What cable is that???

[bgatot]

I hope this doesn't sound too dumb, but...

I just found those newfangled round IDE & floppy cables at the local Micro Center, and decided to replace all my drive cables with those. I initially bought 2 different hard drive cables, one 18" red, the other 24" in beige. When I got home, I have trouble inserting the beige cable, and found out that the connector on those cables have one hole that's plugged. It's the hole in the top center near where the notch is. THe red cable has normal 40 pin connector that fits. Now, funny thing is, they have the exact same description on its package, which is:

UltraIDE 33/66/100, (3) IDC40S with 80 Wires, 18" (0", 12", 18")

except one says 18" and the other says 24", and had different interval distance for the connectors, of course. What could the other cable, with one hole plugged in, is for? I've never seen such connector or places to plug it into. Do newer drives use that, maybe?

 

[kgraeme]

ATA100.

An ata33 cable has 40 wires and no blocked plug. An ata100 cable has 80 wires and the blocked hole. ATA100 also shouldn't exceed 18".

 

[bgatot]

Thanks!

Hmmm, funny then, that the one with the plugged connector is actually the longer (24") ones, the shorter (18") ones have the regular 40pin connector! And both are labeled the same too, apart from the cable length.

So the 80 wires cable should be OK to use with ATA33/66, right? (well, it seem to work anyway! )

Oh, also, will this cable I bought, which has non-plugged connector, yet claim to have 80 wires (I haven't counted them yet!) work if I upgrade to ATA100 in the future?

 

[JHeiderman]

I've got numerous ATA-33 cables with a blocked pin.

- J

 

[JC]

<< So the 80 wires cable should be OK to use with ATA33/66, right? (well, it seem to work anyway! ) >>



Yes. You need the 80-wire cables for ATA/66 and up, but they work the same with ATA/33 and slower.



<< Oh, also, will this cable I bought, which has non-plugged connector, yet claim to have 80 wires (I haven't counted them yet!) work if I upgrade to ATA100 in the future? >>



Yes.

As far as the blocked hole, I think it's actually the bottom center....all the IDE HDs I have sitting around (even really old ones!) are missing that pin...it's so you get the cable on right!
I don't think it has anything to do with the ATA spec (33/66/100 etc.)

JC

 

[kgraeme]

<< it's so you get the cable on right!
I don't think it has anything to do with the ATA spec (33/66/100 etc.)

JC >>



Actually, I think that may be right now that you mention it. I just grabbed the cables I had on the shelf and looked.

The 18" rule still stands, though. I too have seen plenty of 24" cables claiming to be ATA100.