IDE needed?

[chancho]

I'm a new byopc'er and am confused by the IDE/SATA configuartion. My mobo says I must connect the primary IDE to the hard drive. Well, I only have a SATA hard drive which doesn't have the IDE connector but obviously SATA and power connectors.
Do I connect the primary IDE then to the CD/DVD drive instead? and connect the sata drive directly to the mobo and power? Or do I need to do something else?

Thanks

chancho

[LeftyAce]

Connect the SATA harddrive to the first SATA port (should be labeled), and to power. You should be fine to connect the CD to the primary IDE. If the motherboard doesn't like it, it won't boot; nothing will explode :-)

[chancho]

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried what you said and still couldn't get the monitor to display output although it beeps and fans activate. What you said may work fine but I just can't see anything due to no display. Also, I've tested the graphics card at the store on another machine and it works fine. The monitor also works on another pc so I'm a bit confused if the IDE is the problem or if it's my mobo.

[LeftyAce]

If the BIOS screen isn't even getting displayed, then the HDD hookup is not your problem. Try this: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=132409

Since the video card works, the next likely culprit is the RAM, or possibly the PSU or motherboard. You need to take the MOBO out of the case to run the test in the link; it's the only way to eliminate the possibility of a short causing your problem.

You said the comp beeps. Is it a single beep? Or a pattern? Also, please list the manufacturer and model of all your hardware (especially PSU, Vid card, mobo, and ram).

[chancho]

Originally Posted by LeftyAce If the BIOS screen isn't even getting displayed, then the HDD hookup is not your problem. Try this: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.php?t=132409 Since the video card works, the next likely culprit is the RAM, or possibly the PSU or motherboard. You need to take the MOBO out of the case to run the test in the link; it's the only way to eliminate the possibility of a short causing your problem. You said the comp beeps. Is it a single beep? Or a pattern? Also, please list the manufacturer and model of all your hardware (especially PSU, Vid card, mobo, and ram).

By the grace of God this problem has been fixed. Thanks LeftyAce for all your help. In the process of trying your suggestions and re-reading my manual I realized I had changed the CMOS jumper. Well I'd misunderstood the manual and misconfigured it. I reset the CMOS jumper to the default settings and the boot screen came up!!! My 1st build wasn't a disaster after all (at least so far).