80 conductor cable

[annemz]

I just had a second drive installed on my computer, and when it boots, the error message "no 80 conductor cable installed" flashes by before windows loads. Is this a big deal? The store that installed the drive says it doesn't matter...but I'm not sure I believe them.

[Richard_Cranium72]

80 conductor 40 pin cables are required for ATA66 or ATA100.

This is because of the double grounding.

If the cable is a standard cable, the BIOS will load it as a ATA33 or some PIO speed.

All "OEM" drives come without cable.
All "Retail" boxed drives come WITH the cable.

It will have one end that is blue, this goes to the motherboard.

It's not mandatory to have this cable, just needed to attain the max speed.

Your motherboard may not support the ATA66 or 100, but more than likely it does since it's griping about the slower cable..

DrVette

[Fingers]

I'd take it back to them and tell them to quit being such "tight wads", and to put in an 80-conductor IDE cable like they should have done in the first place. But before you do that, open the case and check the IDE cable. If the cable has one blue connector, one black connector, and one gray connector, then it is an 80-conductor cable.

If your computer can detect the absense of the 80-conductor cable, then I would guess that your system must be ATA/66 or ATA/100 capable. ATA/66 and ATA/100 hard drives require a 40-pin 80-conductor IDE cable instead of the older 40-pin 40-conductor cable to reach maximum performance. Motherboards that are ATA/66/100 capable have a special circuit on pin 34 that detects 80 conductor cables and will switch the IDE channel into ATA/66/100 mode if the other hardware supports it.

If the hard drive you had installed is less than a year old, it is certainly ATA/66 and/or ATA/100 capable and an 80-conductor ATA/66 should have been used. Get them to do the job right and for no additional cost, or buy one and install it yourself.


[This message has been edited by Fingers (edited 12-29-2000).]

[annemz]

Thanks. I will take it back and have them put in the cable. I bought a fast drive on purpose, why slow it down with a measly cable!

[piyopiyo13]

Hey... I have the same problem... except that when I get the error message of "No 80-Conductor Cable detected in IDE 1" the BIOS stops loading and the system just stops there. I try to hit Del to enter BIOS setup, but the keyboard isn't receiving any power cuz the caps lock and num lock don't respond... btw I'm using a KG7-RAID mobo.

My cable does have a blue, grey and black connector, so I'm sure that it's an 80 conductor cable. Is there a certain way that the cable should go in?

[Beemer]

The blue connector must be attached to the system IDE interface. (on the motherboard)

The grey connector must be attached to the Device 1, (slave)

The black connector must be attached to the Device 0, (master)

The red stripe goes to pin # 1 and this should be marked on both mobo and drive.

Hope that confirms you have it setup right piyopiyo13.

Cheers!

[NDC]

The store that installed the drive says it doesn't matter...

And I would also suggest looking for a new computer store to deal with for all your computer needs. You can't trust stores like that who like to bump people's heads...

[pcbugfixer]

Plurry hell, all new MB's have 80 wire cable to 40 pin, (makes no difference = yes and no, it will still work with standard 40 wire cable, but constantly give error message which makes one think that it is an error)
However, for $5 bucks (peanuts) they can and will, if you insist, put in a 80-wire cable (I would have done this if you were my customer, they should know better)

Go back and tell them in plain English, to do the right thing.
Makes no difference to them, however, you are the customer and it makes a difference to you !!!!

We want customer satisfaction = repeat business.

If they refuse, go to another store and buy a 80-wire cable yourself.

Make sure you tell them (1st store) that you will tell everybody how lousy they were and that you will never be back and that you will tell ALL your friends not to deal with them.

[SPEEDO]

In my opinion if you go to one of the large computer stores (You all know the ones I mean) Don't I repeat Don't ask them for any technical advice!
Some of these people can't even tie their own shoelaces!

SPEEDO

[JohnE.]

The main reason for 80 conductor cable (other than attaining full ATA66/100 speed) is DATA INTEGRITY.

Your drives may work work with 40 conductor but you run the risk of losing data as standard cables have a harder time with data integrity at the higher speeds offered by faster ATA66/100 drives, hence the need for double-sheilded, 80 conductor cable.

JE