Iwill SIDE100 RAID DVD Issue

[leismanpo]

This has me stumped. I am out of IDE spots on my mobo but want to add a DVD burner I just got (Sony DRU710A PATA). I bought an old Iwill SIDE100 RAID card from a campus surplus auction for $1. Since RAID is a type of IDE controller (right?), can I use the PCI card to control my DVD burner (use the IDE controller without Raid?). Another option is plugging in my hard drive into the PCI RAID card. Would doing that cause a performance slump in my hard drive? My mobo is an Abit IC7, my HD is a Seagate 120 GB PATA, the PCI card is Iwill SIDE100 RAID. Is there anyway to do this? or am I just crazy/stupid? :confused:

[drizzt81]

There used to be quite a few RAID controllers that did not play nice with CD and DVD drives.
Since your PATA drive is unlikely to saturate the PCI bus, I don't think moving it will have a significant effect. Maybe try the DVD drive first, if it does not work, go for the HDD.

[unhappy_mage]

What he said. It won't damage anything to try. If you do end up with your boot drive on an ide controller, make sure to install the drivers under Windows before you move it over, or it won't work. Heck, it might not work anyways :p Windows is sometimes okay with moving to a different type of boot device, sometimes not.