IDE Device connection problems

Question

Can anybody tell me why I can't connect more than 2 devices on my MS-6378 board?  I have absolutely no idea why, but the secondary port doesn't seem to even be usable.  Please, if it's a bios problem, somebody let me know - I'm pretty knew at this, so if you need more explanation of the problem then feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]  Thanks!

Answer 1

Alright, first off, I need to clarify my question.  What I ment to write was as follows:  I have an ms-6380 (not a 6378) motherboard that I am having a problem with.  What I CAN do is hook up two IDE devices to one of the two main ports I have, but for some reason when I try and hook up 4 devices (such as two hard drives on one port and two cd-rom drives on another) then it won't even recognize that the cd-rom drives are there.  However, it will recognize one of the hard drives if I install just one of them.  Also, this particular motherboard came with two other IDE ports - something I've really never seen before in a motherboard (but then again, I'm new at this).  What I CAN do is hook up a hard drive to one, but I can't seem to get the computer to recognize another hard drive if I hook one up to the other port, or even worse, I can't get the computer to recognize BOTH hard drives if I hook them up on the same cable.  This doesn't make sense to me at all.  I've done a little research, and I've discovered that you can only hook up 4 IDE devices on any computer....but if that's true then why would this motherboard have 4 IDE ports, with the capability then to hook up a potential of 8 IDE devices????  Even better, why can't I hook up 4 devices using the 2 normal IDE ports that are pretty much standard in any motherboard (sorry if these 'ports' have a name - I don't know very much terminalogy yet)?
Anyways, here are the specs from what I understand: I have the motherboard hooked up to an Antec 380 watts power supply.  From what it reads on the supply, it can send out 35 amps with 5 volts, 18 with 12 volts, 28 with 3.3 volts, .5 with -5 volts, 1 amp with -12 volts, and 2 amps with 5 volts.
The system has a linksys ethernet card installed into it, along with a simple 8 meg video card I had from a previous computer (AGP).  I have 256 megs of ddr ram, and 3 hard drives installed (primary=20 gigs, primary slave = 10 gigs, and the third has 8 gigs).  I have a standard 3.5 floppy drive installed, and also a 4 by 4 by 24 cd-rom drive installed.
I have it hooked up as follows:  Two hard drives are installed on one of the two normal IDE ports.  I have a cd-rom drive installed on the other one, and a 3.5 floppy drive installed as well.  Because I have two other slots for more hard drives, I have a third hard drive installed on one of the other IDE ports, but no matter what (even if I take away a IDE device, like the back-up hard drive or the cd-rom drive) the computer won't recognize that another hard drive exists if I try and install another one.
Lastly, I have windows XP installed if it matters.
Well anyways, essentially I have two problems, with both pertaining to the IDE ports on my motherboard.  One, I can't seem to get the IDE port that my cd-rom drive is installed on to recognize either the cd-rom drive or anything else I connect to it when I try and install two devices with the same cable.  Also, on the two spare IDE ports on my computer I can't seem to get any use out of the second port.  This problem only seems to occur though when I have one hard drive installed at a time - in other words, both slots (if I remember right) will recognize a single hard drive, but if I have a slot connected to a drive then nothing I do will seem to get the computer to recognize another one on the other slot.
If you can help me out I'd appreciate it ALOT!!!  -Again, if you need more information just let me know by replying to this post of e-mailing me at [email protected] .
Thanks!