IDE cables

A

andy704

New Member
my dimension 1100 comes with an IDE cable for one hard drive and an IDE cable thats supposed to be used to hook up two cd/dvd drives. is it ok if i use the second connector on the IDE cable (thats supposed to be for the cd/dvd drive) to hook up a second hard drive?

i looked on the cable and saw that the hard drive cable is 150v and the cd/dvd cable is 300v... if that matters.
 
Hmm..., shouldn't matter, but you can pick up some generic cables at some electronics stores for pretty cheap.
 
If your hard drive cable has a middle connector you can add a drive by slaving it there. Dell probably didn't allow for that however. If it doesn't you can find an ide cable at most consumer electronics sections in retail stores like Circuit City, Compusa, Target, Radio Shack, and other stores with pc accessories(Walmarts can be a little skimpy there).
 
I've never had problems swapping IDE cables UNLESS one is cable select. I think most Dell's are, so you might want to look into this. You could probably change the drives over to the Master/Slave config with another cable...

The easiest way to look at this is simply check what the drives are set to(the jumper on the back)
 
Who wants pc accessories at Walmart? That was just a thought that fell like a lead balloon there! :P Gee you may be able to find a usb floppy drive or something? :confused: Something is quite right on that one. The reason for cable select on Dell doesn't stop seeing two drives used with the CS setting. What Dell and others do is make their cases a royal pain to run anything but what they carry as replacement parts. Gee? They were into custom building before the rest of us. :P Their psus are custom mounted as you will notice. Just try mounting a supply you order from newegg or somewhere else. :eek: ! it don't fit!
 
PC eye said:
Who wants pc accessories at Walmart? That was just a thought that fell like a lead balloon there! :P Gee you may be able to find a usb floppy drive or something? :confused: Something is quite right on that one. The reason for cable select on Dell doesn't stop seeing two drives used with the CS setting. What Dell and others do is make their cases a royal pain to run anything but what they carry as replacement parts. Gee? They were into custom building before the rest of us. :P Their psus are custom mounted as you will notice. Just try mounting a supply you order from newegg or somewhere else. :eek: ! it don't fit!
Click to expand...
Yes it does, I did it. It just took about two hours, and a corded power drill, a hammer, a very strong pair or wire cutters... :P

And then I replaced the case two weeks later anyway... :rolleyes:
 
OHH... you must have tried the "mickey mouse" approach there. :P It's no doubt the case was thrown out with eveything included in it probably when that didn't go so well.( :mad: !!! here's the boot! ................. crunch!) If the case has the extra 3 1/2" bay under the current drive you would go with the primary there. But if Dell didn't put the extra bays in then a 5 1/4" bay adapter would be needed to slave or master to the cd drive. I think I remember you mentioning that on another thread.
 
Actually, I'm using the same PSU now in my newer rig... Just decided it was time to upgrade everything else while I was at it... :)
 
If you have a good supply with enough power for a newer board why not? I kept the 430w from the old case onhand for use on another case if one quits or I decide to get the old board repaired. That only has the 20pin not 24pin however. I still use a pair of Antec round ide cables for the 4 drives in the present case. I couldn't just leave those in the old case now quite empty! :P
 
andy704 said:
my dimension 1100 comes with an IDE cable for one hard drive and an IDE cable thats supposed to be used to hook up two cd/dvd drives. is it ok if i use the second connector on the IDE cable (thats supposed to be for the cd/dvd drive) to hook up a second hard drive?

i looked on the cable and saw that the hard drive cable is 150v and the cd/dvd cable is 300v... if that matters.
Click to expand...

An IDE cable is an IDE cable is an IDE cable... lol. With the exception of cable select cables, of course, but you can even use those for a normal installation of two HDDs (regardless of whether they are set to M/S or CS).
 
On a system like a Dell the mounting of drive would be the concern. While most mid tower cases have one or more extra 3 1/2" bay under the main drive bay certain Dell models won't see that. So a 5 1/4" adapter would be needed to add a second one. (Gee I just used one of those to put a floppy drive into an eMachines model.)

