What is a Jumper actually?

[kwfine]

Hi,

I was reading a post in which the author said that old PCs couldn't recognize HDD of larger cpapcity, say 80GB, but he claimed that the problem can actually be resolved by re-setting the Jumper of the HDD while the majority were still thinking of replacing their old Motherboards.
I doubt if what he said is true.
But if he is right, how then? What are the steps to re-set the Jumper in case that my old PC can't recognize any HDDs of larger capacity?

Any ideas?

[fpsmitch]

there are jumper settings(master, slave, single).
but that will have no effect on what size the hdd is.
if you computer wont recognize the full disk space, you could also make partitions small enough for your computer to recognize.

[soybean]

From http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/mobo/compJumpers-c.html:

"Jumpers are pins on a motherboard or other device, that are used to provide configuration information to the hardware. A single jumper consists of a pair of pins, with a small rectangular shunt that can be placed over both pins to short them together. The hardware is programmed to act one way when the jumper is shorted, and another way when it is left open. The jumpers are normally numbered JP1, JP2 etc.. For some functions, a group of jumpers is used."

Changing the jumper setting on a hard drive will not allow an older computer to utilize more of a large hard drive. 

When many computers older than 10 years were being upgraded with bigger hard drives, a common problem was that the computer would not recognize the full capacity of larger hard drives.  One work-around was to install "drive overlay" software provided by the hard drive manufacturer which would allow use of larger hard drives, to some extent.  The version of Windows being used was also a factor; Windows 98SE had an advantage over Windows 95, in some cases.  I believe that may have been because Win 98SE (and maybe Win 98) could use the FAT32 file system while Windows 95 was limited to FAT16.

[patio]

Image only for reference...not all HDD's are the same.

[dahlarbear]

Look for "alternate jumper settings" in the following Western Digital Corporation links:
    EIDE drives are not detected or recognized by the system BIOS.
    How to configure a WD EIDE drive using the Alternate Jumper Settings.

[quaxo]

I believe that may have been because Win 98SE (and maybe Win 98) could use the FAT32 file system while Windows 95 was limited to FAT16.

Windows95 OSR2 could use Fat32.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/154997

I remember this because I had to convert to FAT32 after being advised by Blizzard that Diablo wouldn't run on FAT16, and I was running Windows 95 at the time.

[Dusty]

Seagate shows its 8-pin configuration with the Capacity Limiting Jumper settings here...

[patio]

Nobody liked my pretty little diagram ? ?

 

[BC_Programmer]

hey that is a good picture. I swear I didn't see your last post.


I mean...

I was just randomly looking at threads for interesting pictures. The one above caught my eye. the ingenuity that must have been posessed by the poster far surpasses that of any known creature on the planet.

Hey I just thought of something funny, imagine a diagram like that in an art museum with all sorts of snobby art folk looking at it trying to find out what it means.

"I think it represents the darker side of IDE"

"the lack of colour in this diagram is a symbol of entropy"

hee hee.

[quaxo]

Hey, what a nice picture Patio 

[Ivy]

Obviously Patio didn't draw this 

[soybean]

I liked it.  The perfect companion to my post, preceding it.   

[squall_01]

hey that is a good picture. I swear I didn't see your last post.


I mean...

I was just randomly looking at threads for interesting pictures. The one above caught my eye. the ingenuity that must have been posessed by the poster far surpasses that of any known creature on the planet.

Hey I just thought of something funny, imagine a diagram like that in an art museum with all sorts of snobby art folk looking at it trying to find out what it means.

"I think it represents the darker side of IDE"

"the lack of colour in this diagram is a symbol of entropy"

hee hee.

Thats the funniest thing I heard today

[dahlarbear]

Sorry Patio...  I prefer Ivy's picture.  Yours is a little too ones and zeros for me.

[patio]

Sorry Patio...  I prefer Ivy's picture.  Yours is a little too ones and zeros for me.

I'll use the Crayons next time....