80 wire IDE cable- Why does the blue end have to connect to the mobo?

[JEDI]

I have a 80 wire cable for my hd.

the hd and cd rom are further apart from each other than the non-blue cable connectors will allow.

so i swich it and use the blue end to connect to the cd-rom.

well, now my mobo (k7vta3) said there's no 80 wire cable. and now takes FOREVER to get past bios.

so i had to use the blue end for the mobo, and move the harddrive to a cd-rom slot, just below the cd-rom so the connectors will reach. i have no brackets, so the hd is just suspended by 2 screws.

why does it matter if the blue connector is on the mobo or not???

 

[InlineFive]

I have plugged the blue end into my drives with no ill effect. I think they are colored to show which end (in the manufacturers opinion) should be plugged into the motherboard.

 

[Gunbuster]

All 80 conductor cables are setup for cable select, are you using CS on the drives?

 

[Baked]

Uhhhhhhhhh, but 'cause the data signal for IDE is directional, and you just figured it out all by yourself. Can't imagine what a mess the inside of your case looks like.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: Gunbuster
All 80 conductor cables are setup for cable select, are you using CS on the drives?

no, master slave.

what is cable select option?

 

[imported_Phil]

Originally posted by: Baked
Uhhhhhhhhh, but 'cause the data signal for IDE is directional, and you just figured it out all by yourself. Can't imagine what a mess the inside of your case looks like.

What?

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: Gunbuster
All 80 conductor cables are setup for cable select, are you using CS on the drives?

no, master slave.

what is cable select option?

That is the CS option listed on the drive jumper layout. Other than that - it makes no difference ahich end goes to the mobo connector - blue or black. If you use M S settings, it makes no difference where any go as long as you have the red stripe properly oriented.

 

[Auric]

If CS is not an option (removeable drives in the chain etc.), the connectors can be moved fairly easily with a wee screwdriver and pair of pliers or such. Although I have only done this with 40 pin cables and suppose 80 are a tad trickier.

 

[JEDI]

cs is an option on both the hd and cdrom.

but what does cs do? if it doesnt matter which connector i use, then why not use master/slave?

 

[tweeve2002]

It it really dosnt matter what way the cable is put in...In my server I have to put one cable in upside down and it sill works great, and i just did it to a friends system too. His secondary IDE port on his motherboard went bad or something so to make sure he could use both the CD-ROM and Hard drive we just installed I put the cable in upside down so i could reach both drives. Just make sure the drive(s) are set with Master/Slave setting and everything should work. If you were to look at the an 80 pin cable you would see that non of the cables cross so it really dosent matter what way you put in the cable.

 

[boomerang]

Some of the early cables had a break in one of the wires near the blue connector. It appeared as a "void" in the wire.

Your cable may have this break. Although it may not be apparent. It may be hidden by the blue connector itself. This is why your cable is not happy unless it's connected Blue to Blue.

I probably have 15 or 20 80 wire cables here and there is a difference. If I look at the connectors themselves, some have a plugged hole. I've mistakenly tried to put newer cables on older boards and couldn't. The older boards have all the pins.