rack's IDE cable connected to the rack and use it to connect the
Seagate, right?

Yes, but I use cable select for either the 120Gb or the 160Gb and when
I have use a 20Gb drive in the second bay.. The 250Gb permanent drive
is also set as cable select...


Think there's any chance that the problem you're experiencing may be
in the HDD jumpering as related to the IDE cable
connections/configurations to the motherboard's IDE channel(s)?

I have tried both cable select & master links.

Anna

P.S.
You indicated in a subsequent post that you think the problem may be
due to the large-drive limitation involving HDDs > 137 GB. But didn't
you indicate that the full disk capacity of your 250 GB HDD is
detected in your system without any problems?

The full capacity has always been seen of all drives it is just a boot
issue not a full capacity issue...


(I note the comment from a responder to your query to the effect that
"Caddys are not that reliable for the larger hard drives (greater
than the bios LBA limit of 137GB.)". That has not been our experience
and we have worked with a wide variety of mobile racks in many, many
systems over the year. As long as the BIOS supports large-drive
capability and your XP OS contains SP1 and/or SP2 at the time you
install the OS onto the HDD, there's no problem with the mobile rack
itself not detecting HDDs > 137 GB. At least we've never once
encountered that problem.)

It just crossed my mind that it might have something to do with the
137Gb limit as the drives I swap that are less than 137Gb do boot, but
the first time I use a drive >137Gb (as a boot drive) in the caddy it
doesn't.

Thanks for taking the time to run through the issues, hoping you can
come up with a resolution.

Neil


Neil:
As I previously indicated, *all* that is necessary for the system to
recognize a large-capacity HDD, i.e., one whose capacity is > 137 GB
(approx.), are two requirements...
1. The XP OS contains either SP1 or SP2 at the time the OS is installed
on the HDD, and,
2. Your motherboard's BIOS supports large-capacity disks. And we know
there's no problem here because you've indicated the system detects the
full capacity of one of your secondary 250 GB HDDs (at least that's
what I think you stated).

That's it. Nothing else. It has nothing to do with the mobile rack
itself.

In any event, if it happened that the XP OS that was installed on your
Seagate HDD did *not* contain SP1 or SP2 at the time the OS was
installed, the system would still detect the drive; it just wouldn't
detect its full capacity. It should still boot and function properly
except for the unrecognized additional disk space.

As a test, could you jumper the Seagate as Master (rather than CS),
install it in the removable tray, and ensure the IDE cable is connected
to the Primary IDE connector on the motherboard, and disconnect your
second mobile rack together with any other connected internal HDD? Then
attempt a boot. Same problem?

And, if so, if you uninstalled the Seagate from the removable tray and
installed the 120 GB HDD, jumpered as Master, in the same mobile rack
still connected to the motherboard's Primary IDE connector, it will
boot?

And you say, setting aside the removable HDD mobile racks, that the
Seagate 160 GB if *directly* connected to the Primary IDE channel as an
internal HDD will boot & function properly?

Could you detect anything in the motherboard's BIOS settings relative
to boot priority order or some such that might shed some light on this?
Although as you describe the situation (as I understand it) it's hard
for me to conceive that's where the problem lays. But maybe...
Anna









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