How do I tell the difference between an ATA 33 and an AT 100 ribbon cable??

[Staubach]

I just bought an WD ATA 100 to replace my ATA 33 drive. The motherboard won't recognize the drive, so I am thinking that it is the cable.

I am using an Epox 8KHA+ MB so that shouldn't be the problem.

Thanks
S

 

[bozo1]

The ATA66/100/133 cables have 80 conductors. (same 40-pin connectors however) ATA33 cables have 40 conductors. Usually, the connectors are also colored on the ATA66/100/133 cables - one blue, one black, the other gray.

 

[buleyb]

Originally posted by: bozo1
The ATA66/100/133 cables have 80 conductors. (same 40-pin connectors however) ATA33 cables have 40 conductors. Usually, the connectors are also colored on the ATA66/100/133 cables - one blue, one black, the other gray.

And to clarify, 80 wires(original 40 from early IDE cables, plus 40 ground lines to ground any crosstalk), 40-pin connectors, and they SUPPOSED to be directional (meaning the 'blue' end needs to go into the motherboard, this is supposed to be this way because of the grounding wires, so I hear)...

Chances are good its your cable, try a new one...besides, you'll need the 80conductor cable to obtain ATA66 and faster speeds...

 

[CaptnKirk]

1) The appearance of the wire strands on an ATA33 or ATA66 or an ATA100 wil look much coarser than the stranding on the ATA133.
2) Some of the conector ends do NOT have a keying slot, so you may have a cable connection inverted.
3) Most likely - if you are running a single hard drive you MUST store the jumper, on the Hard Drive,
it WILL NOT be detected in MASTER position. If the jumper looks like this : : : | : change to this : : :_:

 

[GregMal]

For WD HD's I believe that you have to run the utility disk first and tell the
HD what speed you're using......ATA33 or ATA66/100............Greg

 

[bacillus]

if the hdd is the only device on that channel then completely remove the master/slave setting jumper!

 

[Staubach]

Thanks for the help.It was the cable.I replaced it with a known good AT100 cable and it booted.