ATA cables causing crashes???

[playboyman007]

For about a 3 months now, my computer has been crashing now and then. First I thought it was PS, but with a new PS it still crashes. Second I thought it was over heating, but with normal temps around 20C to 30C doesnt seem like a heating problem. Thrid I thought it would be the harddrive but after buying a new seagate 320gb SATA I still get the same crashes. Now I am leaning torward that it is a IDE cabling problem. Everytime I boot the computer a message in the bios right after all the IDE device load states something about "80 pin...." I couldn't really read it all since it went by so fast. SO I thought 80 pin would mean IDE cables. Can IDE cables cause system crash??

 

[chogo]

Yes it is possible. A 40 conductor IDE cable only will support up to UDMA 2. So, if say an IDE hard drive or IDE DVD burner requires UDMA 3 or higher than this would cause problems with a 40 conductor IDE cable. Actually, I would be surprised that it works at all as UDMA 4 would cause errors for me on a 40 conductor IDE cable.

A simple fix is to replace your 40 conductor IDE cable with a 80 conductor IDE cable.

Another way to check the UDMA modes: Start > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Device Manager > IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers > Primary IDE Channel > Advanced Setting tab to check the current Ultra DMA mode.

NOTE: there will be 2 primary and 2 secondary IDE entries and you should check them all

 

[playboyman007]

Yes it is possible. A 40 conductor IDE cable only will support up to UDMA 2. So, if say an IDE hard drive or IDE DVD burner requires UDMA 3 or higher than this would cause problems with a 40 conductor IDE cable. Actually, I would be surprised that it works at all as UDMA 4 would cause errors for me on a 40 conductor IDE cable.

A simple fix is to replace your 40 conductor IDE cable with a 80 conductor IDE cable.

Another way to check the UDMA modes: Start > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Device Manager > IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers > Primary IDE Channel > Advanced Setting tab to check the current Ultra DMA mode.

NOTE: there will be 2 primary and 2 secondary IDE entries and you should check them all

It states Ultra DMA mode 5....I have no idea what does that mean.

 

[chogo]

Ultra DMA mode 5 = 100 MB/s

You would definitely need a 80 conductor IDE cable to support that speed.

1) How many conductors does your current IDE cable have and what devices are attached to it?

2) What are you doing with your PC when it crashes?

On a flat 40 conductor cable, it is relatively easy to count 20.

For a flat 80 conductor cable, the wires are narrower so it is harder to count 20 conductors.

It should only cost a few dollars to get a flat 80 conductor IDE cable from a local computer store unless you want a rounded cable which then costs ~$11+ (ZipZoomFly). The benefit of the rounded cable is better airflow in your case.

BTW, there may be a BOOT option in the bios to display the IDE settings for longer (ie. Disable the Quick Boot setting).

 

[Pain]

It is possible that you are getting that error if you have a CD drive hooked up, but unless you are using that 40pin cable on your HD then I doubt it is causing it to crash. I have systems where I've got the cd drive connected with that 40 pin cable, and it doesn't cause me problems though it does show that error on boot.

 

[playboyman007]

Ultra DMA mode 5 = 100 MB/s

You would definitely need a 80 conductor IDE cable to support that speed.

1) How many conductors does your current IDE cable have and what devices are attached to it?

2) What are you doing with your PC when it crashes?

On a flat 40 conductor cable, it is relatively easy to count 20.

For a flat 80 conductor cable, the wires are narrower so it is harder to count 20 conductors.

It should only cost a few dollars to get a flat 80 conductor IDE cable from a local computer store unless you want a rounded cable which then costs ~$11+ (ZipZoomFly). The benefit of the rounded cable is better airflow in your case.

BTW, there may be a BOOT option in the bios to display the IDE settings for longer (ie. Disable the Quick Boot setting).

1) I dont know how to tell the amount of conductors, but I had 80 pins IDE cables connected. IDE 1 is connected to my harddrive, and IDE 2 is connected to my NEC dvd burner.

2) a) downloading using bitcomet
b) scan the computer for spyware and viruses using AVG anitspyware and antivirus.

I just purchased 2 rounded IDE cables...hope it works well. I also check with www.driveragent.com, and it states my Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers drivers are bad. Im guessing this will add to the problem. Any thoughts?

 

[chogo]

1) I dont know how to tell the amount of conductors, but I had 80 pins IDE cables connected. IDE 1 is connected to my harddrive, and IDE 2 is connected to my NEC dvd burner.

2) a) downloading using bitcomet
b) scan the computer for spyware and viruses using AVG anitspyware and antivirus.

I just purchased 2 rounded IDE cables...hope it works well. I also check with www.driveragent.com, and it states my Intel(R) 82801EB Ultra ATA Storage Controllers drivers are bad. Im guessing this will add to the problem. Any thoughts?

Technically, all IDE cables have 40 pin connectors but some have 40 conductor wires while most (like yours) have 80 conductors wires. You probably don't need a new cable but you never know and it gives you something else to test.

Have you tried removing and reattaching the IDE cable to ensure that it is firmly connected to the harddive?

82801EB: You should visit your motherboard vendor's or Intel Chipset Installation Utility site and download the latest chipset drivers.

Assuming that you have a single device on each IDE channel, then you should ensure that you have the master jumper or cable select (CS) setting on each device (harddrive, DVD burner).

Also, you may want to run diagnostics on the hard drive. You can download WD Datalife Tools or Seagate Seatools to check your disk drive for errors as it seems that your problem occurs during major disk activity.