not an 80 conduit?

[Funkyb]

I have a a little question.
When I boot my pc it detects what is on my ide cables and then just underneath it I get a message saying 'Primary IDE not conduit 80 cable' (the words ar right but maybe not in the right order, it flashes up so fast).
What I do know is that the two IDE cables I do have look the same bar that the primary one's connector is a little bit bigger, obviously it has the same amount of pins and the cable is the same but the black connector is 'taller'.
Any ideas.

 

[Funkyb]

Yes, this is the same post, somehow I have put it in twice!

 

[Taurus]

there are 40-conductor and 80-conductor ide cables. you need 80-conductor for ata66 and higher. the visible difference is only in the ribbon cable itself and not in the connectors. an 80-conductor ribbon has more, smaller ridges running along it's length while a 40-conductor has fewer, large ridges.

[edit] found a pic to make it clear:

the top is 80-conductor while the bottom is 40-conductor. the 40's are old and the 80's can be used for every speed. so use all 80's if you have em around.

 

[GoNz0]

if the pc is a couple of years old i wouldnt worry about it, if its newish, you should get an IDE 80 ribbon

 

[Taurus]

well if his bios is giving him that warning in the first place, it will benefit from an 80-conductor cable.

 

[Funkyb]

Nice one, thanks for your help.

 

[spikemic]

i use 80 wire cables for everything the design is to cut down noise and crosstalk. everything will benefit from this, also you can put all drives on cable select and depending on which connector is on drive (black or grey) the motherboard will sort out the master slave for you.