The cost for drive adapter is $5 or less depending where you buy from. A common style is seen at http://www.addonics.com/products/other/
 
yeah im buying an adapter so i can put that hard drive in. but its that two piece set, from startech.

ok so is there a difference between the IDE cable that is hooked up to the cd rom and the IDE cable thats hooked up to the hard drive? i just need an answer to that bc you guys started hopping around everywhere and i couldnt tell what you answer was. lol sorry

you know dell. if youre not gonna buy a part from them, they dont think its necessary to include the brackets and cables for an upgrade.

the reason why i think that the two IDE cables are different is because where they are hooked up into the mobo, the sockets are different colors black and white. and also because 300v and 150v. so the IDE cable that is hooked up to my cd drive right now has a second connector. since the IDE cable that is hooked up to my hard drive doesnt have a second connector then can i just slave my new HDD off of that cd drive?
 
You can swap out the hard drive's cable for another two device cable. They put a single device cable in because they only put one drive in and slap a case together. The different colors on the ide sockets are due to being the primary and secondary. The voltages and signals alike are the same. If you can mount a second drive under the one in there now you would simply swap out the existing one for the "normal" two device ide cable. They are all standard except some are round instead of being wide and flat. Some have led lights. others have.... etc.? The adapter seen there isn't the only type. Some are just low cost brackets with no face plate.
 
andy704 said:
yeah im buying an adapter so i can put that hard drive in. but its that two piece set, from startech.

ok so is there a difference between the IDE cable that is hooked up to the cd rom and the IDE cable thats hooked up to the hard drive? i just need an answer to that bc you guys started hopping around everywhere and i couldnt tell what you answer was. lol sorry

you know dell. if youre not gonna buy a part from them, they dont think its necessary to include the brackets and cables for an upgrade.

the reason why i think that the two IDE cables are different is because where they are hooked up into the mobo, the sockets are different colors black and white. and also because 300v and 150v. so the IDE cable that is hooked up to my cd drive right now has a second connector. since the IDE cable that is hooked up to my hard drive doesnt have a second connector then can i just slave my new HDD off of that cd drive?
Click to expand...

I just finished telling you. Can't you read? :eek:

An IDE cable is an IDE cable is an IDE cable... lol. With the exception of cable select cables, of course, but you can even use those for a normal installation of two HDDs (regardless of whether they are set to M/S or CS).
Click to expand...
 
I slapped one of those adapters into an eMachines lately where they don't even an opening to install a floppy drive! :P It was one those old brass colored ones that had been sitting around since I ran the AST I486. I used that at the time to install a WD 1.4gb in a bay instead of the 500mb. That had the old 3 device cables there. I can't see why it would be too difficult to slap a 2 device one in on a Dell. The eMachine looks funny with the gap there for sure since you have to leave the drive bay cover off! Dust magnet 4sure! :eek: :eek: :eek: !!!
 
oh sirkenin, im sorry i missed that post. thanks alot for the answer. but i have a little issue with buying another IDE cable because im hooking up this second hard drive in the 5.25" bay which is near the top of the computer and the other current hard drive is near the bottom of the computer and i don think theres a cable where the connector is that far apart. i gotta check on that but im pretty sure there isnt. god this dell computer has given me more trouble than ive ever had with any other electronics. theres no agp so no video card, no extra brackets for hard drive, no floppy drive bracket, if i want to upgrade ram then i have to replace, the dvd drive disc tray and keyboard is so flimsy i can snap them with two fingers, and terrible service. i hate how i always end up in India whenever i call customer service.
 
Isn't Dell so much fun? The 12" not 6" type cable might reach. But you will most likely be better to slave it to the optical drive. I wouldn't plan to use it for dual booting another OS however. Hopefully it will be detected and accessible once you get it in. If you can't access the drive with it set to the slave jumper position try the cable select setting. I've run into that a few times when trying to gain access to a drive to recover files from it.
 
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