Difference between Primary and Secondary IDE Channels?

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Is there any difference between the primary and secondary IDE channels? I
have my harddrive on secondary and my DVD 16X burner on primary. I tried
this because when I put my DVD burner on secondary it would only get
Multi-Word DMA mode 2 while the HDD got UDMA mode 5 on the primary. This is
a new burner and capable of UDMA 4. After troubleshooting I switched
channels and got UDMA mode 4 on the DVD burner when on the primary as master
and still got UDMA mode 5 on the only HDD on the secondary as master. I
don't understand the difference and the computer works fine and it appears I
am getting the transfer modes I am supposed to.

 

[peter]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Hi,

Usually you should connect the Hdd to Primary IDE channel as Master and the
Optical drive to Secondary IDE channel as Master. Both drive jumpered as
master or cable select.

Always connect the fastest drive as master and the slower drive as slave in
the same IDE channel.

For best performance, I would suggest you to use the 40 Pin 80 wires
shielded IDE cable for both drives; jumper both drives as cable select.

Peter


"Michael Reed" wrote:

> Is there any difference between the primary and secondary IDE channels? I
> have my harddrive on secondary and my DVD 16X burner on primary. I tried
> this because when I put my DVD burner on secondary it would only get
> Multi-Word DMA mode 2 while the HDD got UDMA mode 5 on the primary. This is
> a new burner and capable of UDMA 4. After troubleshooting I switched
> channels and got UDMA mode 4 on the DVD burner when on the primary as master
> and still got UDMA mode 5 on the only HDD on the secondary as master. I
> don't understand the difference and the computer works fine and it appears I
> am getting the transfer modes I am supposed to.
>
>
>

 

[bar]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Most peripheral devices generate interrupts in order to receive service from
the operating system (OS).

Some examples of devices that can use interrupts are Hard Disk Drives, PC
cards, onboard timers, audio input devices, keyboards, touch screens, and
pointing devices. Nearly any type of peripheral device might use interrupts
as the principle method of initiating servicing actions by the OS. Because
these peripheral devices can cause or signal interrupts, their device drivers
must process interrupts in order to service their devices.

Physical interrupts (IRQs) are hardware lines over which devices can send
interrupt signals to the microprocessor. Logical interrupts (SYSINTRs) are a
mapping of the IRQ, which the OAL specifies.

The primary IDE interface will be assigned a higher priority than the
secondary, if there are two identical devices on each: but if the secondary
has a Hard disk drive and the Primary only an optical drive, then the
Secondary [hard disk drive] will be given a higher level of interrupt.



"Peter" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> Usually you should connect the Hdd to Primary IDE channel as Master and the
> Optical drive to Secondary IDE channel as Master. Both drive jumpered as
> master or cable select.
>
> Always connect the fastest drive as master and the slower drive as slave in
> the same IDE channel.
>
> For best performance, I would suggest you to use the 40 Pin 80 wires
> shielded IDE cable for both drives; jumper both drives as cable select.
>
> Peter
>
>
> "Michael Reed" wrote:
>
> > Is there any difference between the primary and secondary IDE channels? I
> > have my harddrive on secondary and my DVD 16X burner on primary. I tried
> > this because when I put my DVD burner on secondary it would only get
> > Multi-Word DMA mode 2 while the HDD got UDMA mode 5 on the primary. This is
> > a new burner and capable of UDMA 4. After troubleshooting I switched
> > channels and got UDMA mode 4 on the DVD burner when on the primary as master
> > and still got UDMA mode 5 on the only HDD on the secondary as master. I
> > don't understand the difference and the computer works fine and it appears I
> > am getting the transfer modes I am supposed to.
> >
> >
> >

 

[anna]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

> "Michael Reed" wrote:
>
>> Is there any difference between the primary and secondary IDE channels?
>> I
>> have my harddrive on secondary and my DVD 16X burner on primary. I tried
>> this because when I put my DVD burner on secondary it would only get
>> Multi-Word DMA mode 2 while the HDD got UDMA mode 5 on the primary. This
>> is
>> a new burner and capable of UDMA 4. After troubleshooting I switched
>> channels and got UDMA mode 4 on the DVD burner when on the primary as
>> master
>> and still got UDMA mode 5 on the only HDD on the secondary as master. I
>> don't understand the difference and the computer works fine and it
>> appears I
>> am getting the transfer modes I am supposed to.



