IDE Configuration

Question

My motherboard is a K7T Turbo version 3 (MS6330). I'm running WinXP Pro with an AMD XP2400 processor if it's relevant. I have two HD's, CD burner, DVD burner, DVD Rom and an LS-120. I also have a Maxtor PCI IDE card installed. What would be the best configuration for installing the drives in my system? What should I put on which channel? The way that I currently have it set up is as follows:
IDE1 master - HD (with OS)
IDE1 slave - DVD Rom
IDE2 master - DVD burner
IDE2 slave - CD burner
PCI IDE1 master - 2d HD
PCI IDE1 slave - LS-120
Everything currently works fine, but was wondering if there would be a better way. The only slight problem that I have is that the Maxtor card doesn't always recognize the LS-120 on the boot screen, but the drive still works.

Answer 1

The ATAPI protocol was added to ATA/IDE specification for the purpose of allowing ATAPI devices (e.g. CD-ROM, Tape Backup, Super Floppy, ZIP, DVD-ROM, CD-R/RW, et. al) to be slaved to HDD, which is why until very recently every new CD, DVD, ZIP and tape drive came from the factory with the jumper set to slave by default (and many still do).
All companies at one time recommended these devices be the slave, whether or not another drive was on the same channel.  But, in this realm of computers, things change - rapidly.  These days, ATAPI devices usually are right at home as master or slave without conflict or complaint.
Its been a long time since I read the ATA/ATAPI specification or any white papers, so my memory may be failing me, but I believe current ATA/ATAPI (i.e. EIDE) controllers are still plagued by simultaneous access limitations that SCSI isn't.
If my memory still serves me, then it continues to be prudent to position the two most-utilized drives on different channels, and they should be master.  In a typical use scenario, the most-utilized drives are hard drives.  In this case, it is better to configure two hard drives as masters on each channel, and two ATAPI devices as slaves on each channel.  As a rule of thumb, of course, not written in stone.
Not only do all chipsets at least since Intel 440LX, VIA MVP3, ALI Aladdin V, and SIS 5598 support independent device timing, it actually works!  Independent device timing was introduced in chipsets prior to those listed, but it didn't always work as advertised, which was partially the fault of peripheral manufacturers who refused to comply more stringently with ATA/ATAPI specifications or used out-dated interface controllers ("because a CD-ROM drive doesn't need UltraDMA") and firmware.
Driver support was another issue early-on, but had become reasonably good by Windows 98 Second Edition, if not 98 Gold, provided one used the default IDE drivers supplied by Microsoft.  We won't harken back to those painful days of VIA's early 4-in-1 driver 'misadventures'.  NT4 requires SP3 or higher.
Today, ATA/133 HDD can co-exist just fine with MWDMA-2 through ATA/33 CD and DVD drives, with no loss of performance above that similarly found with two hard drives attached to the same channel.  Both devices operate at their respective modes, when enabled in BIOS and device drivers, excepting some unusual circumstance.
My above comments assume the drives and mainboards in question are all reasonably current (less than 5 years old), not old clunkers.  First generation UDMA/33 hard drive electronics often had flaws or didn't play nice with other drives on the same channel.  First generation UDMA/33 capable chipsets weren't much better, but we've come a long way since Intel 430TX and VIA VP1.
The only potential short-coming I can see with your setup is the one HDD attached to PCI IDE controller card.  If its a reasonably new HDD, it might cut-in to your PCI bandwidth to a greater extent than a CD burner would, and PCI bandwidth is already strained nearly to the limit.
If one of those CD drives is an old 4x burner or that LS-120 is one of the early versions that only operates in PIO mode, then all bets are off.