I'm About to Install my First Hard Drive

[Weird Harold]

UPDATE: As it turns out, my hard drive thingie only has 4 pin-like thingies, and my computer hookie thingie has 6 holes.

What kind of computer do you have?

I'm guessing that you're talking about the power connection but I've never seen a computer that had more that four pins on the power plugs -- just large connectors for Hard Drives and CD Drives and small one for 3.5" floppoy drives.

 

[Lisa Denton]

UPDATE: As it turns out, my hard drive thingie only has 4 pin-like thingies, and my computer hookie thingie has 6 holes. I think they sent me the wrong thingie, but I did manage to reconnect the other thingies to make my computer run off the old drive for now. Cheers!

I love a challenge, we can still do this.

We need pictures.

As Teach sorta hinted to, put on an EDS wrist-strap, strip down to bra and panties and take pics of all parts. Then post them here. We will study the pics and tell you what to do. I like pink or yellow panties, make sure to show lots of pics of these connectors you are referrin to.

What sort of system are you workin on and what kinda hard drive are you tryin to shove in there. Is it really big? He, he. I mean lots of gigs silly. Sometimes things look like they will never fit in there but they really will.

Describe or show pics of the HD connectors, power suppy connectors, turn ons and turn offs, and whether you spit or swallow. Then you can just power back up, post the pics and info, and wait for our replies.

The clip on your EDS wrist-strap is fun to play with while you is waitin, try clippin it on different thingies, and post those pics to give us some breaks while we is brainstormin and stuff.

You can take the make and model of your new HD, google search it and narrow search to installation, often findin install pics and tips.

On the pics you post here, the yellow ducks is ok on you, but try to shoo them out of the pics when you is showin hardware pics, they break my concentration.

 

[gauchecritic]

Why did you unhook your old drive? Just put the new one in an unused bay. Keep XP on your old drive and tell it to store everything else on the new.

If you're embarrassed about posting the nekkid earthed pics just send them to me and I'll scrutinize them carefully and then just describe them to everyone else in a new thread entitled: Helene and her hardware.

 

[sincerely_helene]

Well, I took the pics and tried to attach them, but it turns out my attachment thingie isn't working either. You aren't missing much anyway-- I didn't want to run the risk of a static discharge, so I had to do it naked. Here is a small diagram to give you the idea of what I'm looking at:
llll <--hard drive ...... <-- hole thingies

Weird Harold: My computer was built for me, not store bought, so it is likely that the techy cheaped out or made a mistake. Or else that I'm messin 'round in the wrong area of my computer entirely. I looked at the connector thingie my current drive is hooked into, and it has the proper number of hole thingies.

Gauche: I didn't disconnect the current one... I'm trying to put in a secondary. Didn't you get the pics I sent?

 

[Guest]

helene
youre far too cute

ok, my work here is done.

 

[NoJo]

llll <--hard drive ...... <-- hole thingies

There's my argument right there for living a life of peaceful contemplation in Tibet.

 

[sincerely_helene]

helene
youre far too cute

Must be the ducks.

 

[Guest]

Must be the ducks.

no, really i dont have a feather fetish
im more of a horse hair fan.

 

[Weird Harold]

Weird Harold: My computer was built for me, not store bought, so it is likely that the techy cheaped out or made a mistake. Or else that I'm messin 'round in the wrong area of my computer entirely. I looked at the connector thingie my current drive is hooked into, and it has the proper number of hole thingies.

If your computer was custom built, then it should use the same connectors as most other computers -- a 40 pin ribbon cable and a four pin power connector which has a red wire on one side, a yellow wire on the other and two black wires in the middle and is about 7/8 inch wide. (a floppy drive power connector is smaller -- about 3/8 inch wide -- but thas the same four wires in the same order.)

The only place I know of where different IDE/EIDE drives have different numbers of pins is in the jumpers where you select master and slave -- all drives have at least three places for jumpers and some have as many as eight, but only the first three jumpers are relevant to installing it.

Depending on what else you have in your computer, you might need a 1:2 power cable splitter -- commonly called a Y-adapter -- to get power to another drive.

The ribbon cable should be the same one that is already connected to your existing hard-drive and should already have a second connector on it. If it doesn't have two connectors, you'll need to replace it with a two drive cable.

 

[sincerely_helene]

Depending on what else you have in your computer, you might need a 1:2 power cable splitter -- commonly called a Y-adapter -- to get power to another drive.

The ribbon cable should be the same one that is already connected to your existing hard-drive and should already have a second connector on it. If it doesn't have two connectors, you'll need to replace it with a two drive cable.

That sounds closely to what my problem might be. I have decided to take it in tommorow, because this is all just way over my head. I'm long past my "I can figure it out and fix it myself" phase.

Thanks for taking the time out to respond, and keep your fingers crossed for me!

 

[sincerely_helene]

The only place I know of where different IDE/EIDE drives have different numbers of pins is in the jumpers where you select master and slave -- all drives have at least three places for jumpers and some have as many as eight, but only the first three jumpers are relevant to installing it.

Actually, that could well be it, but I was told that since I already have a master, I wouldn't require a jumper. This is only a secondary I'm trying to put in.

