You can get it from CMOS setup or by physically looking at the actual drives that are connected to the IDE ports.

Sorry about asking all these questions but I dont really understand what you mean by CMOS setup

CMOS setup is a small amount of CMOS static RAM on your motherboard that is battery backed up so that it retains its memory while the computer is off. It stores the computer's date and time settings as well as all of the information that the BIOS needs to know as to what devices are in the computer, where they are in the computer and how to access each device. The BIOS itself is an EPROM on the motherboard that contains a small startup program that gets everything going. The motherboard itself is built such that when the computer is first turned on (or when the reset button is pushed), the first computer instructions that the microprocessor sees are the beginning instructions of the BIOS.

When the BIOS first starts up, it will allow you to access CMOS setup so that you can make changes. For example, if you change hard drives, you will need to make changes in CMOS setup. The BIOS will allow access to the CMOS setup for only a few seconds before it continues on with its work and transfers control to whichever operating system is installed on the computer. Typically (but not always), the BIOS will display a line that says "Type Delete to enter CMOS setup." Given that example, if you type the Delete key while that message is displayed, the BIOS will enter the CMOS setup display and edit screen instead of continuing on with the regular boot process. To insure that the BIOS recognizes that you have typed the Delete key and that it enters CMOS setup, you will want to type that key about every 1/2 second or so while the CMOS setup invitation message is displayed and until the CMOS setup screen appears. Not all BIOSes use the Delete key to enter CMOS setup. Other key and key combinations might be F2, F10, F12, INS, Ctrl-Alt-ESC and Ctrl-Alt-INS. If Delete doesn't work for you, you will have to try the other key combinations to see which one works.

Once you are in CMOS setup, you should be able to find the information that I have requested.

just a suggestion, ive had harddrive problems with linux before when the harddrive worked perfeclty in windows. It turned out to be the jumper setting was on cable select on the harddrive and this funked it up. When i switched the jumper setting to master, everything worked fine.........just something to consider.

This might be jdmml's entire problem. However, it is always best to do a complete inventory of how things are setup in CMOS setup before making any jumper changes and the like, in order to not create new conflicts, such as the system not booting at all, by having done the changes. This is why I am suggesting the look at CMOS setup.

In general, I never use cable select, even for Windows systems. I find that things work out best when every device is defined to have a certain place.