Problem setting up Computer to use InstantCake

[ChristopherRust70768]

I am having a problem getting my computer to work with the InstantCake software.

I have tried to follow the instructions but I have been unsuccessful. Hopefully someone can point out what I may have missed.

On the computer end:
1) Disconnected computer's hard drive by removing IDE cable and power connector.
2) Disconnected both CD-ROM/DVD ROM Drives, then jumpered a single drive to Slave and connected the IDE cable and power connector.
3) Plugged the single CD-ROM drive into the Primary IDE connector on the motherboard where the PC C: Drive use to be.
4) Plugged the New "blank tivo drive" into the Secondary IDE connector where the CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drives use to be.
5) restarted the computer

Unfortunately the computer did not boot up from the CD-ROM and run InstantCake. Here's the Error Message I receive on Startup:

Diskette Drive 0 Seek Failure
Primary Drive 0 Not Found
Primary Drive 1 Not Found
Secondary Drive 1 Not Found
Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run the setup utility.

I did check the BIOS settings.

Drive configuration:
Primary Master Drive.......Unknown Device
Primary Slave Drive.........Unknown Device
Secondary MAster Drive...Hard Drive
Secondary Slave Drive.....Unknown Device
IDE Drive UDMA................ON

Boot Sequence:
1. CD-ROM drive......(not installed)
2. Floppy device.......(not installed)
3. Hard-disk Drive C:

Computer Specs:
Dell Dimension 2400 Series
Intel Pentium 4 Processor: 2.53Ghz Level 2 Cache: 512 KB Integrated
Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS version 1.10 A03


Any ideas? Is it a bad disk? Improperly connected hardware? Bad Bios settings?

[Rick Travis]

You should leave the primary master attached because it has the pull up resistors for the primary cable. Leave the boot sequence unchanged. Make sure the primary cable is firmly attached, if it is the CDrom and Primary drive will show up on the primary channel. The secondary channel is showing correctly. Make sure the power cables are plugged in on the Primary channel devices. Good Luck :)

[ChristopherRust70768]

Rick,

Thanks for the advice. That worked! Here's what I ended up needing to do to get it to work.

On the Computer Hardware end:

1) Jumpered one CD-ROM/DVD drive as master
2) Jumpered the other CD-ROM/DVD drive as slave
3) I connected both to the IDE cable that was connected to the Primary IDE jack on the mother board and connected power to both drives.
4) I connected the "blank new tivo drive" jumpered as master to the IDE cable plugged in to the Secondary IDE jack on the motherboard and connected power to it.

On the Computer Software side:

I went into the BIOS and setup the Drive Configuration as follows:

Diskette Drive A:.........(not installed)
Primary Master Drive.....(off)
Primary Slave Drive......(CD-ROM Device)
Secondary Master Drive..(Hard Drive)
Secondary Slave Drive...(OFF)
IDE Drive UDMA...........(ON)

Under the BIOS Boot Sequence I configured it as follows:

checked 1. IDE CD-ROM DEVICE

After making those changes to the BIOS everything worked out. I had success after manually turning off the Primary Master Drive and Secondary Slave Drive as well as removing all of the items other than the CD-ROM device in the boot sequence.

Once InstantCake booted up the process was very slick and fast. I installed the drive in the TIVO and its working. Now I just need to program my Tivo.

Thanks again Rick!