Is it possible to use an IDE cable longer than 18 inches ?

[jaytone]

I have an Asus P3BF, Inwin mid tower and have a problem with the length of
the 18 inch IDE ribbon.
I am using the ATA66 cables
The problem is that after moving around my H.D., CDrom and CDburner the
ribbon is two short to connect the H.D and one of my CDroms. The distance
between the Master and Slave on the ribbon is only 6 inches
So
1. Can I use a longer IDE ribbons that is also ATA 66 ?
2. If so, where can I buy them online
3. Is there a chance that data will get corrupted or other problems using
a ribbon longer than 18 inches ?

Thanks

 

[Jim]

^Bump

Im curious about this myself.

 

[medic]

You can purchase 24" ATA33 cables but even at ATA33 they aren't recommended as the ATA spec calls for a maximum of 18" with a DMA option. As far as ATA66 the spec is still 18" and if you could even find one longer I wouldn't use it without a constant backup plan.
There must be some way you can rearrange your drives.......?
Found this from ramelectronics.net:
The specs for IDE cables set the limit for length at 18 inches. This spec is for the newer ATA66 drives and controllers too, but don't shoot yourself if you "must" have longer cables, as engineers are quite careful types who don't get out often, and are rather opposed to experimentation. It may not be advisable, but 36 inch length cables are available and may, in fact work, but it may be a wise move to restrict any IDE/ATA cables to something a bit closer to the "official" spec, like, say, 24 inches if you value your data. If you really really value your data, stick with 18 inches, or less, or use the abovementioned "scsi" instead.

 

[lumpyhed]

Have you thought about a drive bay platform (?) for fitting the hard drive into a 5.2 bay? I had to use one because of cable length.

 

[Mday]

official ATA spec is 18 inches, for any cable, 40\40 or 40\80 cabling, that is ata33 or ata66\100. i believe the min is like 6 inches or something.

you can find 24 inches fine. i use 24 inches.

36 inch cables causes speeds to drop to ata33 levels (crosstalk, etc), or so i have been told.

the longer the cable, the more compromised the data, meaning slower...

 

[beer]

I have 36" IDE cables, running at ATA/33, and they work fine.
If there is crosstalk it hasn't been an issue.

PC Cables Direct has some long ATA/66 cables as well as long ATA/33 cables. I don't know if their 66 cables work at 66 MB/s...you can ask them.

 

[Midnight Rambler]

I'd go 24", but no longer. I always try to use an 18" with hard drives, but in full tower cases usually end up with a 24"er for a CD-ROM drive mounted at the top.

 

[Bleep]

My solution to the prob is I use a floppy adapter for the hard drive and put my primary hard drive at the very top of the case, this has solved a lot of problems for me, I might note that this has not caused me any heat problems with the HD at the top of the case.
Bleep

 

[beer]

What you said makes no sense.



<< My solution to the prob is I use a floppy adapter for the hard drive and put my primary hard drive at the very top of the case >>



The floppy controller and IDE/ATA controllers have different pin counts, how did you manage this?

 

[jaytone]

Element, I think what he means is a bracket that you can put a 3 1/2 inche floppy drive (or zip drive and mount it into a 5 1/4 bay. I bought one at a show and used it for my zip which would only go into a 3 1/2 bay that way I was able to mount it in a 5 1/4. I just looked at the box and its called a 3 1/2 inch Floppy mounting kit. Not sure though what he does with the hole in the mounting kit where the floppy would be.
Back to my problem. The problem I am having by using a 18 inch ribbon is the distance between the Primary and Slave is 6 inches. In a 24 inch ribbon, the distance is the same, The 24 inche ribbon would only be longer between the slave and part that plugs into the m.b.
I need it longer than 6 inches. (Dont we all, LOL)

 

[Fun Guy]

I talked to the guys at Granite Digital, who sell high-quality SCSI cables as well as ATA/66 cables. The guy in tech support told me that you can go up to 36&quot; with little to no signal loss. There will be no loss if you have only one device (i.e. ATA/66 HDD) on it.

Good luck -