[size=18]Connecting CD-Writer - Expert Opinion Required[/siz

harishkp · 18-02-2005, 10:25 AM

I have purchased a CD-Writer and i already have a CD-ROM drive in my PC. Which is the best option to connect the CD-Writer - in Primary IDE or Secondary IDE ? Is there will be any performance gain by connecting CD-ROM Drive and CD-Writer on the Same IDE connector as Master and slave ? or is it better to connect the CD-Writer as the slave with the HDD as the master on the Primary IDE ? I am looking for the option ensuring best CD writing speed. Please HELP :roll:

speedyguy · 18-02-2005, 11:30 AM

it dosnt really matter u 2 connect anywhere wether pri slave or 2ndary mas or slv...but still for ur sake connect it to 2ndary master for direct data transfer...n to get optimum transfer speed u need 2 take care of lotsa other things.

darklord · 18-02-2005, 12:51 PM

I will put it in simple words,

Primary Master - Hard Disk [mandatory]
Primary Slave - Hard Disk OR Optical Drive
Secondary Master - Optical drive
Secondary Slave - Optical Drive

It doesnt make much difference if u connect CD-RW or CD Rom to Secondary master or Slave.

infra_red_dude · 18-02-2005, 07:55 PM

agree wid darklod and speedyguy. explaination's like this....

if harddisk is connected to primary channel, do not connect cdrw to that....most optical drives transfer data via pio mode 4 or multiword dma and the max data trans rate is 16.66mb/s or 33.33mb/s and the max speed of a channel (IDE controller) is limited by the slowest drive connected to it.... so even if bios shows a uata 133/100/66/33 transfer rate for an HDD and if any optical drive using pio 4 or mw-dma is connected the max thro-output is somewhere 16.66mb/s to 33.33mb/s. so separate the two drives...

also as speedyguy said connect the cdrw as sec master as it offers direct data transfer not involving cdrom...this helps when burning CDs...

i personally haf 2 harddisks on primary channel and a cdrw as sec master and cdrom as sec slave...