Weird hard drives, don't worry alone, only together.

#1 (**permalink**) 10-23-2007, 12:55 AM

I have two 10gb hard drives, it's weird.

Both hard drives work, but when I just put in one of then, my Compaq
Deskpro says Disk Controller Failure (Yes it's set to master/single),
but both together it works for some reason. Also any other hard drive
but these two works fine.

How on Earth can two PATA hard drives work together but not alone? I
have the jumper settings correct. These drives always work fine as
slaves, when tested with known working fine hard drives.

#2 (**permalink**) 10-23-2007, 07:55 AM

On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:55:25 -0000, RedPenguin
<ZeroOneTwoThree@gmail.com> wrote:

>I have two 10gb hard drives, it's weird.
>
>Both hard drives work, but when I just put in one of then, my Compaq
>Deskpro says Disk Controller Failure (Yes it's set to master/single),
>but both together it works for some reason. Also any other hard drive
>but these two works fine.
>
>How on Earth can two PATA hard drives work together but not alone? I
>have the jumper settings correct. These drives always work fine as
>slaves, when tested with known working fine hard drives.

You didn't provide detail of drive controller or drive
make/model. This is crucial since you have only described
what works ok for everyone else.

I suspect cables or jumpers. Keep in mind some drives have
a separate single vs master jumper setting.

#3 (**permalink**) 10-23-2007, 07:48 PM

On 10/23/07 3:55 AM, in article h5arh3lte60u1c9881gn66rfq69iboiu02@4ax.com,
"kony" <spam@spam.com> wrote:

> On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:55:25 -0000, RedPenguin
> <ZeroOneTwoThree@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I have two 10gb hard drives, it's weird.
>>
>> Both hard drives work, but when I just put in one of then, my Compaq
>> Deskpro says Disk Controller Failure (Yes it's set to master/single),
>> but both together it works for some reason. Also any other hard drive
>> but these two works fine.
>>
>> How on Earth can two PATA hard drives work together but not alone? I
>> have the jumper settings correct. These drives always work fine as
>> slaves, when tested with known working fine hard drives.
>
>
> You didn't provide detail of drive controller or drive
> make/model. This is crucial since you have only described
> what works ok for everyone else.
>
> I suspect cables or jumpers. Keep in mind some drives have
> a separate single vs master jumper setting.

In the older days (back in the 1 to 4 gb range of drives) I used to have two
hard drives that refused to work together. Seems there were some
incompatibilities between the two makes (WD Caviar and a Seagate model of
some kind).

#4 (**permalink**) 10-23-2007, 10:30 PM

On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:48:05 -0400, winston19842005
<bjjlyates@bellsouth.net> wrote:

>
>
>
>On 10/23/07 3:55 AM, in article h5arh3lte60u1c9881gn66rfq69iboiu02@4ax.com,
>"kony" <spam@spam.com> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:55:25 -0000, RedPenguin
>> <ZeroOneTwoThree@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I have two 10gb hard drives, it's weird.
>>>
>>> Both hard drives work, but when I just put in one of then, my Compaq
>>> Deskpro says Disk Controller Failure (Yes it's set to master/single),
>>> but both together it works for some reason. Also any other hard drive
>>> but these two works fine.
>>>
>>> How on Earth can two PATA hard drives work together but not alone? I
>>> have the jumper settings correct. These drives always work fine as
>>> slaves, when tested with known working fine hard drives.
>>
>>
>> You didn't provide detail of drive controller or drive
>> make/model. This is crucial since you have only described
>> what works ok for everyone else.
>>
>> I suspect cables or jumpers. Keep in mind some drives have
>> a separate single vs master jumper setting.
>
>In the older days (back in the 1 to 4 gb range of drives) I used to have two
>hard drives that refused to work together. Seems there were some
>incompatibilities between the two makes (WD Caviar and a Seagate model of
>some kind).

I vaguely recall such a thing years ago, but not with any
semi-recent vintage drives.

#5 (**permalink**) 10-23-2007, 11:47 PM

On 10/23/07 6:30 PM, in article iftsh3tp309lm0cure00occe511gdjiksa@4ax.com,
"kony" <spam@spam.com> wrote:

> On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:48:05 -0400, winston19842005
> <bjjlyates@bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 10/23/07 3:55 AM, in article h5arh3lte60u1c9881gn66rfq69iboiu02@4ax.com,
>> "kony" <spam@spam.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:55:25 -0000, RedPenguin
>>> <ZeroOneTwoThree@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have two 10gb hard drives, it's weird.
>>>>
>>>> Both hard drives work, but when I just put in one of then, my Compaq
>>>> Deskpro says Disk Controller Failure (Yes it's set to master/single),
>>>> but both together it works for some reason. Also any other hard drive
>>>> but these two works fine.
>>>>
>>>> How on Earth can two PATA hard drives work together but not alone? I
>>>> have the jumper settings correct. These drives always work fine as
>>>> slaves, when tested with known working fine hard drives.
>>>
>>>
>>> You didn't provide detail of drive controller or drive
>>> make/model. This is crucial since you have only described
>>> what works ok for everyone else.
>>>
>>> I suspect cables or jumpers. Keep in mind some drives have
>>> a separate single vs master jumper setting.
>>
>> In the older days (back in the 1 to 4 gb range of drives) I used to have two
>> hard drives that refused to work together. Seems there were some
>> incompatibilities between the two makes (WD Caviar and a Seagate model of
>> some kind).
>
> I vaguely recall such a thing years ago, but not with any
> semi-recent vintage drives.

One can only hope such a thing won't happen again! It made absolutely no
sense...

#6 (**permalink**) 10-25-2007, 06:28 AM

On Oct 23, 3:55 am, kony <s...@spam.com> wrote:
> On Tue, 23 Oct 2007 00:55:25 -0000, RedPenguin
>
> <ZeroOneTwoTh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >I have two 10gb hard drives, it's weird.
>
> >Both hard drives work, but when I just put in one of then, my Compaq
> >Deskpro says Disk Controller Failure (Yes it's set to master/single),
> >but both together it works for some reason. Also any other hard drive
> >but these two works fine.
>
> >How on Earth can two PATA hard drives work together but not alone? I
> >have the jumper settings correct. These drives always work fine as
> >slaves, when tested with known working fine hard drives.
>
> You didn't provide detail of drive controller or drive
> make/model. This is crucial since you have only described
> what works ok for everyone else.
>
> I suspect cables or jumpers. Keep in mind some drives have
> a separate single vs master jumper setting.

LoL, I can't believe that I forgot about that. I didn't notice at
first because the jumpers say master, slave, and cable select, but the
label on the hard drive, actually says single, so they labeled it
weird, but now they work. ;). Thanks again for your suggestion.