8
Barracuda ATA Family Installation Guide, Rev. A
Configuring your computer
Before you format or partition your new drive, you must configure
your computer’s BIOS.
To configure your computer’s BIOS:
1. Turn your computer on. As your computer starts up, watch for
a message that describes how to run the system setup pro-
gram (also called BIOS or CMOS setup). This is usually done
by pressing a special key, such as
DELETE
,
ESC
OR
F1
, during
startup. See your computer manual for details. Press the
appropriate key to run the system setup program.
2. Select the BIOS hard drive settings menu. To set the drive
parameters, choose Primary Master or Slave,
or Secondary
Master or Slave.
3. Select automatic drive detection if available. Choosing this
option automatically configures the computer for your new
drive. If your BIOS does not provide automatic drive detec-
tion, select “user-defined” drive settings and enter the CHS
values from the table on page 9. These CHS values support
drive capacities up to 8.4 Gbytes.
4. Verify that LBA mode is enabled. Many BIOS use the logical
block addressing (LBA) mode to access drives with capaci-
ties greater than 528 Mbytes. Most BIOS automatically set
this mode during the auto-detection process.
5. Enable UDMA mode if it is available.
Save the settings and exit the System Setup program. Your com-
puter will automatically reboot.
