Question about connecting w/ IDE

[rmed64]

does it matter which end of the 40 pin cable goes into the mobo and into the drives? Want to connect a HD and CD drive sharing one cable, master and slave. But i can only fit it if i use the longer part of cable, with the connector in middle of cable and connector at end.

 

[ohnnyj]

The longer section of cable always goes into the motherboard. You usually can manuever the other two connectors in a way that will get an optical and hard drives both in operation, provided they aren't too far apart. Do you have something in the Secondary IDE port that prevent you from connecting the optical drive there?

 

[MustISO]

Get a longer cable if you need one, cables are really cheap. I doubt it's going to make a difference if you turned the cable around but I've never had to do that.

 

[JimPhelpsMI]

Hi, IDE Cables are wired in parrellel. Makes no difference which connector goes where. Hook it up the way it fits best. Modern IDE cables have no twist so don't use Cable Select. Jim

 

[Bozo Galora]

yes, it matters very much

http://www.mikeshardware.com/howtos/howto_connect_ide_hd.html