Problem connecting 4 IDE drives

[NeoNemesis]

I'm attempting to connect 4 drives to my computer. 2 of the HD's in my sig, a new 320GB Western Digital Caviar and a new samsung burner to replace my dead pioneer. Here is the problem. I can connect any 3 of these devices in any combination (I'm not moving the HD with the OS on it) Yet the second I add a fourth device nothing loads. All jumpers are set to cable select.

1) Can this be fixed for free?
2) Would buying an IDE card fix this?

I should mention that prior to buying the new WD HD I had 2 maxtors and 2 rom drives connected with no problems.

Thanks in advance

 

[setscrew]

Are the cables you are using a 80 pin variety to support the CSEL identification? If not, then the BIOS may be seeing two masters on each channel.

When I expanded my HD storage beyond two physical drives, I found life much simpler to remove all physical drives from the motherboard ATA channels and install them on an expansion card similar to this model.

If this continues to be an issue, ask a mod. to move your question to the DSS forum for some expert advice.
Good luck.

 

[jbmx4life]

Why cable select? Just set the jumper accordingly to master/slave. I dunno about now-a-days but in the past I have heard nothing but horror stories with people using cable select. I myself have NEVER ran a system setup like that.

 

[NeoNemesis]

Thanks for the input. I ended up buying the card as it gives me future expansion opportunities.