Bad sectors, hard disk failing?

[Cityscape]

I when I boot up my computer it detects IDE drives and then tells me "Primary IDE channel no 80 conductor cable install". I've never got this message before. What does it mean?

The when I get into my OS (Fedora 13) it says my hard drive may be failing. When I go into the disk utility it says my disk has many bad sectors. Does this mean my disk is failing? Or is it because i'm missing a conductor cable? Is it possible to fix bad sectors?

[Broni]

Run hard drive diagnostics: http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287 (or http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic28744.html)
Make sure, you select tool, which is appropriate for the brand of your hard drive.
Depending on the program, it'll create bootable floppy, or bootable CD.
If downloaded file is of .iso type, use ImgBurn: http://www.imgburn.com/ to burn .iso file to a CD (select "Write image file to disc" option), and make the CD bootable.

NOTE. If your hard drive is made by Toshiba, unfortunately, you're out of luck, because Toshiba doesn't provide any diagnostic tool.

[Computer_Commando]

I when I boot up my computer it detects IDE drives and then tells me "Primary IDE channel no 80 conductor cable install". I've never got this message before. What does it mean?...

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCable80-c.html

[Cityscape]

http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCable80-c.html

Thanks for the link. But what I still do not know is whether or not I should have an 80 conductor cable?

[Computer_Commando]

Thanks for the link. But what I still do not know is whether or not I should have an 80 conductor cable?

1.  It's not an 80 in there now?
2.  Why?  80-cond. cables have been the standard for 5-10 years.

If the IDE controller on the motherboard supports the fastest transfer of 133MHz, you need the 80 or it will revert to a slower speed, which may be the reason for the message you're getting.

[rthompson80819]

City, back to one of your original questions, no you can not fix bad sectors.  Bad sectors are not uncommon and part of the fromating process is to identify bad sectors as unusable and make sure data is not written to them.

Make sure you have everything important backed up.  If you are getting that message now it could mean the drive is getting worse.

On an 80 conductor cable every other wire is grounded to prevent cross talk.  Maybe there is a problem with the ground connection.  Try reseating each end of the cable and see if that does anything.