Boot up message OT

[Bill Ridgeway]

During the boot up (before Windows kicks in) I get a message "Primary IDE
channel No80 conductor cable installed"

What does this mean please (and I appreciate that this is not, properly, a
Windows query)

Thanks.

Bill Ridgeway

 

[Bert Kinney]

Hi Bill,

What this means is the ide cable going from the controller to the hard
drive is the wrong type (40 wire rather than a 80) or is not connected
correctly. Was there another drive installed on the system leading up
to this error message? If so what make hard drive?

Here's a link that may be of help:
Intel® Desktop Board VC820 - Integration Guide (June 2000)
http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/vc820/sb/CS-013684.htm#ide

 

[Jeff Gaines]

During the boot up (before Windows kicks in) I get a message "Primary
IDE channel No80 conductor cable installed"

What does this mean please (and I appreciate that this is not,
properly, a Windows query)

Thanks.

Bill Ridgeway

No, it's not Windows, i's a bit 'techy'.

When faster hard drives were introduced a couple of years or so go
(ULTRA ATA 133) they needed an 80 conductor cable to connect them to
the computer to achieve their full transfer speed. Up until then the
IDE cables had 40 conductors.

What is means is you have a newer/faster drive connected to the old
style cable. It won't do any harm, and frankly you'd be hard pushed to
notice a speed difference.

Has the message always appeared or have you added a new hard drive
recently?