Switching the Master to Slave jumper

[HardtailStrat]

I just bought a Sony PC, and was told by the previous owner that I need to switch the current settings on the CD and DVD drives so that the drive that works at the moment will allow me to install an OS.

Does anyone know the easiest way to do this?

[patio]

It has nothing to do with jumper settings at all...
What needs to be changed is the boot sequence so the machine boots from the CD/DVD drive first.
When you start your machine there will be a black screen with system info on it...at the bottom it usually tells you what key to hit to enter Setup...this is what you want.
When you get into Setup look for a screen that lists boot devices.
Highlight First boot device and change it to CDRom by using the + key. Then press F10 to save changes and exit.
Your system will now be able to boot from a factory bootable CD.

Do not fool around changing a bunch of settings in the BIOS other than this or you might wind up with a system that will no longer boot.
You have been warned.

patio.  

[HardtailStrat]

Thanks, Patio, I'll follow this to the letter, and hope this fixes what the original owner said needed to be done to it.

Basically, he said the the CD drive isn't reading properly, and to use the DVD drive as the boot drive for the OS.  Then to replace the CD drive once I got everything going.

Thanks again.  I'll post how it went!

[HardtailStrat]

Patio,

After turning on the power, the black screen says, "Invalid System Disk", "Replace the disk, and then press any key"

Which when I do, I am given a message that says, "Searching for boot record from SCSI..Not Found", "Boot Failure, Insert BOOT diskette in A:", "Press any key when ready", but there isn't a list of choices to select from to choose the BIOS information."

I did this once before on a DELL, (before it died) and got it to work, so I remember doing this, but can't figure out how to access the BIOS screen, on this SONY.  If for some reason the previous owner was right about having to manually switch the jumper, does this mean this is his way of getting around not being able to locate the BIOS screen?

I really appreciate your help, thank you.  

[patio]

 ALR  Advanced Logic Research, Inc. ® PC / PCI         F2
ALR PC non / PCI       CTRL+ALT+ESC
AMD® (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.) BIOS       F1
AMI (American Megatrends, Inc.) BIOS       DEL
Award™ BIOS       CTRL+ALT+ESC
Award BIOS       DEL
DTK® (Datatech Enterprises Co.) BIOS       ESC
Phoenix™ BIOS       CTRL+ALT+ESC
Phoenix BIOS       CTRL+ALT+S
Phoenix BIOS       CTRL+ALT+INS
Computer  Vendor
     
Keyboard Commands
Acer®       F1, F2, CTRL+ALT+ESC
ARI®       CTRL+ALT+ESC, CTRL+ALT+DEL
AST®        CTRL+ALT+ESC, CTRL+ALT+DEL
Compaq® 8700        F10
CompUSA®       DEL
Cybermax®        ESC
Dell® 400       F3, F1
Dell 4400       F12
Dell Dimension®       F2 or DEL
Dell Inspiron®        F2
Dell Latitude       Fn+F1 (while booted)
Dell Latitude       F2 (on boot)
Dell Optiplex       DEL
Dell Optiplex       F2
Dell Precision™       F2
eMachine®       DEL
Gateway® 2000 1440       F1
Gateway 2000 Solo™       F2
HP® (Hewlett-Packard)       F1, F2 (Laptop, ESC)
IBM®       F1
IBM E-pro Laptop       F2
IBM PS/2®       CTRL+ALT+INS after CTRL+ALT+DEL
IBM Thinkpad® (newer)       Windows: Programs-Thinkpad CFG.
Intel® Tangent       DEL
Micron®       F1, F2, or DEL
Packard Bell®        F1, F2, Del
Seanix       DEL
Sony® VAIO       F2
Sony VAIO       F3
Tiger       DEL
Toshiba® 335 CDS       ESC
Toshiba Protege       ESC
Toshiba Satellite 205 CDS       F1
Toshiba Tecra       F1 or ESC

Hope this helps...

patio.  

