Ribbon cable question

[Ryan]

I recently bought a dual drive ribbon cable from Microcenter.  It has a blue connector on one end, a black connector on the other, and a gray connector in the middle.  (I believe that the middle one is the slave connector.)  There's a longer distance between the slave connector and the blue one, than between the slave connector and the black one.  I was looking for a red stripe near the connector that goes into the motherboard, but had difficulty finding it, but did see it.  The ribbon cable is a Link Depot Ultra DMA ATA 133 cable, 24" in length.  Does the blue end go into the motherboard's IDE connector, if I see the stripe?  (There's only one way the connector can fit on.)

[patio]

MBoard===========================Slave======Master.

Hope this helps...

[Ryan]

That definitely helps.  Thanks Patio.  (I had suspected that was the right way, before posting my topic.)

[patio]

Always best to check 1st Ryan...no problem.

[Salmon Trout]

The blue end always goes in the motherboard.

[Geek-9pm]

MBoard===========================Slave======Master.

Hope this helps...

That is right,
But I want to know is why some 'techs' doth it this  other way?

Below is  is wrong!
Slave====================MBoard=============Master.

[BC_Programmer]

24" in length.

the IDE spec states

A 40-conductor ribbon cable is specified to carry signals between the bus adapter circuits and the drive (controller). To maximize signal integrity and eliminate potential timing and noise problems, the cable should not be longer than 18'' (0.46 meters).

Note that ATA drives supporting the higher-speed transfer modes, such as PIO Mode 4 or any of the Ultra-DMA (UDMA) modes, are especially susceptible to cable integrity problems and cables that are too long. If the cable is too long, you can experience data corruption and other errors that can be maddening. This will be manifested in any type of problem reading from or writing to the drive. In addition, any drive using UDMA Mode 5 (66MBps transfer rate), Mode 6 (100MBps transfer rate), or Mode 7 (133MBps transfer rate) must use a special, higher-quality 80-conductor cable (the extra conductors are grounds to reduce noise).

[Geek-9pm]

BC_Programmer, thanks for the nice quote.
Has anyone notices that with some cheap 'bundles' ...
they give the cheap cables?

[Ryan]

the IDE spec states

"A 40-conductor ribbon cable is specified to carry signals between the bus adapter circuits and the drive (controller). To maximize signal integrity and eliminate potential timing and noise problems, the cable should not be longer than 18'' (0.46 meters).

Note that ATA drives supporting the higher-speed transfer modes, such as PIO Mode 4 or any of the Ultra-DMA (UDMA) modes, are especially susceptible to cable integrity problems and cables that are too long. If the cable is too long, you can experience data corruption and other errors that can be maddening. This will be manifested in any type of problem reading from or writing to the drive. In addition, any drive using UDMA Mode 5 (66MBps transfer rate), Mode 6 (100MBps transfer rate), or Mode 7 (133MBps transfer rate) must use a special, higher-quality 80-conductor cable (the extra conductors are grounds to reduce noise)."

Should I take the IDE cable back to Microcenter and get it exchanged for an 18" one then?  I still have the receipt, and the package is unopened.

[Computer_Commando]

Here's more of the same with pics, notice 80-conductor vs. 40-conductor, even though both use 40-pin connector.
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCable80-c.html

[BC_Programmer]

quote from the linked site as well:

Note also that the 18" length restriction associated with the original 40-conductor cable applies to this variation as well.

So, Personally, I would take it back. chances are it won't cause issues, but when you DO have issues it would be nice to know that your cable meets the spec to sort of put it above suspicion, right?

[Ryan]

Thanks for the information, Computer_Commando.


BC_Programmer, the computer I'm connecting the drive to to is a 200mhz computer, and is either a Pentium or Pentium II.  (I'm not sure which one it would be, but it might be a Pentium.)  The drive I'm planning on installing is a Samsung SD-612 DVD-ROM Drive 12X DVD-Master 12E OEM.  The drive is being added, and will be the lower of the two disc drives, and will have to be the slave drive.  (It has to be, as there's no other place to put the CD-ROM drive, which is a Goldstar 8x GCD-R580B.  The reason why the CD-ROM drive can't be moved is because the front of its tray fits into the front bezel of the computer, which has its own CD-ROM open/close button.)  I'm still planning on exchanging the ribbon cable, to be safe.

Below are pictures of the computer I'm talking about, an old HP Pavilion 7285 200mhz PC with the model number D3903A.  (The PC is on the far right, near the counter.)  This computer I don't use every day, and only use it if I'm going to play an old computer game from the mid-1990s.  The bottom picture shows part of the bezel removed to allow a look at where the DVD-ROM drive will be installed.  This is the same computer that a few years back, I had the CD-ROM drive at the top replaced due to problems with the original drive's tray opening on its own.

[Saving space, attachment deleted by admin]

[Ryan]

I have replaced the 24" dual ribbon cable with an 18" dual ribbon cable.  The ribbon cable question has been cleared.

[patio]

Cool Beans...

[Ryan]

Today, the DVD-ROM drive came, and I already have everything else that's needed.  The drive is protected by an anti-static sleeve, and won't be taken out until it's ready to be inserted.  Now, there's new questions though.

To make it easier to remove the correct ribbon cable from the motherboard, should the PCI cards be removed temporarily?  I'm assuming I will, to prevent damage to either one, and will insert them into the same PCI slots they were in when finished.

When connecting the spare CD audio cable to the DVD-ROM drive, will I get sound if I connect it to the sound card's AUX input?

By the way, if you look at the lower of the two pictures in one of my previous posts, you'll clearly see where the DVD-ROM drive will be.

By the way, do you know if Windows 95 has DVD support?  It should, if my Riven DVD game was released for it.  The version of Windows 95 the computer has is OSR2.