master and slave HD wouldn't load computer

[nuttynibbles]

Hi,

i got 2 hard disk, a master n slave. Master is with WinXp Pro SP3 and the slave is with Ubuntu 8.04.

So what happen was if i have both HD plug in, the computer would load the black screen showing the list of hardware of my computer, and it will stop there. it wouldn't load to windows or watsoeva.

However, if i unplug either hard disk, it could load to its respective OS (XP or ubuntu.)
Why is this so??

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[patio]

More info on how these drives were set up...
They should be able to work together side by side if it was done properly...
IDE drives i'm assuming ?

[nuttynibbles]

opps sorry.

ok here goes..

AMD athlon 3400++
WinXp Pro SP3
Master HD: 80GD, IDE
Slave HD: 40GD, IDE

this was how i set it up. previously, i had them both working fine together. WinXP was installed on the master HD and the slave HD contain misc stuff like doc.

I helped my friend recover some files from a sata 2.5 HDD (with a IDE and sata converter), therefore i had to unplug the slave HD as i didnt have enough IDE slots.

After that, when i plug in back the slave HD, it couldnt be read but it still boots up to windows. After a while, it couldnt boot to windows so i unplug the slave HD and it managed to log into windows.

so yesterday i decided to do something to my slave HD. I unplug the master HD and plug in only the slave HD. I boot up with a cd rom which has gparted for me to set partitions on the slave HD. after that i boot with ubuntu cd and installed with ubuntu 8.04. it works fine and i could even serve the internet, install g++ n JDK, etc etc.

And so i thought everything was fine now. i plug in the master HD and the problem arise. it seems that both HD cant work together. strange..

i hope im not confusing you

Let me know if you need more info. I be around

[JJ 3000]

Do you have two IDE controllers on your motherboard?

[patio]

Because you installed Ubuntu with the XP drive out of the equation XP has no idea that Linux is there...likewise vice-versa....
So when you are booting with both drives hooked up the boot processes are banging heads and confusing things...

Clik Here for a good guide to setting this up...

[nuttynibbles]

Yup i got 2 IDE controller.

anw i try formatting the ubuntu HD and try booting up to see if it works first.

i come back again =D

[JJ 3000]

Jumper each drive as master and connect them to the different IDE controllers. Make sure you have each drive on the end (master connector) of each IDE ribbon. This should work. You will have to enter BIOS to select which drive to boot.

[nuttynibbles]

hey everyone, tks for the help.

i decided to unplug the slave Hd with ubuntu. everything works fine for a couple of days till this morning it happens again.

when i start up windows, it is able to load desktop. after a while, the computer freeze. i had to force shutdown by pressing the power button. when i power on the computer, there was no signal on the monitor.

sometimes when i power on the computer, there was a short beep sound, probably like beeb..beebbeebbeebbeeb. there was even a time when it beep continuously.  i check all the hardware and it's properly fixed.

i will be able to start up the computer again after a while (10-20 mins) where it will load to desktop n freeze again.

one thing to note is that my computer clock has not been able to sync. everytime i power off the computer and the main switch, the clock stops. i understand the bios battery could cause the computer for not booting up but i had the clock not working for a while and i could boot the computer before.

please help. tks in adv

[patio]

Replace the CMOS battery...part# Cr2032.
Borrow a known good PSU of the same or greater wattage and swap it in there.