HALPI dot com

In this section you are going to learn how to install a hard drive into your computer system. There are a couple of reasons for doing this.

First, your main hard drive may have failed. In fact, if you keep your computer long enough, sooner or later, your drive WILL fail. This is one reason why it’s so important to regularly back up your data.

Aside from replacing a failed hard drive, you may simply want to add a second hard drive to your system. If you store a lot of large data files, such as graphics, video, or music, this is something you may want to consider doing.

While hard drive capacities continue to grow, they have not undergone any significant physical changes for a number of years now. So at least for now, we can count on a standard size, standard screw sizes, and easy adaptability to cases of various manufacturers.

What is beginning to change is the communications interface and bus technology used to store and retrieve data to and from the hard drive. The two main types of computer bus technology that is used to transfer data between the CPU and the bulk storage devices in your computer (hard drive and CD-ROM, or optical drive) are ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) and SATA.

The term SATA refers to Serial ATA, and while it is the newer technology, it does not yet dominate the marketplace. SATA was predated by ATA, which is now sometimes referred to as PATA, or Parallel ATA (when it was the only bus type available, it didn’t need to be distinguished from Serial ATA). Because ATA is still the norm, this tutorial will focus on ATA drive technology.

Another acronym you should be familiar with is IDE, or Integrated Drive Electronics. Technically, IDE refers to the interface itself (the design of the jack on the hard drive into which the cable plugs in), but the terms ATA and IDE are often used interchangeably.

While SATA drives transfer data at much higher rates than ATA drives, the main physical distinguishing characteristic between the two is the type of cable used to connect the drive to the motherboard. ATA drives typically use a wide, flat, 40-pin cable, SATA uses a 4-wire shielded cable that is considerably smaller than its ATA counterpart and takes up much less space in the case.

If you wish to add a SATA drive to your computer, either the motherboard must provide the SATA socket, or you can add an SATA adapter card. However, our focus will be on ATA, since it still represents the standard configuration available on most new computers. So let’s begin!

Preparation

1. Turn off all power to the computer, and disconnect the power cord from the computer. It will also be easier to work on your computer if you remove all other connectors from the back of the case.

2. Carefully remove the case and set it aside. Maintain a clear and clean workspace.

3. Wear your ESD wrist strap, with one end connected to a non-painted surface of the case.

4. Keep your new drive inside its ESD protective bag until you’re ready to install it.

5. When you remove or install a drive, handle it by its mounting case. Don’t touch the pins or other electronics on the drive.

6. Keep your drive away from sources of high voltage, such as vacuum cleaners or other motors (strong electromagnetic fields can wipe out your hard drive data).

Observation

Before removing/installing a new hard drive, it’s important that you spend a few minutes examining the interconnections between motherboard, hard drive, and CD-ROM drive. CD-ROM (or optical) drives and hard drives both fall into the category of IDE devices.

You can typically install up to four IDE devices on your computer, in any combination you wish. Obviously, you want to have at least one hard drive in the mix so that an operating system can be installed on your computer.

You’ll notice that there are only two IDE cables. Each cable is designed to support two IDE devices. Thus, on each cable you will see three connectors: one connector that is plugged into the motherboard, and two other connectors that are plugged into your IDE devices. If you choose to install only one IDE device on a particular cable, use the end connector, not the middle connector.

There are some configuration options you will need to be familiar with, but first begin by observing where the two IDE cables connect to the motherboard. The IDE interfaces on the motherboard are not created equal. One is referred to as the Primary IDE interface, and the other as the Secondary IDE interface.

The motherboard will be labeled in some fashion so that you can distinguish primary from secondary. The labeling scheme varies among manufacturers: you may see the words ‘Primary’ and ‘Secondary’, the abbreviations ‘Pri’ and ‘Sec’, or the numbers ‘1’ and 2’.

What’s important to note is that you can use the primary IDE interface without using the secondary, but not vice versa. If you have one IDE device, a hard drive for example, it must be placed on the primary IDE interface. If you have two IDE devices, such as a hard drive and a CD-ROM drive, you have two options:

1. Place both the hard drive and the CD-ROM drive on the primary interface

2. Place the hard drive on the primary and the CD-ROM on the secondary

If you opt to use both the primary and secondary interfaces, be sure that your boot device – the hard drive – is placed on the primary.

Aside from connecting your IDE devices to the appropriate interfaces, some additional configuration is required. Here’s why. If you have two IDE devices on the same interface (e.g. hard drive and CD-ROM drive or a second hard drive both connected to the cable of the Primary IDE interface), the CPU needs to know which device to address, since they’re both connected to the same cable.

