On 18-03-10 19:16, Mauro Santos wrote:
I don't see any great difference in both cables except for that one pin
being closed.
Also in my drive the pin which is blocked in the 80 pin connector is
absent. So how the cable change is going to make any difference ?
Google and wikipedia are your friends ;)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_ATA#Parallel_ATA_interface
The parallel interface is being replaced by a serial interface but the
wikipedia page is still a good read, there are still lots of old
machines using only the parallel interface so it's good to know these
things.
Actually, serial is what the S in SATA stands for ;). And that's also
why ATA is called PATA nowadays.
IDE/ATA == parallel, SATA == serial.
About the difference between 40 and 80 wires a cable is about signal
noise. The 80 wires are there to improve the signal/noise ratio for the
increased clockspeeds on the cable.
See for example:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCable80-c.html
Both connectors are physically compatible.
HTH, HAND
mvg,
Guus
