how do I add a hard drive and dedicate it to audio

T

tonejunkee

New member
Just wondering - I've currently got a Maxtor 10gig (7200rpm) and its got the Win 98SE and all of my programs -
I've heard that you should have a dedicated drive for audio
first of all, what is a good size and will it slow down my system?
secondly, should this thing be set as slave?
thirdly, how should I format it and how do I see how my 10 gig is configured(NTFS, FAT32, I HAVE NO IDEA)

Thanks
 
what is a good size and will it slow down my system?
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20GB should be ample, but I think a 40GB only costs a few dollars more. Adding a hard drive will not slow down your system.
should this thing be set as slave?
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Yes, there should be documentation included with the drive that tells you where to put the jumper.
how should I format it and how do I see how my 10 gig is configured(NTFS, FAT32, I HAVE NO IDEA)
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You have no choice but FAT32 (well, you could go with FAT16, but there's no reason for doing that) for the same reasons that you are currently running FAT32 - you're using Win98SE and a 10GB drive. NTFS is not an option for you, only with NT based operating systems - NT, Win2k, and XP.
 
Don't put the audio drive as a slave to your OS drive. Put the audio drive on its own channel, preferably as master. How you place your CDROM drive(s) depends on how/when you use them. Remember, the devices on a single channel must share that channel.

An OEM (but full warranty) 40GB liquid ball bearing Maxtor drive can be had for about $80 if you look hard!

Slackmaster 2000
 
Slack,

Why wouldn't you want it as a slave off the master? I was going to add a second drive for audio, and my 2nd IDE channel is already used by my CD-ROM (master) and CD-R/W (slave). I kind of have no choice but to put it as slave off of the 1st IDE channel.


Later,
Billabong
 
I think the issue is that those two drives have to share bandwidth, so if you're recording and your system runs out of memory and moves to VM, that's gonna be a problem. IMO, having a CD drive on the same IDE chain as a hard drive is bad too, but shouldn't be a problem during audio work, as long as you're not doing anything with that CD drive. Motherboards just need more IDE channels.
 
Exactly. It's kind of a little puzzle. Think about how you're going to use your machine, and try to position your CDROM drives such that they will operate as smoothly as possible, keeping in mind that devices on the same channel SHARE that channel.

And in situations like this, it is almost always recommended that you disable auto insert notification on your CDROM drives.

Slackmaster 2000
 
Yeah. More built-in IDE channels. Well, at least 1 more. :)
I could probably just ditch my CD-ROM, but I hate using my burner as a main/only drive. My feelings are that the burner should be for burning, that's it. But, now we're starting a whole new discussion...

Or just blow the bux and go SCSI. heheh

Later,
Billabong
 
auto insert notification
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Gaah..I hate that shit. What I want to know is why does XP always ask me what it should do when I put a CD in, even though every time I tell it to do nothing and always do nothing.
 
I posted this a dozen times, but why not again....

The best config I have found is this:

Primary Master - You system / boot hard drive with your OS
Primary Slave - A CDR burner

Secondary master - A big, fast data hard drive
Secondary Slave - Second CD-ROM or DVD drive, if you have one.

IDE controllers do not perform well reading & writeing at the same time. So it's a good idea to have the data drive seperate. Also this setup means that when you write data files to CDR from your data drive, or dupe CDs, you are not reading & writing on the same controller.
 
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