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5. Technical Information
5.1 Device Configuration Jumper (Master and Slave)
Settings
The IDE interface on the back of your LaCie DVD Recorder can support two
devices, and most computer motherboards come with dual IDE interfaces,
primary and secondary, to allow up to four IDE devices. The controller is
integrated with the drive, and does not decide which device has priority in
communicating with the computer.
In allowing for two devices on the same cable, IDE incorporates a unique
configuration to allow control of the devices, called Master (MA) and Slave
(SL). In this configuration, Master means drive 0, and Slave refers to drive 1,
which allows the drives to work independently.
Pin 39 on the IDE interface carries a special signal, called the Drive
Active/Slave Present (DASP), that allows the computer to determine if there is
a second (slave) drive attached.
The master drive should be attached to the connector at the very end of the
IDE ribbon cable, although it will work in either position. This is where the
Device Configuration Jumper settings become very important – the Device
Configuration Jumper identifies the drive as either the master or slave drive.
The drive’s controller board will look to the Device Configuration Jumper for
instructions as to whether it is the master or slave device.
The LaCie DVD Recorder offers an option as an alternative to the permanent
selection of a master or slave – the Cable Select (CS) option. By using a special
type of IDE ribbon cable, CS allows the drive to be auto-configured as either
slave or master.
In CS mode, each device attached to the IDE cable has its jumper set to the CS
option. The cable has one important difference from other typical IDE ribbon
cables; with a CS IDE ribbon cable, Pin 28 only connects to the master drive
connector. This way, when the computer is powered on, the IDE interface
sends a signal along the Pin 28 wire, and only the device that is attached to
the master connector receives the signal, which then automatically configures
the device as the master, leaving the other device as the slave.
The Device Configuration Jumpers are the six straight angle pins located on
the rear of the drive (see
2.3 LaCie DVD Recorder – Views/ Back View – 2
).
The jumper is the tiny, black rectangular piece covering the two vertical pins
below the MA letters on the back of the drive.
