Primary slave not detected

A friend of mine is getting the message "Primary slave not detected" when
she starts her computer. What would cause that message and what is the
primary slave? What needs to be done to fix the problem? Thanks for any help
you can give us.

Helene

"Helene" wrote in message
...
A friend of mine is getting the message "Primary slave not detected" when
she starts her computer. What would cause that message and what is the
primary slave? What needs to be done to fix the problem? Thanks for any
help
you can give us.

Helene



if the machine does not have a second harddrive
then it's nothing to worry about.
if the message bothers you...you can set the primary slave option in the
bios
to "none"

Thanks for replying. I just talked with my friend again, and she says she
can't open Windows. After passing that message about the primary slave,
another message comes up, "Still Waiting." But it doesn't go any further no
matter how long they wait.

Helene

"philo" wrote in message
...

"Helene" wrote in message
...
A friend of mine is getting the message "Primary slave not detected"
when
she starts her computer. What would cause that message and what is the
primary slave? What needs to be done to fix the problem? Thanks for any
help
you can give us.

Helene



if the machine does not have a second harddrive
then it's nothing to worry about.
if the message bothers you...you can set the primary slave option in the
bios
to "none"

Helene wrote:
Thanks for replying. I just talked with my friend again, and she says
she can't open Windows. After passing that message about the primary
slave, another message comes up, "Still Waiting." But it doesn't go
any further no matter how long they wait.

Helene

So do what Philo suggested then! Turn the PS off in the BIOS!

On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 01:58:41 +0100, "Cerridwen" wrote:

Helene wrote:
Thanks for replying. I just talked with my friend again, and she says
she can't open Windows. After passing that message about the primary
slave, another message comes up, "Still Waiting." But it doesn't go
any further no matter how long they wait.

Helene

So do what Philo suggested then! Turn the PS off in the BIOS!

LOL, Helene seems a lil slow on the uptake, give her a few hours maybe it'll start to click...or
maybe somebody could take a box of crayons and color the steps out for her. Reading is teh HARD,
yo! ^_^

--

Onideus Mad Hatter
mhm ¹ x ¹
http://www.backwater-productions.net

"Helene" wrote in message ...
A friend of mine is getting the message "Primary slave not detected" when
she starts her computer. What would cause that message and what is the
primary slave? What needs to be done to fix the problem? Thanks for any help
you can give us.

PC computers have two parallel IDE channels for connecting hard drives
and optical drives (CD drive and DVD drive), designated the primary
and the secondary channels. Each channel allows for a "Master" and a
"Slave," thus allowing up to four IDE devices in a typical PC
computer. Any IDE drive can be set as either Master or Slave or as the
only device on the channel (or as cable select, but there is no need
to worry about that setting).

The Master/Slave/Lone Device setting is selected by the use of little
plastic-coated connectors that are on pins on the back of the drive.
These connectors are called, "jumpers." Different manufacturers have
different jumper configurations for setting the Master/Slave/Lone
Device setting. Usually, the necessary jumper pattern is printed on
the drive somewhere, or embossed on the metal of the drive, near the
jumper pins on the back of the drive.

The usual boot drive is set to be the Primary Master drive. If there
is another drive on the primary channel, it should be set to be the
primary slave. There does not have to be a secondary master drive,
even if there is a secondary slave drive.

The most common cause of the problem you described is that two devices
have the same setting, for example, you may have two slave drives on
your Primary channel.

It would be best to check the settings of all your IDE drives. Note
that hard drives usually are set to a default of Master, and optical
drives usually are set to a default of Slave.

Or maybe I just don't understand much about this primary slave/secondary
slave business. Philo said if the message didn't bother my friend, but I was
explaining that it was a little more than just a nuisance. But I have a
sense of humor too, so I can understand how I sound like a bit of a ditz.
LOL

Helene

"Onideus Mad Hatter" wrote in message
news:r8ij80tfdi1k2eg9l09m6ud6h9jlbjgqvf@farfoos...
On Sat, 24 Apr 2004 01:58:41 +0100, "Cerridwen"
wrote:

Helene wrote:
Thanks for replying. I just talked with my friend again, and she says
she can't open Windows. After passing that message about the primary
slave, another message comes up, "Still Waiting." But it doesn't go
any further no matter how long they wait.

