Help with IDE cables please

[widgewedge]

Hi,
Newbie question: Could someone explain the colour system used on 40 pin (80 wire) IDE cables. I know the the blue goes to the motherboard , but which of the other 2 colours are the slave and master connectors? The reason I ask is that on a one web site I looked at they say that the grey connector = slave and the last connector (black) is the master. The installation guide for my new Liteon 16/48 dvd-rom clearly shows that the middle connector is master and the last one(black) is slave. Which is correct ?
Also, does the same rule apply to 40 pin(40 wire) IDE cables regarding slave and master positions?

[mjc]

The end connector is for a single drive/master, if left unconnected it could cause data loss. It would act like an antenna, picking up stray signals which could lead to data loss or lower performance.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[ranchdog]

Yes same rule applies.

Master on the end (black) of the ribbon cable.

Lite-on is erroneous on this one.

Jumpers on the rear of IDE devices must be set
accordingly.

Harddrive with active partition ( 0/S ) needs to be Master.


Luck.

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....How long is a minute... depends on which side of the Bathroom door you're on. ......
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[This message has been edited by ranchdog (edited 04-06-2002).]

[integral]

It is the jumpers that determine master/slave you can use either connector it does not matter. I have never had any trouble leaving the end connector unused. Often times theory does not completely reflect real world behavior. The end may act as an antenna, but how well tuned it is will vary with the lenght of the end, also if it is not near any thing to pick up stray signals then there may well be no effect.

[Rick]

If you look at the Jumper settings on the ide drives you should see master/slave/cable select .
In cable select mode the connector determines what drive is master or slave

This is were the cable position is critical