I want to add another hard drive to my machine but this would mean I'd have to use an IDE Ribbon cable with two intermediate pin connectors. I can't find one on the Internet (Maplin, Dabs), does anyone know where I can get one?
Xav
What do you mean by "two intermediate pin connectors"?
Are you trying to put three disks on the one cable?
Francis
Each IDE interface can support 2 drives. Should you need to add another, you need to use a different interface. The majority of motherboards have 2 interfaces integrated on the board, although it is possible to have up to 4, including the new SATA style interfaces, which only well specified modern machines will possess.
You need an additional cable and to find the IDE2 (or IDE1, if the first slot is named IDE0) connector on the motherboard. It will almost certainly be directly adjacent to the existing slot, but may already be connected to your CD/DVD drive, with a spare connector dangling around somewhere.
Christian.
In message , Christian McArdle writes
Note that if both IDE interface has 2 drives on it - not usual, (though I have it), and if it does you'd probably know what you are doing anyway.
But you can fit an additional interface card into a spare PCI slot.
Buy two and add the connectors to one of them - they're insulation piercing types and simple to do this.
I am not sure what you mean by "two intermediate connectors" - if you mean a ribbon cable with a total of 3 connectors to enable the use of two IDE drives on one channel, then you need something like this from ebuyer
Aye Christian lad, I think you're right!
I didn't know that when I posted but someone emailed me to correct my ways.
I'll open it up and look for the other connection. I presume it's one of those 40?pin things
Cheers
Yes - there are usually two (sometimes four on posh mobos).
Extra info: If your motherboard is newish (say last 2 years) and your disk is newish (ditto) then you might need a different type of cable.
The key thing is - if the disk is ATA100 or ATA133 capable (100MHz or
133MHz wire speed) *and* the motherboard can support this - then you must use 80 core cable.It still has 40 pin plugs though. To get the higher speed, every second core is a ground wire and are bonded to a common bus in the "special" plug.
You can use 40 core cable but either the drive won't negotiate full bus speed or if it does it will be unreliable.
BTW - such cable must be installed the right way round (correct end to motherboard) and hang the disk off the far end, not the middle connector - leaving a free end can get weird problems due to signal reflections.
HTH
Timbo
This reminds me - is it possible to obtain what would esssentially be an *extension* IDE cable (ie one with a 'socket' on one end rather than the usual plug)?
I have more than once found myself juggling HDs on different PC's while trying to repair them and/or persuade them to boot up and/or transfer data from one HD to another in the absence of networking capability, and it would be useful to be able to temporarily hook up a PC to an HD which is still sitting inside another's case (with a mini case it's not always a trivial matter to physically remove an HD from the case).
David
Not come across these - but you can get extra long cables.
Timbo
I've not seen one of these but you can probably get the male 40 way IDC connector from somewhere like Maplin. You could at this to an existing cable. I'd worry about cable length but it is worth a try.
In message , xavier writes
I'm assuming this isn't a troll, so ...
You can only have two devices on one IDE port
I assume you have two IDE ports on your MBD, so you can have a maximum of 4 devices.
If you want more you need a car to give you extra IDE ports, which are available from most computer suppliers
e.g. RLSupplies (who are who I use)
In message , xavier writes
Not a troll then
There are some controller cards here
In message , Lobster writes
There is a length limit, although I forget what it is.
Surely, you can buy plugs rather than sockets and the ribbon cable and build your own
In message , logized writes
None of my cars have/had ide ports - what am I missing? What make of car do you have?
;-)
and
Oh, OK then..
Dave
Yellow card there - DIY !
You obviously haven't got the right drivers
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.