[patio]

 ALR  Advanced Logic Research, Inc. ® PC / PCI         F2
ALR PC non / PCI       CTRL+ALT+ESC
AMD® (Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.) BIOS       F1
AMI (American Megatrends, Inc.) BIOS       DEL
Award™ BIOS       CTRL+ALT+ESC
Award BIOS       DEL
DTK® (Datatech Enterprises Co.) BIOS       ESC
Phoenix™ BIOS       CTRL+ALT+ESC
Phoenix BIOS       CTRL+ALT+S
Phoenix BIOS       CTRL+ALT+INS
Computer  Vendor
     
Keyboard Commands
Acer®       F1, F2, CTRL+ALT+ESC
ARI®       CTRL+ALT+ESC, CTRL+ALT+DEL
AST®        CTRL+ALT+ESC, CTRL+ALT+DEL
Compaq® 8700        F10
CompUSA®       DEL
Cybermax®        ESC
Dell® 400       F3, F1
Dell 4400       F12
Dell Dimension®       F2 or DEL
Dell Inspiron®        F2
Dell Latitude       Fn+F1 (while booted)
Dell Latitude       F2 (on boot)
Dell Optiplex       DEL
Dell Optiplex       F2
Dell Precision™       F2
eMachine®       DEL
Gateway® 2000 1440       F1
Gateway 2000 Solo™       F2
HP® (Hewlett-Packard)       F1, F2 (Laptop, ESC)
IBM®       F1
IBM E-pro Laptop       F2
IBM PS/2®       CTRL+ALT+INS after CTRL+ALT+DEL
IBM Thinkpad® (newer)       Windows: Programs-Thinkpad CFG.
Intel® Tangent       DEL
Micron®       F1, F2, or DEL
Packard Bell®        F1, F2, Del
Seanix       DEL
Sony® VAIO       F2
Sony VAIO       F3
Tiger       DEL
Toshiba® 335 CDS       ESC
Toshiba Protege       ESC
Toshiba Satellite 205 CDS       F1
Toshiba Tecra       F1 or ESC

Hope this helps...

patio.  

[HardtailStrat]

Yes!  Well, I've managed to get it save the changes, but for some reason only the 2nd Drive wants to work, and I'm thinking I need to still switch it from Master >Slave to the other way round, just to get the correct drive to read.

I can't seem to get past this part, but I'm glad to be at this point.

Do you think it would still be necessary to switch them at this point?

Thanks patio.  It's getting better!  

[HardtailStrat]

GOT IT!!!    

In fact, I did have to switch the jumper, and it seems to be doing the set up now.

I had to replace the keyboard, with an older one for some reason, but it's lookind good.

THANK YOU for your help.  It is tremendously appreciated!!

[patio]

You're more than Welcome and Welcome Aboard as well...
Glad you got it sorted.
2 things to remember when working on things such as the BIOS, jumpers, etc.

1) When making changes remember to make only one change at a time and test for results...otherwise you might wind up with a wonked system that won't boot.

2) Whichever HDD has the OS on it should be jumpered and cabled as master with all other storage HDD's as slave.

patio.  

Edit: External USB HDD's need to be set as master as well therefore they are an exception to the above.

[HardtailStrat]

Thank you, and thanks for the warm welcome!

I got it installed, and also got it to start-up several times, making sure it wouldn't keep asking me to reinstall it, or need the disc to boot up.

Um, I think I did the jumper switch as one item at a time, it seems like it's working ok...

I see what you mean about the HDD being "jumpered and cabled as master with all other storage HDD's as slave.", and while I was looking in the tower, from what little I know about the set-up, I'm assuming it comes that way.

So....in the meantime, I'll try getting the software I need loaded on it, and start working with it.  You may be hearing from me again later!  

Hope you have a great day, patio!  Mine's starting out WAY better than yesterday thanks to your help!  Take care!

[patio]

No problem !
I would also suggest investing in a good imaging program...i use Acronis True Image, around 50 bucks.
The beauty of it is when you have finally re-installed all your programs, set all your preferences, set up your web access etc. before anything gets wonked you use Acronis to image the HDD.
Down the road if you have problems all you do is backup you're most recent data, re-boot to the Acronis floppy/CD and restore your system...
Takes about 15 to 20 minutes instead of what you're going thru now.

Happy Trails,
patio.  

