Determine Your Existing Ide Configuration - Plextor PX-W1210TA Operation Manual

Section 2. Installing Your PlexWriter
To open the computer:
1. Before proceeding, make sure the power to your computer and any external
peripherals is OFF and your computer is UNPLUGGED from its power source.
2. Remove your computer's cover, following the directions provided by your
computer's manufacturer. Typically, this involves loosening or removing several
screws on the back panel of your computer and sliding off the cover.
Figure 3: Removing a Typical Computer's Cover

Determine Your Existing IDE Configuration

With your computer open, determine the existing IDE configuration. You can do this
by looking at the 40-pin IDE ribbon cable (or cables—there may be two) and seeing
what is connected to them.
One end of the IDE cable is connected to a port on the computer's motherboard; and
the other end is connected to one or two peripheral devices (such as a hard disk or
CD-ROM drive). If there are two devices, one is considered the master and the other
the slave. If there are two IDE ports, one is for the primary IDE bus and the other is
for the secondary bus.
A typical computer's IDE configuration is usually one of the following:
• Hard disks connected as master and slave devices on primary IDE port;
CD-ROM drive connected as master device on secondary IDE port.
• Hard disk connected as master device and CD-ROM drive connected as slave on
the primary IDE port; nothing connected to secondary IDE port.
• Hard disk connected as master device on primary IDE port; nothing connected to
secondary IDE port.
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PlexWriter 12/10/32A Operation Manual