Does master have to connect to the end of ide cable only?

[Passions]

Can the master drive connect to the middle ide connector of the cable, or does it always have to be at the end connector only?

I thought it didn't matter, but I had an error when I connected it to the middle so I thought maybe that was why. HMMMM....

 

[icemanyee]

The end of the IDE connector is usually dedicated to the master drive, while the "middle" plug is dedicated for the slave drive. The reason it is giving you an error is because your drive is set at "Master" mode, while you are plugging in the slave end of the IDE cable. To use the middle, you would have to set your drive into "Slave" mode.

I hope this helps.

 

[WarCon]

I have honestly thought alot about that. With non cable-select cables (i.e. section of a single wire in the ribbon removed in cable-select cables) how could the drives tell the sockets apart? But the new 80 wire ATA66/100/133 cables have different color connectors to let you know which one is suppose to go where.

If anyone knows, I am curious too.

 

[Ark]

I don't think it makes any difference, for years I had cables randomly connected and never had a problem.


<< But the new 80 wire ATA66/100/133 cables have different color connectors to let you know which one is suppose to go where. >>


I am sure color code done just for standard like PS2 keyboard and mouse ports have different colors, but really exactly same ports. All connectors on MB have some kind of special standard color.

OEM can write in manual for educated consumer something like "plug black end to master blue end to slave, yellow end to MB and do not plug red connector in blue socket" 😉

 

[WarCon]

That makes sense, that it is simply for ease of instructon. I won't stress over how I put stuff in anymore then............😀

 

[Passions]

um im confused now, who is right? 😕

 

[ScrapSilicon]

<< um im confused now, who is right? 😕 >>

what color(s) are your ends? if all same color...old ATA33 and down...if blue(mobo ide 0 ) gray in the middle (slave or cable select jumpered) and black on the end (master or cable-select) it is ATA 66/100/133 or should be

 

[zemus]

Everyone is both right and wrong


the official standard for those 80pin cables is for the cable to made as Cable select cables, as such the end connector must be master


now, in realiaity, most makers do not follow the standard, but some do. in most cases you can get away hooking it up anyway you please, but in your case you have a cable that confrms to standrd by being cable select ( having a line knocked out between master and slave )


If you wanna play it safe and get it right all the time, the Black goes to master, grey goes to slave and blue goes to host

 

[Pariah]

Drive position only matters if the drive are jumpered to cable select. If the drives are jumpered to master and slave placement doesn't matter. If you choose to jumper to cable select, master is always on the end, slave in the middle, regardless of what color the connector is.

 

[ST4RCUTTER]

Placement of the master HDD can affect your system.

My K7S5A would never shut down, only reboot when shut down was selected from within Windows, or if CTRL+ALT+DEL was used. Since I ran it 24/7 I didn't mess with it. A few months later when I replaced the HDD with something faster, I discovered that it was set as master on the slave connector...moved it to the end and viola...shuts down like a champ every time.

 

[Ark]

I want to make it clear:

It makes difference if cable AND drives are set as CABLE SELECT
In this case cable must have wire notch between Master and Slave

If cable has no notch it should be used as Master/Slave Juper select and it makes no difference where to connect.

I am looking at brand new cable labeled ATA133 with middle connector labeled Slave. This cable works on ATA100 with HD connected to any port.

 

[AthlonMan]

It doesnt make any difference, unless your using cables off a 386 or 486. Just remember a lot of drives have two master settings for there jumpers. Master Standalone and Master w slave.