 

[Guest]

Helene,

You need a nice, geeky boy in your circle of friends. They are desperate for human interaction with girls. For the price of a smile, perhaps a pat on the shoulder they'll competently install hard drives, memory, whatever. For a kiss on the cheek, they'll likely buy you the hard drive and memory.

There are too many lonely, socially inept but computer literate guys out there that a good looking, single young woman should ever have to pay to have a hard drive installed.

My only slightly ironic two cents.

Ted

 

[Weird Harold]

Actually, that could well be it, but I was told that since I already have a master, I wouldn't require a jumper. This is only a secondary I'm trying to put in.

Actually, it is a slave drive that has to have the jumper moved. Hard-drives come from the factory jumpered as a Master/Single so you need to move the jumper to Slave to install it as a second drive on the same cable.

For some drives, configuring as a Slave means simply removing the jumper, on others in means moving it to the next set of pins over:

:|::: instead of |::::: or :::::: insead of |::::: although most of my drives have only three or four sets of pins |: or :|:: in slave mode) but it's only the first three (the three closest to the data cable on most new drives where the jumper is between the data and power connections) are used for drive select settings.

 

[sincerely_helene]

Helene,

You need a nice, geeky boy in your circle of friends. They are desperate for human interaction with girls. For the price of a smile, perhaps a pat on the shoulder they'll competently install hard drives, memory, whatever. For a kiss on the cheek, they'll likely buy you the hard drive and memory.

There are too many lonely, socially inept but computer literate guys out there that a good looking, single young woman should ever have to pay to have a hard drive installed.

My only slightly ironic two cents.

Ted

I adore the geeky ones! My last boyfriend was a geek.

My current techi is a chick, though. Think I should give her some sugar anyway?

Maybe I'll slip her the the tongue and see if I can't get me a discount.

 

[Guest]

I adore the geeky ones! My last boyfriend was a geek.

Another sign I was born too early. Now geeks are in!

My current techi is a chick, though. Think I should give her some sugar anyway?

Maybe I'll slip her the the tongue and see if I can't get me a discount.

If not a discount, at least a good Lit story.

 

[sincerely_helene]

Actually, it is a slave drive that has to have the jumper moved. Hard-drives come from the factory jumpered as a Master/Single so you need to move the jumper to Slave to install it as a second drive on the same cable.

For some drives, configuring as a Slave means simply removing the jumper, on others in means moving it to the next set of pins over:

:|::: instead of |::::: or :::::: insead of |::::: although most of my drives have only three or four sets of pins |: or :|:: in slave mode) but it's only the first three (the three closest to the data cable on most new drives where the jumper is between the data and power connections) are used for drive select settings.

My unused connector doesn't go :l::: or l::::: or l:::: or :l: or :l:: it just goes ......

The one connected to my old hard drive goes :::: though.

 

[NoJo]

;;;;;;;

 

[Weird Harold]

My unused connector doesn't go :l::: or l::::: or l:::: or :l: or :l:: it just goes ......

The one connected to my old hard drive goes :::: though.

Just so we're sure we're talking about the same thing:

http://www.build-your-own-cheap-computer.com/images/hard%20drive-Adjust%20Jumpers%20-%20A.jpg

Your new drive has a single row of six pins where the pliers are shown moving a jumper in the image above, right?

This image from Segate's site shows the only two cables you'll need to worry about -- the wide data cable and the four pin power cable. The master/slave jumpers are between the two cables and on new drives should be clearly ilustrated on the drive label where he jumper should be placed for a slave configuration.


http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/images/drvcab.gif

If your drive has a single row of pins, they're probably Master/Single, Slave, And Cable Select from left totright in groups of two.

A slave drive should have a jumper on pin 3 and four -- ......

A make and model number from your new drive would help, but that should be the jumper setting if the drive follows the general layout of newer harddrives. (old harddrives had the jumpers where ever they felt like putting them and every manufacturer/model had a different way of setting the jumpers for master/slave/cable select.)

 

[Kirk482002]

I've been through this so many times I could do it blind folded.

The shame of it is, I'd need to be there unblind folded to get blindfolded.

The pin setting on both drives is important, or the system won't boot.

 

[Weird Harold]

Bump, hoping for a progress report.

 

[sincerely_helene]

Bump, hoping for a progress report.

OK! Well, I have made it back, new drive securely in place. I wish I could take credit, but I finally just caved and brought it to the tech. I feel like such a knob for putting you all through this 'cause it turns out I was trying to connect the hard drive thingie into the wrong connector thingie. Yeah, yeah, I know you told me so.

If it makes me look any better, I figured out how to reconnect to the web all by myself!

Oh! And it only took me three tries this time!

Thanks again for the all the support.

 

[oggbashan]

Welcome back. You've been missed.

Og

 

[sincerely_helene]

Welcome back. You've been missed.

Og

Thanks Og!

 

[NoJo]

it turns out I was trying to connect the hard drive thingie into the wrong connector thingie

You can be a bit a of thingie yourself, sometimes.

 

[Guest]

times twelve because we missed you.