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Can an IDE cable ruin a hard drive?

B

Baldy18

Diamond Member
I had a conversation with a guy who claims that attaching a hard drive to the center of the IDE cable with no device on the end of the cable can shorten the lifespan of a hard drive. He said the end needed to be terminated.

I don't believe that is true with an IDE hard drive (although SCSI I believe this is the case). Isn't it true that there is no current in as IDE cable and the ground wires in the cable are simply to prevent crosstalk?

How this is technical enough for this forum I'm sorry if it isn't.
 
I have never heard of such a thing. If you asked me to BS a reason, I would say that since the end of the cable isn't properly terminated, it can be subject to static interference which may transfer to your HDD which may shorten the lifespan....
 
Originally posted by: TuxDave
I have never heard of such a thing. If you asked me to BS a reason, I would say that since the end of the cable isn't properly terminated, it can be subject to static interference which may transfer to your HDD which may shorten the lifespan....
Click to expand...

Hi,

I agree with you - though I think you needn't try to hard to come up with an explaination. IMHO the guy who says the cable needs to be terminated by a device to maximise MTBF is just plain wrong.

Cheers,

Andy
 
The guy you talked to is an idiot. He should explain more thoroughly as well as read up on the ata spec. ATA cables do not need to be terminated. But, reflections are a real problem, just not for ata cables.

The difference between an ata66 and ata33 cable, other than the extra 40 wires, is that every other wire is an additional ground added to the ata33 cable. If you take a look at the actual connector (you'd have to take apart a cable, or buy a connector), you'll see what i mean. This is in addition to the existing ground wires in the ata33 cable. So somewhere in there, yeah, there are 3 ground wires in a row =P
 
The only hazard with cables and drives in the IDE world is what Mday said. That can seriously mess up a machine if you are using an ata33 cable in ata66 or faster mode. I have a freind who went through 2 hard drives (one would die is it was running sustained for 30 seconds, and the other just posted XXXXX on post), and a CD-rom drive which he described as "a gunshot going off in my computer, spitting my mechwarrior3 CD out in shards." I took a look at it to see if i could find out what was wrong and saw that his BIOS had Ultra ata on, and whoever built his PC used cheap 40-line cable. Those extra 40 lines of ground in the ata66 cable make a lot of difference.
 
Originally posted by: TuxDave
I have never heard of such a thing. If you asked me to BS a reason, I would say that since the end of the cable isn't properly terminated, it can be subject to static interference which may transfer to your HDD which may shorten the lifespan....
Click to expand...

The problem with that if true static interference could also enter in an empty connector in the middle of the IDE cable, which I would think would be worse but still not feasable.

The reason for having the HDD on the end of the cable I don't believe was for termination. I didn't get an explanation as to what the reason was but was told that putting a HDD on the middle connector with nothing on the end can "ruin a HDD". I was told he read something about it a long time ago and it actually happened to him a little while ago but couldn't explain how he could be certain that was the cause of his HDD failing.

BTW I would still love to hear from someone who would like to argue agaist me and the others posting here. You never know we could be wrong (highly unlikely😉).
 
Originally posted by: Baldy18
Originally posted by: TuxDave
I have never heard of such a thing. If you asked me to BS a reason, I would say that since the end of the cable isn't properly terminated, it can be subject to static interference which may transfer to your HDD which may shorten the lifespan....
Click to expand...

The problem with that if true static interference could also enter in an empty connector in the middle of the IDE cable, which I would think would be worse but still not feasable.

The reason for having the HDD on the end of the cable I don't believe was for termination. I didn't get an explanation as to what the reason was but was told that putting a HDD on the middle connector with nothing on the end can "ruin a HDD". I was told he read something about it a long time ago and it actually happened to him a little while ago but couldn't explain how he could be certain that was the cause of his HDD failing.

BTW I would still love to hear from someone who would like to argue agaist me and the others posting here. You never know we could be wrong (highly unlikely😉).
Click to expand...

"static inferference" is like calling a homerun during a football game. It makes no sense, and doesnt exist in this world.
 
Originally posted by: Mday
Originally posted by: Baldy18
Originally posted by: TuxDave
I have never heard of such a thing. If you asked me to BS a reason, I would say that since the end of the cable isn't properly terminated, it can be subject to static interference which may transfer to your HDD which may shorten the lifespan....
Click to expand...

The problem with that if true static interference could also enter in an empty connector in the middle of the IDE cable, which I would think would be worse but still not feasable.

