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This computer system offers an advanced expansion subsystem that can sup-
port a mixture of traditional ISA expansion cards (called legacy expansion
cards), Plug and Play ISA expansion cards, and PCI expansion cards. Using the
operating system, you can configure the various types of expansion cards and
identify resource conflicts that might arise.
The expansion-card slots include two ISA expansion-card connectors and four
PCI expansion-card connectors. One PCI expansion-card connector and one
ISA expansion-card connector share a single expansion-card slot, so users can
install a maximum of five expansion cards.
In addition to the ISA and PCI expansion-card connectors, there is a connector
for a high-speed, high-resolution 33-MHz PCI video card, or for a 66-MHz AGP
video card that uses its own dedicated graphics bus and significantly enhances
3D graphics performance.
The EIDE subsystem includes two EIDE interfaces (primary and secondary),
each of which can support up to two EIDE devices such as high-capacity hard-
disk drives, CD-ROM drives, and tape drives.
All EIDE devices should be configured for the Cable Select jumper position,
which assigns master and slave status to devices by their position on the inter-
face cable. In this configuration, the drive attached to the last connector on the
interface cable is the master or boot drive (drive 0) and the drive attached to
the middle connector on the interface cable is the slave drive (drive 1). Refer to
the drive's documentation for instructions on setting the Cable Select jumper
position.
NOTE: The externally accessible drive bays at the front of the computer are
normally used for diskette drives, CD-ROM drives, or tape drives. The hard-disk
drives should be installed in the internal drive bays as described in the
following subsection. For detailed information about the data storage sub-
system, see Chapter 3, "Installing Drives," in the Dell Dimension XPS R xxx
Reference and Troubleshooting Guide .
A 1-inch-high EIDE or SCSI hard-disk drive is installed in the primary hard-disk
drive bay in the card-guide assembly at the front of the chassis. An optional
1-inch-high EIDE or SCSI hard-disk drive can be installed in the secondary hard-
disk drive bay located near the 3.5-inch diskette drive. SCSI hard-disk drives
require a SCSI controller card installed in an expansion-card slot.
The following subsections provide service-related information about the
computer.
1-6
Dell Dimension XPS R xxx Systems Service Manual
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