B–2 Hardware Reference Guide
Hard Drive Installation Guidelines
Guidelines for Installing Ultra ATA Devices
When installing additional Ultra ATA drives, follow these guidelines:
■ If using multiple Ultra ATA devices, Compaq recommends that
the devices be split between the primary and secondary Ultra
ATA channels for optimum performance. Use an additional
Ultra ATA cable to connect the additional device to the system
board.
■ 80-conductor Ultra ATA cable:
❏ 18 inches maximum total length, 80-conductor cable with
maximum spacing of 6 inches between Device 0 and
Device 1.
80-Conductor Ultra ATA Cable
1 Device 0 (master drive) connector
2 Device 1 (slave drive) connector
3 System board connector
■
For optimal performance, connect hard drives to the primary
controller. Connect expansion devices, such as ATA CD-ROM
and DVD-ROM drives, tape drives, and diskette drives, to the
secondary controller.
■ Install either a third-height or a half-height drive into a
half-height bay.
■ Install guide screws to ensure that the drive lines up correctly in
the drive cage. Compaq has provided extra guide screws installed
in the front of the computer chassis behind the front bezel. Some
options use M3 metric hardware. Compaq supplied metric screws
are black.
■ If only one device is connected to a cable, that device must be
attached to the end (Device 0) connector.