The reason for having the HDD on the end of the cable I don't believe was for termination. I didn't get an explanation as to what the reason was but was told that putting a HDD on the middle connector with nothing on the end can "ruin a HDD". I was told he read something about it a long time ago and it actually happened to him a little while ago but couldn't explain how he could be certain that was the cause of his HDD failing.

BTW I would still love to hear from someone who would like to argue agaist me and the others posting here. You never know we could be wrong (highly unlikely😉).
Click to expand...

"static inferference" is like calling a homerun during a football game. It makes no sense, and doesnt exist in this world.
Click to expand...

I said it was a B.S. answer didn't I? And when I said static interference, I meant electro static discharge... happy?
 
Originally posted by: TuxDave
I said it was a B.S. answer didn't I? And when I said static interference, I meant electro static discharge... happy?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that also makes no sense... the connector is connected to plastic...

Termination of a cable is not for purposes of ESD. It's for reflections. Don't answer with crap that means nothing.
 
Originally posted by: Mday
Originally posted by: TuxDave
I said it was a B.S. answer didn't I? And when I said static interference, I meant electro static discharge... happy?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that also makes no sense... the connector is connected to plastic...

Termination of a cable is not for purposes of ESD. It's for reflections. Don't answer with crap that means nothing.
Click to expand...

Geez.. what the hell your problem? Someone steal your lunch money today? :roll: I told you that it was a B.S. answer. Last I checked, a B.S. answer is not generally accepted as the correct answer. Sheesh...
 
Originally posted by: tkotitan2
The only hazard with cables and drives in the IDE world is what Mday said. That can seriously mess up a machine if you are using an ata33 cable in ata66 or faster mode. I have a freind who went through 2 hard drives (one would die is it was running sustained for 30 seconds, and the other just posted XXXXX on post), and a CD-rom drive which he described as "a gunshot going off in my computer, spitting my mechwarrior3 CD out in shards." I took a look at it to see if i could find out what was wrong and saw that his BIOS had Ultra ata on, and whoever built his PC used cheap 40-line cable. Those extra 40 lines of ground in the ata66 cable make a lot of difference.
Click to expand...


So wrong it hurts. Plus, it can't happen.
DMA/66 or higher cannot be enabled with a DMA/33 cable.
"Primary channel: no 80 conductor cable installed". Ever see that message?

 
Originally posted by: tkotitan2
The only hazard with cables and drives in the IDE world is what Mday said. That can seriously mess up a machine if you are using an ata33 cable in ata66 or faster mode. I have a freind who went through 2 hard drives (one would die is it was running sustained for 30 seconds, and the other just posted XXXXX on post), and a CD-rom drive which he described as "a gunshot going off in my computer, spitting my mechwarrior3 CD out in shards." I took a look at it to see if i could find out what was wrong and saw that his BIOS had Ultra ata on, and whoever built his PC used cheap 40-line cable. Those extra 40 lines of ground in the ata66 cable make a lot of difference.
Click to expand...

How can a HD be destroyed by using a 40-conductor cable and forcing ata66+?

Corruption I can see, but having a broken drive?

re: a data cable causing a CD-ROM to shatter - I gotta call BS on that one. If I had to guess I'd say either it was a cheap peice of crap CD drive and/or a cheap peice of crap power supply that caused it
 
Originally posted by: XeonTux
Originally posted by: tkotitan2
The only hazard with cables and drives in the IDE world is what Mday said. That can seriously mess up a machine if you are using an ata33 cable in ata66 or faster mode. I have a freind who went through 2 hard drives (one would die is it was running sustained for 30 seconds, and the other just posted XXXXX on post), and a CD-rom drive which he described as "a gunshot going off in my computer, spitting my mechwarrior3 CD out in shards." I took a look at it to see if i could find out what was wrong and saw that his BIOS had Ultra ata on, and whoever built his PC used cheap 40-line cable. Those extra 40 lines of ground in the ata66 cable make a lot of difference.
Click to expand...

How can a HD be destroyed by using a 40-conductor cable and forcing ata66+?

Corruption I can see, but having a broken drive?

re: a data cable causing a CD-ROM to shatter - I gotta call BS on that one. If I had to guess I'd say either it was a cheap peice of crap CD drive and/or a cheap peice of crap power supply that caused it
Click to expand...

It's mostly caused by CDs becoming unbalanced. Fractured disc, sticky label on one side of the disc, transfer with a bubble in it...
 
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