[HardtailStrat]

Hello patio,

Hope you had a good Tgiving!  I had a hunch I'd need to ask you for some further assistance, and please forgive me for not posting a new thread about the OS installation.

I am a pretty active user of computers, but I am a guitar player first, so trying to repair or use a computer as a musical tool is pretty new to me.

I installed the OS on to both drives, the C and D drives, as it seemed to make sense at the time to do that, and found out I didn't have to do that, by contacting the previous owner.

He tells me that may cause file-sharing problems, and I've decided I would like to uninstall everything and just start from scratch again reinstalling the OS one time.  I can't believe I did that, but it really did make sense at the time.  Sorry!  

Is there a good way to do safely do this?  I really want to get this PC off to a good start, and didn't want to make things hard for me later once I start recording.

I really appreciate you taking time to help me on these questions.  Hope you have a great weekend!  Thanks!

[Mystik1982*]

So you have two drives each with the same OS on it?  Two seperate installs right?  That's not a problem.  Have you saved anything on either drive?  All you would have to do is load up the OS that is installed on the C drive.  Click start, and then select run.  Type in CMD.  In the command prompt type in the following command.

format D: /fs:NTFS

This will format drive D and get rid of the second installation.  Then you can use drive D as storage for all your files.  I put in /FS:NTFS because I'm assuming you have windows 2000 or windows XP.  If you windows 98 then do this

format D: /fs:FAT32

[HardtailStrat]

Howdy!

No I haven't saved anything on the D drive, so that makes me feel pretty good about not losing anything.

I entered the command, got a new prompt, so I assume that did it.  I'm going to close the window, and then restart just to get it going.  How can I tell it worked?  Are there any folders I can look in to verify this was performed corectly?

Thank you very much for answering my question, I really appreciate it!

[Mystik1982*]

If there is nothing in the D drive when you look at it in windows explorer then it worked.  

[HardtailStrat]

Well, it shows 3 main folders, "Documents & Settings", "Program Files", and "Windows", and for example in the "Program Files" it still has a couple of folders I put in there yesterday.

?

[Mystik1982*]

After you put in the command to format what happened?  Did it format it?  There shouldn't be anything on your D drive at all.

I'd try it again and this time wait to see it finish.  

Tell me what it did the first time you entered the command in.

[HardtailStrat]

the intial prompt says:

D:\Documents and Settings\Tim Casey>

I typed in the command like this:

D: /fs:NTFS

And it gave me another prompt:

D:\Documents and Settings\Tim Casey>

it's just sitting there waiting for another command.  I noticed that it is the D: prompt in the first place...should that be reading a C drive prompt?

[patio]

Sounds like it did not format, especially if there is still data on there...
Try going thru Disk Management directly to do this.
Right clik My Computer select Manage and this will bring you to the Disk Management console.
From there you can select D: and choose format.
Make sure there is no data you need on there beforehand, but from what you've stated there shouldn't be...

patio.  

[HardtailStrat]

Howdy!

Well, I've managed to get to the "computer management" window, and see that split screen window where the 2 drives are visible, but I'm not seeing the option to "format"...

thanks!

[patio]

Right clik D:...

[HardtailStrat]

Ah!  Thanks, patio.

The "Format" selection is greyed out, and had to select "Open" in order to get to a window that would allow me to R click on it, and have the "Format" option avaiable.

I clicked on "Format", and I get a dialogue box that says:

"Windows cannot format this drive.  Quit any utilities or other programs that are using this drive, and make sure that no window is displaying the contents of the drive.  Then try formatting again."

I should note that there is nothing open but these windows here that I'm trying to use to get to D drive.

Sorry for being so difficult with all this.  Any other ideas on how to go about this?

Thanks very much!

[patio]

Make a new folder on D: called AAA...this is going to help when you need to identify the correct drive as a bootdisk will sometimes bump up the drive letters and we want to be sure to format the correct drive...
Travel to bootdisk and dload a WinME bootdisk.
Extract the contents to a clean floppy.
Boot with the floppy in and select "start machine with CDRom support.
At the A: prompt type D: and hit enter. Type Dir /p and hit enter...we are looking for the AAA dir you created. If you don't see it on D: try E: with the same steps
Once you have determined which drive is correct type A: and hit enter...then type format E: /u   (or whatever letter corresponds to that drive) and hit enter. Your format will now start.. Should take 3 to 5 minutes depending on the size of the drive.
Re-boot to Windows and using the Disk Management Console check that the drive shows up and assign it a drive letter if needed....

p.s. after format it will ask for a volume label...just hit Enter for "none.
GCongrats you're done !

patio.  