Helene

So do what Philo suggested then! Turn the PS off in the BIOS!

LOL, Helene seems a lil slow on the uptake, give her a few hours maybe
it'll start to click...or
maybe somebody could take a box of crayons and color the steps out for
her. Reading is teh HARD,
yo! ^_^

--

Onideus Mad Hatter
mhm ¹ x ¹
http://www.backwater-productions.net

Yes, she's married. Husband doesn't drink, though. LOL. Actually, message
was still there the next day. Each time they shut down and power on again
the message just comes back and they can never open windows. We will
certainly try Philo's suggestion, but hope I didn't offend everyone on this
group by posting a second time.

Helene

"Trent©" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 23 Apr 2004 22:16:50 GMT, "Helene"
wrote:

A friend of mine is getting the message "Primary slave not detected" when
she starts her computer. What would cause that message and what is the
primary slave? What needs to be done to fix the problem? Thanks for any
help
you can give us.

Helene


Is she married?

If so, her husband has probably gone out for a beer. When he comes
back, the message should go away.


Have a nice week...

Trent

What do you call a smart blonde?
A golden retriever.

Thank you Richard, we'll check the settings. Maybe if we can get into
windows (I will go up and try to run a scandisk to see if that repairs
anything) we will find, as Philo said, that the message is just there but
doesn't present a problem. Maybe it was there all along but they didn't
notice it until they started having trouble getting into Windows. At any
rate, I will check the settings and change any that seem wrong.

Helene

I really appreciate your help.

Helene
"Richard Alexander" wrote in message
om...
"Helene" wrote in message
...
A friend of mine is getting the message "Primary slave not detected"
when
she starts her computer. What would cause that message and what is the
primary slave? What needs to be done to fix the problem? Thanks for any
help
you can give us.

PC computers have two parallel IDE channels for connecting hard drives
and optical drives (CD drive and DVD drive), designated the primary
and the secondary channels. Each channel allows for a "Master" and a
"Slave," thus allowing up to four IDE devices in a typical PC
computer. Any IDE drive can be set as either Master or Slave or as the
only device on the channel (or as cable select, but there is no need
to worry about that setting).

The Master/Slave/Lone Device setting is selected by the use of little
plastic-coated connectors that are on pins on the back of the drive.
These connectors are called, "jumpers." Different manufacturers have
different jumper configurations for setting the Master/Slave/Lone
Device setting. Usually, the necessary jumper pattern is printed on
the drive somewhere, or embossed on the metal of the drive, near the
jumper pins on the back of the drive.

The usual boot drive is set to be the Primary Master drive. If there
is another drive on the primary channel, it should be set to be the
primary slave. There does not have to be a secondary master drive,
even if there is a secondary slave drive.

The most common cause of the problem you described is that two devices
have the same setting, for example, you may have two slave drives on
your Primary channel.

It would be best to check the settings of all your IDE drives. Note
that hard drives usually are set to a default of Master, and optical
drives usually are set to a default of Slave.

Here is my latest update on the problem: There is no second hard drive, so,
as Philo said, the "not detected" message means nothing. So, I guess that
has nothing to do with the problem she is having. She has a Gateway
computer. It goes to GoBack and then just sits at the window where it says
to hit the spacebar to make repairs. It says still waiting... and never goes
any further. I have tried to get to the c:\ prompt to run a scandisk, but
can't figure out how to do it on a Gateway. I have gone through the manual
and don't see instructions either. Could you please help me? I'm afraid my
friend doesn't have a startup disk either, which I know is dumb (before you
mention it first...LOL).

Helene
"Helene" wrote in message
...
A friend of mine is getting the message "Primary slave not detected" when
she starts her computer. What would cause that message and what is the
primary slave? What needs to be done to fix the problem? Thanks for any
help
you can give us.

Helene