9fans archive / 1998 / 04 / 75 /    prev next

From: jim mckie jmk@pla...
Subject: [9fans] New User: Basic Questions (unclear in FAQ etc)
Date: Mon, 20 Apr 1998 00:40:43 -0400

	My cd rom config utility finds it here: 1F0, IRQ 14, slave. HD is the
	master device.

Since you have the device on the primary ATA controller there's no need for
any entry in plan9.ini.

The way an ATAPI device is recognised is that it leaves a special signature
in two of the ATA registers after reset. Anyone fiddling with the device before
Plan9 starts will possibly alter that signature and Plan9 will not find the
device. Three things to try:
1) Make sure there are no DOS drivers run before starting b.com.
2) add the line
	ata0=irq=14 reset
   to plan9.ini. This attempts to reset the controller. However, I think there
   was a bug in the released code so this may not always work.
3) Move the CD-ROM drive to another controller and make it the master. This is
   usually best in any case for performance reasons.
It's possible your drive can't be detected, it happens with some hardware
combinations. What is the brand and model of the drive?

--jim