I have a post on how to install master and slave Hard Drives. without the use of Usb cable for connecting two hard drives you can use your IDE cable(Integrated Drive Electronics) or ATA (AT Attachment).
The hard drive or CD-ROM drive controller’s function is to receive commands to the drive and control the action of the drive itself. The technology incorporated in IDE and ATA devices allows one controller to take over the function of more than one drive. This means that you can install up to two drives on a single ribbon cable.This setup is called Master/Slave Configuration because one drive’s controller directs the activities of both drives. It is important to note here that most computer systems can support a mixture of IDE and ATA drives.
To Create a Master/Slave Configuration, follow the steps:
Installing Master and Slave Hard Drives
1. Determine which drive will be the master.
2. Locate the Master/Slave jumpers, which can be found on the bottom of the drive or, more commonly, on the end by the power and ribbon cable connectors. in the screenshot below, the jumpers are located to the left of the power connector.
3. Use the label information to determine which jumper settings to use for a master or a slave configuration.
4. Set this drive as a master using the jumper(s).
5. Physically install this drive on the end of the ribbon cable and secure it to an available dive bay.
6. Using the proper jumper setting, configure the second drive as a slave.
most commonly, Slave jumper are set after the master jumper setting.
Note:
It is important to note that, in most cases, a slave drive will work only if a master drive is present. That is, Masters can function without slaves.
The master drive must be set to the master jumper setting and be installed on the end of the ribbon cable. The slaves drive must be set to the slave jumper setting and be installed in the middle of the ribbon cable.
Most newer computers will detect the presence of a master/slave configuration and name the drives appropriately: Typically, the master will be drive C:, and the slave will be drive D:. However, some older computers require you to perform a drive detection. in case, when you start the computer, enter the CMOS settings program. Select the Auto-Detect or Detect Hard Drive option (these options migbt have slightly different names on different computers). This choice forces the BIOS to search all drive controller connections for the presence and configuration of hard or CD-ROM drives.
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