IDE cable mystery

[chrisfc]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for your help before, still haven't sorted this one. I have a
bootup problem on a PC. Disconnecting everything and reconnecting one by
one has identified the problem occurs when the IDE cables are connected.

On it's own the HDD spins up fine, but as soon as the IDE cable is
connected, problem. It doesn't spin up. I've tried two cables, no
change. The same also applies to the CD drives - as soon as the IDE
cable connects, no response (even to eject - seems as if the power is
off, but it isn't as I've tested this without the IDE cable).

IDE cables are of course the correct way up, nodules on the connectors
prevent otherwise.

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Chris.

 

[Jan Alter]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for your help before, still haven't sorted this one. I have a
bootup problem on a PC. Disconnecting everything and reconnecting one by
one has identified the problem occurs when the IDE cables are connected.

On it's own the HDD spins up fine, but as soon as the IDE cable is
connected, problem. It doesn't spin up. I've tried two cables, no change.
The same also applies to the CD drives - as soon as the IDE cable
connects, no response (even to eject - seems as if the power is off, but
it isn't as I've tested this without the IDE cable).

IDE cables are of course the correct way up, nodules on the connectors
prevent otherwise.

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Chris.

First off connect only one device to the mb with the IDE cable. have no
other devices connected. Second: is the device jumpered either master or
slave? Is there any difference when you connect the cable to the primary or
secondary channel? Third: what mb is this you're using, how old is this mb
and is the cmos battery OK?

 

[Andy]

It's not a cable problem. The motherboard is holding the drives in a
reset state.

 

[Jan Alter]

It's not a cable problem. The motherboard is holding the drives in a
reset state.

And what is a 'reset state'?

How does one get into that situation and of course get out?

 

[chrisfc]

First off connect only one device to the mb with the IDE cable. have no
other devices connected. Second: is the device jumpered either master or
slave? Is there any difference when you connect the cable to the primary or
secondary channel? Third: what mb is this you're using, how old is this mb
and is the cmos battery OK?

device on master, and makes no difference whether one or all cables are
attached and in which channel order (tried just about all combinations
here with known good cables)

will look at the mb type...

 

[chrisfc]

andy,
had a look online at what this means and still coming up short. what's
the cause/resolution for this?
thanks in advance,
chris

 

[jaster]

andy,
had a look online at what this means and still coming up short. what's the
cause/resolution for this?
thanks in advance,
chris

I find it really strange that neither HD or CD work off 2 different cable
sets.

I assume you're using IDE cables. Some newer cables are notched and color
coded. Blue goes to the motherboard, black is the primary, gray is
secondary. With color coded cables HDs can be set for cable select, or in
master/slave configuration. With older cables you have to use
master/slave jumpers even on the CD.

As mentioned, use only one device connected as primary, ie, connect only
the CD to the primary connector of the cable. If your bios doesn't
recognize the CD then try again with the IDE2 connector.

If your bios doesn't recognize the CD in IDE2 then reverse the cable
connection (older cables) on the motherboard connection.

If this still doesn't work your motherboard may be defective.
OTH the psu could be defective. Try again with another PSU.

 

[John McGaw]

Hi Guys,
Thanks for your help before, still haven't sorted this one. I have a
bootup problem on a PC. Disconnecting everything and reconnecting one by
one has identified the problem occurs when the IDE cables are connected.

On it's own the HDD spins up fine, but as soon as the IDE cable is
connected, problem. It doesn't spin up. I've tried two cables, no
change. The same also applies to the CD drives - as soon as the IDE
cable connects, no response (even to eject - seems as if the power is
off, but it isn't as I've tested this without the IDE cable).

IDE cables are of course the correct way up, nodules on the connectors
prevent otherwise.

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Chris.

When in doubt and after all else fails it sometimes pays to clear the
CMOS and then to reset the BIOS to default settings. The latter usually
happens automatically after a restart but it can't hurt to do it
manually too.

 

[Andy]

Pin 1 on the IDE cable is hardware reset. When it is held low, the
devices on the IDE bus are held in a reset state. To see if this is
happening, you can use a voltmeter to measure the voltage between pins
1 and 2 (ground) on the middle connector on the cable (with the drive
on the end connector). If the IDE bus is stuck in the reset state,
measure the voltage of PWR_OK (pin 8 gray) on the ATX power connector
on the motherboard. It should be higher than +2 volts.

 

[chrisfc]

Thanks for this - I'll do this when next able. Assuming it is in a reset
state, is there any course of action available to fix this?

 

[Andy]

First you identify what's causing the problem. Then you fix it by
either repairing or replacing what's causing the problem.