Second Hard Disk Drive Module (Optional) - Asus B1A Hardware Reference Manual

Using the Notebook PC

Second Hard Disk Drive Module (Optional)

The convenient design of the Notebook PC allows for
the usage of a second hard disk drive in the modular
bay. A second hard disk drive allows you to use it as a
removable device, for installing dual operating systems,
for additional data storage, or to store CDs. To use a
second hard disk drive, you must be familiar with the
following:
• What to purchase and the contents of the kit.
• Setting up, partitioning, formatting, and using the second hard disk drive.
Purchasing the Second Hard Disk Drive Module
Contact your retailer for a Notebook PC second hard disk drive kit specific for your Notebook PC;
others will not work. The kit should only contain an empty module so a hard disk drive must be pur-
chased separately. Select a 0.95cm thick EIDE hard disk drive with the capacity that you require. Cur-
rent capacities that are within 0.95cm are between 5GB and 20GB. Larger capacities will follow soon.
Typical hard disk drives of this size have a rotation speed of 4,200RPM compared with desktops of
4,500-10,000RPM but seek time is less because of the smaller size. Less RPM decreases noise, heat,
and energy consumption. Typical interfaces are: PIO Mode 4, UltraDMA Mode 2 and 4.
Using a Second Hard Disk Drive
The notebook PC has two channels and the built-in hard disk drive occupies the first channel as "MAS-
TER". A second hard disk drive should not have any jumpers on it (like the first hard disk drive) so that
it can be used as "DEVICE0" or "MASTER" on the second channel. If properly configured, bootup
will display both hard disk drives and their physical capacity.
Upgrading Hard Disk Drives
Using a third-party utility, you can copy an entire hard disk drive to a second hard disk drive, and then
set the new partition active. The BIOS should automatically detect the new hard disk drive. If not, you
may have to enable it in BIOS setup. If you encounter any problems, you can physically switch the two
hard disk drives to test whether detection by BIOS is possible. On the "Boot" menu of the BIOS setup
utility, you can select the hard disk drive to boot from.
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