[HardtailStrat]

Thanks, patio!

I'll give this a try.  This computer (not the one I'm having trouble with) is the one I use to get on the Internet, but it's a newer model, and doesn't have a floppy drive.

I'll try getting that info onto the floppy I found, by using the PC I use at work, and will follow your steps.

I sure hope I can get this to work!  

[Mystik1982*]

I think I found the reason it didn't work with the way I told you.  If you typed in this:

D: /fs:NTFS

then it wouldn't work.  You forgot the word format,

D:format /fs:NTFS

that should have worked.  That's why it gave you another prompt, because there was no command.  glad you seem to have things worked out either way.

[HardtailStrat]

Hi Mystik,

Thanks for tip on that.  I still haven't tried patio's advice yet, and since that might be a little easier for now, I'll give it shot.

I'll be sure to post my results.  Thanks again to both of you for helping me!  Have a great day!

[HardtailStrat]

Hey there...

No luck on the "D:format /fs:NTFS" attempt.  I tried it just like you had typed it, but there hasn't been any changes.

I'm going to try the advice from patio, and see if that helps.

I can't figure out why it didn't work though.  Hmmm....

Any other ideas, perhaps?  Thanks very much for any help you can offer.  It really is appreciated.

[Mystik1982*]

No, I don't have any other ideas other than what Patio is saying to do.  You should just go that route, it won't take much longer his way.  Just be SURE to format the correct drive.

[HardtailStrat]

Will do.  Hey, thanks a lot for offering the help you did though.

I'm a lot more familar with guitar gear and consoles than computers, but I'm trying to get the hang of the more intricate things.

I'll give patio's advice a shot.  I just keep forgetting to bring a floppy up here to work so I can copy that bootdisk info to it...   :-/

[Mystik1982*]

No problem.  It's weird that it didn't work though.  I hope Patio's way works better for you.

[HardtailStrat]

Yes, I agree, because as little as I know about computers, I remember using DOS a lot in the early 80's in middle school.

You know, there isn't a single thing on that computer, and frankly, if I could wipe the entire thing clean, like it was when I got it, I could just reinstall the OS--only ONE time, this time--and start from scratch.

Is there some kind of command or process that will allow to wipe both OS's from it, and just start over?

I feel pretty lame for doing this to myself.  

[patio]

I'm kinda stubborn and will work a problem until i get it right even if it's just to learn how...
But if this is the way you want to go you can do the following:
Remove both the power and IDE cables from the slave drive.
Re-boot to your XP CD with only the master drive attached.
In Setup choose delete and create new partition; this will wipe the drive clean.
Do a full install of XP, add any drivers you might be missing and do a few cold boots making sure all is running well.
Re-enter the BIOS and make IDE1 your first boot device and reboot again making sure all is well.
If so you can now power down; hook up the second HDD as slave as before and re-boot.
Then you can use the tools in disk management to properly format and partition your slave drive.
That drive will now be clean and properly formatted.

patio.  

[HardtailStrat]

Hi patio,

Ordinarily, I would do the same thing, staying after a problem until I figure it out.  I do like a good challenge, tho...just maybe not this one...silly, I know.

Part of what had had me dragging my heels on this, is that the floppy drive I need to use is here at work, to get the bootdisk...the PC I use at home for the internet, doesn't have a floppy drive, and the PC I'm using for the music, isn't connected to the internet.

I'm sure there's a way to get around the problem there, but it's crunch time for me at the moment, and need a quick fix, so I can start learning all this software to write music to this movie I'm working on.

You really are a HUGE help, patio.  Thanks very much.  I'm sure this'll do it.  

[patio]

You're more than Welcome and kudo's to you for your sticktoitiveness...

patio.