The way the two devices are differentiated is by designating one as what is referred to as the ‘Master’ and designating the other as ‘Slave’. The way this is done is by using a small jumper that is already inserted onto a pin array that’s on the IDE device. To locate this pin array, you should have a look at the rear of the device.

Notice on the back of the hard drive, for example, the two connectors that are attached. The smaller one is the power connector, and incorporates several multicolored wires that terminate in a small connector that’s plugged into the rear of the device. This supplies power to the mechanical and electronic components of the hard drive (or optical drive).

The second connector is the data cable, a wide flat ribbon cable that is used to transmit data both ways between the CPU and the hard drive.

Adjacent to these two connectors is a small recessed pin array. If you look closely you will see that a small jumper block will be inserted across a pair of the pins. Just make the observation for now; you won’t actually set this on the new drive until you’re ready to install it. Further, until the old drive is out, you may not be able to ascertain which set of pins corresponds to ‘master’ and which to ’slave’. This information is usually imprinted somewhere near the pin array, either on the plastic housing, or more frequently, on the circuit board that is attached to the bottom of the hard drive.

There is also a ’single’ drive designation; when a drive is the only drive on a particular cable, it can be set to either ‘master’ or ’single’.

Before swapping out hard drives, there’s one more important observation you need to make. The socket on the motherboard into which the IDE ribbon cable is plugged has 40 pins, as does the corresponding socket on the hard drive. These pins are numbered 1 through 40, although due to space limitations, usually only pin 1 or pin 2 is actually labeled.

In order to make sure the communications path between the motherboard and the hard drive is synchronized, you must make sure that pin 1 on the motherboard socket is connected to pin 1 on the IDE device (hard drive or optical drive).

While many ribbon cables are keyed so that they can only be inserted into the socket to assure this match takes place, some cables can be accidentally reversed. Thus, it’s critical that you locate pin 1 on both ends, and make sure the ribbon cable is connected such that pin 1 is connected to pin 1.

There’s a visual aid on the ribbon cable itself to assist you with this. Notice that there is one side of the cable with a wire that is colored differently from the other wires – often red, sometimes blue or green. The convention in the field is to be sure that the colored wire on the ribbon cable is used to connect pin 1 of the motherboard to pin 1 of the connected IDE device. You should abide by this convention.

Items Needed

• Phillips screwdriver and four mounting screws
• Standard 40-pin ATA interface cable
• An available power connector
• Needle nose pliers for adding/removing jumpers

Note that in most cases the drive is mounted to the drive bay with screws, and is removed from the computer from the inside of the case. There are a few case designs that allow for spring-loaded removal of the drive from the front of the case. There’s also a high-speed variation of ATA called Ultra ATA which requires an 80-pin interface cable.

Removal Procedure

1. Don your ESD wrist strap!
2. Remove the power cable from the rear of the old drive
3. Carefully remove the IDE ribbon cable from the rear of the old drive (wiggle it out evenly)
4. Remove the mounting screws and pull out the old drive

Set the Jumpers on the New Drive

If the drive is the only drive on the IDE interface, set the jumper to the Master or Single setting. Use the Slave setting if the drive is an additional drive on the IDE cable and the original drive is set to Master.

Installation Procedure

1. Handle the new drive only by the edges of the drive frame.
2. Connect one end of an available IDE interface cable to the hard drive (make sure that you align pin 1 on the cable with pin 1 on the hard drive connector).
3. Locate an available power cable connector (coming from the power supply) and attach it to the 4-pin DC power connector on the hard drive. This connector is keyed so it can only be attached one way. Do not force it.
4. Slide the drive into the bay and secure with mounting screws.

BIOS Setup

In order for your computer to work properly, the hardware and software of the computer need to know about each other. Now that you’ve installed a new hard drive in your computer, you have to tell your computer about this new hardware, so that this information can be relayed to the operating system. This is done through what’s called the BIOS (Basic Input Output System) setup program (also called CMOS setup, or Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor).

Most new computers can automatically detect these new devices through the BIOS program. You may enter the BIOS or CMOS program by turning on your computer (or rebooting it) and entering the setup program. This is usually done by pressing a special key, such as DELETE, ESC, or F1 during bootup, but this varies from system to system. Refer to your computer manual if necessary.

Once in the setup program, locate the drive section and confirm that the hard drive (or ‘fixed disk’) is set for AUTO. Use the commands provided to exit the setup program, making sure that you save changes as you exit the program.