Help!!! HDD cable on P5W DH - what were they thinking??

[mickeddie]

How the hell are you supposed to get the HDD ribbon cable onto the mobo (the blue plug)? What kind of drugs were those people at Asus thinking when the designed this side-ways hook-up???

 

[BustedSony]

How the hell are you supposed to get the HDD ribbon cable onto the mobo (the blue plug)? What kind of drugs were those people at Asus thinking when the designed this side-ways hook-up???

I find that one the most conveniently-located connector, the IDE cable can go straight out behind the external bays, out of the way, then double back and twist up to the hard drive, at a 45 degree fold to avoid blocking airflow. The ones sticking up from the motherboard are messier.

 

[kwalker]

I think the design may have been intended for tucking away that bulky flat ribbon for better cooling (less clutter)
I do know what you mean though.
Not every case is open at that point of the motherboard.
Sata/raid is the way to go anyway and quite a few asus mobos are down to one IDE.

 

[mickeddie]

I think the design may have been intended for tucking away that bulky flat ribbon for better cooling (less clutter)
I do know what you mean though.
Not every case is open at that point of the motherboard.
Sata/raid is the way to go anyway and quite a few asus mobos are down to one IDE.

This IDE port has the metal prongs sticking out horizontally, not vertically.

Stupid!!

 

[BustedSony]

[quote="mickeddieThis IDE port has the metal prongs sticking out horizontally, not vertically. Stupid!![/quote]

As I say, it's NOT stupid, it aids cable management greatly, with the cable going straight behind the external drive bay. In the case of my conroe (in a P180) it goes up behind the cage to the DVDwriter, and can barely be seen, it's so out of the way, whereas the other ports put the cable right into the action area, blocking airflow. When Asus fist introduced this location on IDE ports in 1999 it was considered a good idea. You just don't know how to do a tidy wiring job. Yes Sata is taking over but some of us still have older IDE drives, and that horizontal post is particularly useful for DVD drives, located as it is.

 

[DryOkole]

I think the JMicron controller is more stupid because that I have 3 IDE HDDs and a DVD drive, yet I can't hook all of them up. 2 IDE connections should equal 4 IDE devices period !!!

 

[BustedSony]

I think the JMicron controller is more stupid because that I have 3 IDE HDDs and a DVD drive, yet I can't hook all of them up. 2 IDE connections should equal 4 IDE devices period !!!

The JMicron (bottom) IDE port doesn't support Atapi (DVDrom.) The Jmicron controller handles both the two backside Sata ports and the bottom IDE port. And the Intel ICHR7 IDE port (the horizontal one) handles regular Atapi and ATA as Master/Slave. I have put two IDE drives on the Jmicron controller and an IDE drive and writer on the ICHR7 port, that's 3 HD and one DVD. What's the problem you're having?

 

[DryOkole]

The JMicron (bottom) IDE port doesn't support Atapi (DVDrom.) The Jmicron controller handles both the two backside Sata ports and the bottom IDE port. And the Intel ICHR7 IDE port (the horizontal one) handles regular Atapi and ATA as Master/Slave. I have put two IDE drives on the Jmicron controller and an IDE drive and writer on the ICHR7 port, that's 3 HD and one DVD. What's the problem you're having?[/quote]

I might be a$$ backwards as to how I hooked it up, but I'm not by my pc to verify that. When I tried to hook up both my writer and HD on the ICH7R (if I remember right) port it wouldn't recognize the HD. Gotta wait until I get home to double check it.

BTW, to OP, sorry for highjacking the thread, not intentional.

 

[darkstar782]

Jmicron controller supported my Sony DRU-510 DVD±RW drive fine, but as others are saying, 3hdds + 1 optical, or 2hdds+ 2 optical should never be a problem, just put the Opticals on the Intel ICH7R connector.

 

[mickeddie]

My bad...I was trying to plug it in from the wrong side.

 

[mickeddie]

I think the JMicron controller is more stupid because that I have 3 IDE HDDs and a DVD drive, yet I can't hook all of them up. 2 IDE connections should equal 4 IDE devices period !!!

The JMicron (bottom) IDE port doesn't support Atapi (DVDrom.)

Is this why my system won't post with a DVD drive plugged in? It locks up at "4th ide master"

 

[Mobius]

Of course, you could just buy a Dell - then you wouldn't have ANYTHING to complain about - would you? :roll:

 

[Crashman]

The ones sticking up from the motherboard are messier.

That would be an opinion. One that doesn't follow logic, because IDE cables don't stick straight out of the connector, they turn 90 degrees. So a connector that sticks straight up from the board will result in a cable that lies flat against the back of the PC.

Furthermore, if the connector itself is turned 90 degrees, it blocks installation with many cases. A 90-degree connector often faces directly into a drive cage!

 

[Crashman]

[quote="mickeddieThis IDE port has the metal prongs sticking out horizontally, not vertically. Stupid!!

As I say, it's NOT stupid, it aids cable management greatly, with the cable going straight behind the external drive bay.[/quote]

Wow, you repeated it, the first time was poor judgement, the second time makes it a lie. IDE cable ends are 90 degrees from the cable, so that IDE pins the stick straight out from the board provide a cable that lies flat against the tray. And if your particular case has an drive cage in the way, you can bend the IDE cable up away from the board.

With an IDE header that faces the front of the case, you have no advantage towards making the cable lie flat because the cable has to be bent 90-degrees away from the back to flatten out. Furthermore, the use of such connectors BLOCKS the INSERTION of IDE cables when the case has a drive cage in this location.

Of course your opinion is wrong and the original poster is right.

 

[Crashman]

I think the JMicron controller is more stupid because that I have 3 IDE HDDs and a DVD drive, yet I can't hook all of them up. 2 IDE connections should equal 4 IDE devices period !!!

The JMicron (bottom) IDE port doesn't support Atapi (DVDrom.) The Jmicron controller handles both the two backside Sata ports and the bottom IDE port. And the Intel ICHR7 IDE port (the horizontal one) handles regular Atapi and ATA as Master/Slave. I have put two IDE drives on the Jmicron controller and an IDE drive and writer on the ICHR7 port, that's 3 HD and one DVD. What's the problem you're having?

Wow, the JMicron controller put on most P965 boards supports ATAPI drives, and the reason most P965 boards has it is...because the ICH8 does not! Most people need to connect an ATAPI drive to instal Windows!

So once again the original poster is right. Instead of screwing with him, why not try to help him?

 

[I]

What kinds of drugs are you taking if you can't figure out how to plug in a sideways IDE connector but buy a board that requires it?

 

[Crashman]

Some of these boards are the full 9.625" width. Some cases only provide 9.75" of width between the drive cages and the back. Finally, many builders are not likely to notice such problems until they try to assemble the parts.

 

[mickeddie]

What kinds of drugs are you taking if you can't figure out how to plug in a sideways IDE connector but buy a board that requires it?

I'm a pharmacist so I take some pretty good drugs. 8)

Actually this is the first time I ever saw a sideways IDE connector.