UNSOLVED
Old Dell dimension 8400 PATA master and slave optical drive
In bios both set on, power on it says pata master and slave devices not seen
both ide optical drives ejects tray and cables are properly connected
I then d/c these and set jumper of both odd to master. Test each separately
result:
previous master odd1 is bad. It is not detected.
with that it prevents detection of previous slave odd2, which by itself is detected and tested good as single master
old school knowledge does it matter master and slave ide cable connector has to be connected master to master and slave to slave, when you use single device set as master?
this may be the last dinosaur Dell dimension in old clam shell plastic over metal oem case before it moves on to Dimension 9100 aka XPS 400
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Posted August 18th, 2026 02:23
Rebuild spec:
Pentium 4 3.4 GHz
4 gb ddr2 ram
80 gb SATA hdd
ide optical drive, floppy drive
Windows XP Professional SP3
GeForce 8500GT
Creative Lab Audigy 2ZS PCI
this exceeds game requirements except sound
Recommended Requirements (Original F.E.A.R.)Processor: Pentium 4 3.0 GHz or equivalent
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics: 256 MB Radeon 9800 Pro or GeForce 6600 or better
Sound: Sound Blaster X-Fi series card
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Posted August 18th, 2026 02:29
The Dell/Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio is a budget internal sound supporting 24-bit/96kHz playback and 7.1 channel surround sound. While it features the X-Fi brand name and software enhancements like Crystalizer, it famously lacks a true hardware X-Fi processor, acting more like an upgraded Audigy value card. It uses older Audigy/CA106 or SB Live chips with no native X-Fi hardware processor; effects are entirely software-driven.
SB1040. DP/N P380K
this is the Dell sound card in
Alienware Aurora/Aurora ALX/Aurora R3, Inspiron 660, Studio XPS 9100, Vostro 460/470 and XPS 8300
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Posted August 18th, 2026 02:38
The SB0467 is an OEM variant of the Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic PCI sound card,Dell Part Number 0CT602. It features the CA20K1 audio processor, providing 24-bit Crystalizer technology, CMSS-3D surround sound, and hardware-accelerated audio for legacy Windows systems. It is used in Dell XPS 400, XPS 600.
CA20K1 and EMU20K1 are different names for the exact same Creative Technology Sound Blaster X-Fi audio processor chip. "EMU20K1" is the E-MU branded name, while "CA20K1" is the internal Creative part number stamped on the silicon.
True Hardware X-Fi Cards (EMU20k1 / EMU20k2)
Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic / Platinum / Fatal1ty / Elite Pro (PCI): Original full-hardware cards built around the EMU20k1 processor with dedicated hardware acceleration and 64 MB of X-Ram on elite variants.
Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium series (PCIe): True native PCI Express hardware processors (EMU20k2) adding Dolby Digital live encoding for gaming.
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Posted August 18th, 2026 02:46
The Dell XPS 730x originally shipped with a dedicated PCI Express add-in sound card, commonly a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGame SB0730 or an optional high-end Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium series card SB0880
The SB0730 is the model number for the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer, a dedicated PCI internal sound card released by Creative Labs. It is widely known for retro gaming builds, providing hardware-accelerated EAX 5.0 surround sound support for Windows XP and legacy systems.Bus Type: Standard 32-bit PCI slot
Audio Processor: Creative CA20K1 (E-MU 20K1)
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Posted August 18th, 2026 10:26
Hi
IDE originally was just a single channel pair.
Then became 2 X 2 channel pairs, so you may have scope there for each item on it's own channel.
Next is Master/Slave jumpers OR Cable Select,
Both drives must be set to Cable Select via their jumpers; then:
Drive on the end (master) connector → becomes master.
Drive on the middle (slave) connector → becomes slave.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Middle connector (gray):
Pins 1–27, 29–40: connected straight through.
Pin 28: NOT connected (open circuit) → this becomes the slave position.unixwiz+1
End connector (black):
Pins 1–40: all connected, including pin 28 (grounded via the cable) → this becomes the master position.
.
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Kind Regards
anne_droid
redxps630
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Posted August 18th, 2026 02:15
Dell audio driver for Audigy 2ZS is not working in 8400. I even tried replacing original sound card with a spare unit of identical model
it says “no component found”
I looked for a xp driver of audigy 2ZS on philcomputerlab web site. This works.
looks like Dell driver has a bug. Do not expect Dell will fix a driver for such legacy model. The mere fact Dell still upkeeps support is already more than expected
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