"Peter" <Peter@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:FB1EA1FC-7FBB-4AF3-8FE9-F7327D0AF82F@microsoft.com...
> Hi,
>
> Usually you should connect the Hdd to Primary IDE channel as Master and
> the
> Optical drive to Secondary IDE channel as Master. Both drive jumpered as
> master or cable select.
>
> Always connect the fastest drive as master and the slower drive as slave
> in
> the same IDE channel.
>
> For best performance, I would suggest you to use the 40 Pin 80 wires
> shielded IDE cable for both drives; jumper both drives as cable select.
>
> Peter


Michael:
With the modern IDE/ATAPI devices and motherboards we're working with today,
there is simply *no* difference in performance with these devices in terms
of their connections on IDE channels or their Master/Slave configurations.
Peter's recommendation to "Always connect the fastest drive as master and
the slower drive as slave in (sic) the same IDE channel" is incorrect. Each
device will perform at its rated transfer speed regardless of its
Master/Slave configuration on the IDE channel. There was a time when it
*did* matter, but that time is long gone.

Also, as a *practical* matter there is no performance issue between an
optical drive operating at either UDMA mode 2 or mode 4. Only the inherent
"speed" of the device will be a factor in its performance when operating at
one of those two modes.

So feel free to connect your devices in any configuration you determine is
practical given the physical placement of those devices in your computer
case. Using Cable Select, as Peter recommends, is fine as is jumpering the
devices as Master/Slave.

Having said all this...
There is one "but" we've run into (although it doesn't really apply in your
situation). We have come across motherboards that would not permit booting
from a HD unless it was connected as PM. A rare occurrence in my experience
but I have run into it. Of course, in virtually every case a user will
ordinarily connect his/her booting HD as PM so for most of us it's a
non-issue.
Anna

 

[tushkidon]

Hi,
I have an old seagate IDE HDD which i borrowed from my friend.
I already had two dvd-rom drives attached with the ide cable, so i removed one of the dvd-roms and replaced it with the IDE hard drive, then changed the jumper on the other dvd-rom to slave so that the hdd was the master.

After booting up i found my pc to be slow and the system usage(mainly hardware interrupts) spiking up to 50% whenever i tried to copy huge files into the IDE drive.
I've tried installing one old mobo ide driver, thought it'd help, but did not.

In the device mgr, in the IDE/ATAPI Controllers section, when i see the properties of "Nvidia nForce 590/570/550 Serial ATA controller", it shows that my ide hdd is in SATA gen 2-3G transfer mode, but when i check the properties in the primary channel, its shows that it's in PIO mode.

Please help!

Also i'd like to know what exactly are my primary and secondary channels here, cuz i've attached both devices on the 2-device ide cable attached to the mobo.

My system specs are:

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 2/7/2009, 13:40:47
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4600+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Motherboard: ASUS M2N-SLI DELUXE
CHIPSET: NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI

 

[bhowell]

While it would have been better to start a new thread instead of resurrecting an old one, I will answer your question.

In your setup, you have a hard drive and an optical driveo on the same chain. Since doing that, you have slowed down your hard drive as the information will travel at the speed of the slowest devide on an IDE chain....in this case the optical drive. You are better off putting both hard drives on the main IDE channel and any optical drives on the secondary IDE channel. You should notice an increase in speed again.

 

[tushkidon]

Sorry, I'm starting a new thread for the same thing

thx bhowell, but i'd like to know more on the secondary IDE channel setup, i do not know what exactly the primary and secondary channels are.
Also, I have only one IDE HDD, the other device is my dvd-rom. Pl post ur reply at http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/248568-32-mode

Thank you