The most common jumper settings for the Bigfoot hard drive are used to define the drive as either the master (drive 0) or slave (drive 1) on the ATA ribbon cable (see the jumper-setting diagrams below for your particular Bigfoot model).

Drive Select (DS) Configuration -
The most common setting for the master drive is to install the jumper on the DS position (this is the factory default setting). To make the drive a slave device, you can either simply remove the jumper or store it on the PK position for safe keeping. For this type of master/slave configuration, the drive's position on the cable does not make a difference since the jumper setting determines the drive's master or slave status. However, it is recommended that a drive installed as a stand-alone master (no slave attached), be attached to the connector at the far end of the ribbon cable. This will help prevent any potential signal quality issues.

Cable Select (CS) Configuration -
Some systems utilize the cable select (CS) method for determining master or slave. This method is a function of the type of ribbon cable provided by your system or adapter manufacturer. Cable-select configurations are typically utilized by ribbon cables designed for use with systems and adapters that support Ultra ATA/100 and/or Ultra ATA/66 operation. In this type of cable configuration, both the master and the slave drive will have their jumper installed in the CS position. The drive's location on the cable will now determine its master or slave status.

Ultra ATA cables have their connectors color coded (blue/grey/black) to make the installation of the cable and the configuration of the drives easier. The blue connector is for the system connection, the black connector (end) is for the master, and the grey connector (middle) is for the slave. However, be careful! Some older systems (such as Compaq and HP) utilize cable select with cables that are not color coded where the master is installed on the middle connector and the slave on the end connector.

(This FAQ applies to all of the following hard drive models: Bigfoot 2.1/2.5, Bigfoot CY, Bigfoot TX, and the Bigfoot TS)

Note:
If your Bigfoot drive is configured as a master (DS jumper installed) and your slave device on the same ribbon cable is not being recognized by the system, you can try adding an additional jumper across the CS position on the Bigfoot drive to possibly correct this condition (Jumpers on both the DS and CS positions). This condition may occur if your slave device is an older ATAPI device or an older vintage ATA/IDE disk drive.