Ran out of IDE channel. Please help

newbie2005 · 06-22-2005, 10:48 AM

Hi folks,

I'm a bit angry at Dell. The new Dimension 8400 computer I bought recently only has 1 primary IDE channel. A data cable is connected to 2 optical drives (DVD-ROM and DVD+/-RW). That leaves no connector (or channel) for my internal Iomega zip drive (250 MB).

Does this mean I need to purchase some sort of PCI card that contains the IDE connectors? I did a little search on the net, came up with this link to the product:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_g...asterid=419815

Could this be the solution to the problem?

kof2000 · 06-22-2005, 10:49 AM

if you mean the ide cables you just need to buy one they're around 5 bucks or less online. if you're talking about the ide slots on the mobo then you'll need to buy a pci ide addon card.

jjsevdt · 06-22-2005, 01:21 PM

Zip drives use the same size as a floppy disk. You'll have to find a small ide with a primary and slave

jjsevdt · 06-22-2005, 01:25 PM

http://store.a2zcable.com/pcl27.html here's one

j0hn00 · 06-22-2005, 01:56 PM

As a side note... if the two opticals are on one cable, then there should be an extra slot on the other cable holding your hard drive... assuming you only have one hard drive.

The Astroman · 06-22-2005, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by newbie2005

Hi folks, I'm a bit angry at Dell.

NEVER BUY DELL!

Anyway, for your problem, you'll be needing an add-on IDE PCI card, the one which is in the link you posted up should do just fine.

newbie2005 · 06-23-2005, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Astroman

NEVER BUY DELL!

Anyway, for your problem, you'll be needing an add-on IDE PCI card, the one which is in the link you posted up should do just fine.

The product link I posted is an ATA/100 controller card to support 66MHz PCI motherboards. Will it slowdown my computer? My Dell Dimension 8400 desktop uses the 925X chipset, 800 MHZ FSB. There seems to be some imbalance in the speed, i.e., 66 MHZ vs 800 HMZ, right?

j0hn00 · 06-23-2005, 11:47 AM

800MHz is your motherboard bus speed. I think 66MHz is the PCI interface speed. If so, it'll work fine on your motherboard.

06-22-2005, 10:48 AM	#1 (permalink)
newbie2005 Bronze Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 53	Ran out of IDE channel. Please help Hi folks, I'm a bit angry at Dell. The new Dimension 8400 computer I bought recently only has 1 primary IDE channel. A data cable is connected to 2 optical drives (DVD-ROM and DVD+/-RW). That leaves no connector (or channel) for my internal Iomega zip drive (250 MB). Does this mean I need to purchase some sort of PCI card that contains the IDE connectors? I did a little search on the net, came up with this link to the product: http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_g...asterid=419815 Could this be the solution to the problem?

06-22-2005, 10:49 AM	#2 (permalink)
kof2000 Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Oahu Age: 27 Posts: 6,273	if you mean the ide cables you just need to buy one they're around 5 bucks or less online. if you're talking about the ide slots on the mobo then you'll need to buy a pci ide addon card. __________________ QX9650@4.2 swiftech \|9600@3.0 9700 nt 780i \| 790fx 8gb ddr1200 \| 8gb ddr1200 2x150gb 3x1tb \|2x250gb 3x8800gtx \|3x2900xt 1gb 2x20xdvdrw \|2x20xdvdrw 15in1 card reader \|15in1 card reader ng15/g9 \|ng15/g9 1200w psu \|1200w psu 2x28" LCD \|2x28" LCD

06-22-2005, 01:21 PM	#3 (permalink)
jjsevdt Diamond Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: San Antonio, TX Age: 25 Posts: 1,023	Zip drives use the same size as a floppy disk. You'll have to find a small ide with a primary and slave __________________ C2D E6420 @ 2.13GHz on AsRock 4CoreDual-VSTA 2GB DDR2 533 1 - 80GB \| 1 - 60GB BFG Nvidia 7600GS Soundblaster Audigy PSN: JjSeVdT XBOX Live: JjSeVdT

06-22-2005, 01:25 PM	#4 (permalink)
jjsevdt Diamond Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: San Antonio, TX Age: 25 Posts: 1,023	http://store.a2zcable.com/pcl27.html here's one __________________ C2D E6420 @ 2.13GHz on AsRock 4CoreDual-VSTA 2GB DDR2 533 1 - 80GB \| 1 - 60GB BFG Nvidia 7600GS Soundblaster Audigy PSN: JjSeVdT XBOX Live: JjSeVdT

06-23-2005, 11:47 AM	#8 (permalink)
j0hn00 Gold Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 324	800MHz is your motherboard bus speed. I think 66MHz is the PCI interface speed. If so, it'll work fine on your motherboard. Last edited by j0hn00; 06-24-2005 at 12:11 PM.

06-22-2005, 01:56 PM	#5 (permalink)
j0hn00 Gold Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 324	As a side note... if the two opticals are on one cable, then there should be an extra slot on the other cable holding your hard drive... assuming you only have one hard drive.

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