d8b Forum

I'm new here, and sure am glad there's still a thriving community of d8b users!

I have a couple simple questions about installation of a 2nd internal hard drive in a d8b. Searching the internet, I haven't been able to find any information on this.

I have the newer style motherboard. There is an IDE ribbon connector for plugging in a 2nd hard drive, but no power connector. I just purchased a Y-splitter for the Molex power cable. Am I safe to plug this into a 2nd hard drive? Will it cause any issues with the power supply?

In the BIOS settings, there are settings for selecting Primary Master & Slave, and Secondary Master & Slave (which I assume is via the external connection). So you would think the power supply should have sufficient power for a 2nd internal hard drive, but I've never seen any discussion on this.

As long as I'm talking along these lines, I might as well ask about hooking up external drives. I'm guessing the external 'Parallel' connector is used for this - probably in addition to making the proper BIOS settings. Is that correct?

I'd appreciate any insight on this - thanks!

I wouldn't put a second HD in. How would you instruct the PSU which one to access. Not only that, one HD is plenty. The mix files are small.

Peter

My purpose was to have an easy way to back up files. But I was probably wrong in assuming the OS something like Mac or PC, where the 2nd drive would then mount and you would have easy access.

This started out with me finally replacing the internal hard drive - I had been using the original drive up to this time. One thing I had wanted to do was clone the drive, which I was successful in doing. But you have to remove the drive to do that anyway.

So then the natural train of thought was - "hey, why don't I install a backup drive?" Evidently the reason I couldn't find any discussion on this is that nobody does it - is that correct?

I would still like to try putting it in, just to see what happens. My question and concern was with the power supply yielding enough power, and whether I would be risking harm to the CPU/PSU.

dannysunde wrote:So then the natural train of thought was - "hey, why don't I install a backup drive?" Evidently the reason I couldn't find any discussion on this is that nobody does it - is that correct?

I would still like to try putting it in, just to see what happens. My question and concern was with the power supply yielding enough power, and whether I would be risking harm to the CPU/PSU.

I don't know anyone that has done it. I would look at trying a different drive in place of the floppy if I were inclined to do that. You might look over on the HDR part of the forum, there are people there that are doing solid state drives and what not.

Yes, I've read some of the posts about installing solid state drives, etc. Pretty interesting.

That's a good idea - I think I would be safe to disconnect the floppy power connector, just to try this out. My curiosity is getting the better of me at this point

(And if I understand you correctly, you're talking about swapping out the floppy for something like a solid state drive - rather than installing a 2nd hard drive on the main IDE bus.)

Thanks for all the input guys!! I'm so happy to have found this place.

dannysunde wrote:(And if I understand you correctly, you're talking about swapping out the floppy for something like a solid state drive - rather than installing a 2nd hard drive on the main IDE bus.)

Thanks for all the input guys!! I'm so happy to have found this place.

Yep, that is what I meant. There are way smarter computer guys around here than me who can help out with the logistics of it I am sure.

The databse has lots of info in it as well, in case you haven't checked it out.

http://www.sonido-7.com/d8b/index.html

Yes, I stumbled across the database early on in my search for answers. It's awesome - helped me out a lot! I'm very thankful for that too.