I have a Dell GX1 that would not let me in to setup. I formatted it and put W98se on it. As I continue to figure this out I find that the harddrive is set up as cable select rather than master.When changed it boots up to where I can enter setup but then will not continue to load Windows.Is this a Dell thing or is it a configuration problem that I have not got to? Also to clarify, this unit boots up fine in cable select to Windows but I feel like it should be set as master. Suggestions?

Curious thing about the Cable select setting! Someone with more experience of Dell may be able to shed light on this. Possibly a Dell 'feaure'!?

The cable select option is usually selected when you have an IDE cable terminated in a particular way ie non standard cable. But when set up properly hdd should still act as a master / slave depending on position on cable.

Have you tried Fdisk? There is probably a small hidden partition on the hdd which is the 'setup / bios thingy' for Dell computers?

During boot up can you see if the hdd is being detected as a master? (when jumpered as cable select).

There is nothing wrong with cable select. I use it all the time. The only difference with cable select is, as it's name implies, which connector you attach the drive to will dictate if its master or slave. Your bios just has two settings for IDE, master or slave, the jumpers are just preference now-a-days. Sometimes it is easier to use cable select if your upgrading a drive and for whatever reason its hard to get the drive out. Also, most major drive manufactures give you a cs cable (which is slightly different from a regular cable)with your new drive(40 pin 80 conductor cable). Seagate and western digital drives come with cable select set default. Maxtor comes set as master, but it must be put on the right spot on the cable anyway (kind of funny,their cables also allow CS).
It looks like CS is catching on. The Seagate site says it's becoming the industry standard. Older computers and drives won't allow CS because not all drives/computers came with the right kind of cable or the motherboard may not support it. Yours did obviously, so no worries.

Your problem may be that it even though you set it to Master, it is on the wrong cable connector (remember the Maxtor drives above). If it works set to cable select why not just leave it alone : )

Variable

First, I noticed that the jumper on the harddrive was different from most harddrives that I have seen in that most are set to master but the other reason I tried to change is that it was not allowing me to get into setup, I could not get the bios. I have no problem with cable select as long as it works.I will have to experiment and see if I can access the bios when I change it back.

The cable by the way is a normal ribbon connector.

There is nothing wrong with cable select. I use it all the time.

Ummm......

It looks like CS is catching on. The Seagate site says it's becoming the industry standard. Older computers and drives won't allow CS because not all drives/computers came with the right kind of cable or the motherboard may not support it.

Yes, cable select can be great when it works, but often, you do end up with one of those mentioned "quirks" and it doesn't work too well...but I agree with Variable, if this is the original drive that was in the machine, then it shouldn't matter because nothing was changed. If you changed the drive in the process then one of those problems could be cropping up.

Also, which brand of drive is it?

Is it the only drive on that IDE channel?

Some drives, western Digital, in particular, have a different jumper configuration if they are the only device on the channel.

Another consideration is whther the drive is being correctly identified by the BIOS.

You say you cannot enter the BIOS....have you tried with the drive disonnnected?

If you can get in with the drive disconnected then set all the IDE channels to auto everything. Power down. Reconnect the drive and try agian.

When you say ordinary ribbon connector, is it 80 wire or 40 wire???

It's WD 6 gig harddrive and I was hitting the delete key to get into setup instead of F2, my fault. I changed it back to cable select and all seems well including getting into setup. I dont know how you tell an
40 from an 80. It covers the connector on the back of the drive as well as the motherboard connector. Thats why I say it looks normal to me, maybe not.

They have the same connectors, but the 80 wire cables have smaller ridges because they have so many more wires running through them. It is easiest to tell the difference if you have actually seen both together, but you can kind of tell just by how tightly packed the wires seem to be.

The only probs I have had with cable select has been when one drive is using cable select and the other is set to master or slave or .... Whichever "methos" you use, use the same method on both drives.

Cable select can also be less confusing if you ever decide to boot from your slave rather than your master by changing the boot order in the BIOS.

Would there be any problem if the hd is set to cable select and is the only device on primary ide and the cd rom is set to master on the secondary ide?

Cable select usually doesn't seem to be the way to go with only one drive on the channel. If it is a WD drive, it often prefers no jumpers at all. Whatever you do with that channel, it won't matter for the second channel...

On 2 WD Caviars currently in my possession there are four jumper settings designated:-

1 2 = Cable Select
3 4 = Slave
5 6 = Master with Slave Present
7 8 = undesignated
9 10= undesignated
Nil = Single (or Master)

The fact that there are two different settings for a Master or a Master /w Slave has often caused people problems, since if you add/remove the Slave the jumper settings on the Master must also be changed.