VOGONS


First post, by okenido

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Hello guys,
Today I wanted to test a new pentium 3 build, but I had several filesystem errors during or after windows 98 install. Either a system file is randomly corrupted with garbage or not readable anymore (can't even open those file with any hex editor). I was ready to test the ram and everything else (it's a bit special since it's an SSD plugged with a sata/ide adapter) when I noticed my ide cable had one of the wires cut :

IMG_20180307_022930.jpg
Filename
IMG_20180307_022930.jpg
File size
1.27 MiB
Views
1107 views
File license
Fair use/fair dealing exception

It looks so clean I can't believe it broke.. My others ide cables doesn't have this. Do you know what is it, an if it could be related to the file corruption problems I have ?

Reply 1 of 10, by Beegle

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

I have some cables like this and was wondering the same thing, but never thought about asking about it.
Only seen this on 80-wire IDE cables, never on 40 wire.

The more sound cards, the better.
AdLib documentary : Official Thread
Youtube Channel : The Sound Card Database

Reply 3 of 10, by PC Hoarder Patrol

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

No, the hole isn't the cause of any corruption - as Baoran says it allows 40/80 conductor detection at the connector (@GND) and the hole then allows the same conductor to carry any master/slave diagnostic comms traffic. Not all 80-wire cables have the hole, as the same results can be had by omitting the conductor tooth in the connector.

Reply 4 of 10, by carangil

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie

I have had 2 bad 80 conductor cables in my life, and zero 40-conductor cable issues. I have had a 40 pin connector get stuck in a board, and pulling the cable ripped it off the connector, but that board was all corroded anyway.

Reply 5 of 10, by okenido

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

I remember the sata/ide adapter working fine on another build, never had any corruption. For the ram, I'd expect having crashes instead of corrupted files two times in a row. Do you think it's possible to have an incompatibility between the ide controller and the sata/ide adapter ? It's a 440bx Mobo, adapter is a noname Chinese thing, that was working well with the via-133a build

Reply 6 of 10, by okenido

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member

Tried with another cable and checked the RAM, still the same problem. The GPU driver crashed after 2 reboots, I went where I had extracted the nvidia install files to reinstall them and the setup.exe didnt work anymore, looking with an hex editor it's full of trash data. I plugged the SSD on my Windows10 computer and the Nvidia folder completely disappeared. I can't even remove some files, it shows an error 0x80070570 "The file or directory *** is corrupt and unreadable."

I've swapped the SSD several times between my old machine and my modern computer, to do a fast FAT32 format, add various programs and games with simple copy/paste. Is this could be problematic ? (I always turn the machine off before removing/adding the drive)

Reply 7 of 10, by timb.us

User metadata
Rank Newbie
Rank
Newbie
okenido wrote:

I've swapped the SSD several times between my old machine and my modern computer, to do a fast FAT32 format, add various programs and games with simple copy/paste. Is this could be problematic ? (I always turn the machine off before removing/adding the drive)

Did you use proper anti-static handling protocols when doing so? You could have zapped something on the SSD. I’d try using Parted Magic (or similar) to put the drive in diagnostic mode and see what it says.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. (E.g., Cheez Whiz, RF, Hot Dogs)

Reply 8 of 10, by Tetrium

User metadata
Rank l33t++
Rank
l33t++
carangil wrote:

I have had 2 bad 80 conductor cables in my life, and zero 40-conductor cable issues. I have had a 40 pin connector get stuck in a board, and pulling the cable ripped it off the connector, but that board was all corroded anyway.

I've had a bad 40p cable in my main rig years ago. It happens.
Some cables seemed to have somewhat troublesome connectors where one of the 3 connectors wouldn't really work well, but virtually all my IDE cables were salvaged from dumpsterdived systems or from thrift stores so these have already gotten some use before they ended into my hands.

I always try to make sure I setup the cable according to the colors of the connectors if it's one of those cable select cables, along with correct jumpering.

An IDE cable is not that hard to damage I think, but IDE cables aren't really hard to come by anyway. Sometimes it may be hard to dislodge a cable from within an assembled rig as the angles are often odd (along with the almost mandatory scratches and blood 🤣).

But if in doubt about an IDE cable, simply try another cable. It's one of those standard troubleshooting thingies 😜

Whats missing in your collections?
My retro rigs (old topic)
Interesting Vogons threads (links to Vogonswiki)
Report spammers here!

Reply 9 of 10, by okenido

User metadata
Rank Member
Rank
Member
timb.us wrote:
okenido wrote:

I've swapped the SSD several times between my old machine and my modern computer, to do a fast FAT32 format, add various programs and games with simple copy/paste. Is this could be problematic ? (I always turn the machine off before removing/adding the drive)

Did you use proper anti-static handling protocols when doing so? You could have zapped something on the SSD. I’d try using Parted Magic (or similar) to put the drive in diagnostic mode and see what it says.

I just touch a ground wire before when I don't forget. It's a Samsung SSD which doesn't have any pcb that could get in contact with hands so it's probably not that.

Looking closely at the sata/ide adapter, there were something between two legs of the chip, it's so small I couldn't see what it was, but I cleaned up the whole thing with a toothbrush and white gas (it had a bit of dirtyness despite it's new, like badly cleaned up soldering flux), and I didn't got any corruption after multiple reboots, file manipulations and disk swapping. I need to test more to confirm the problem is really gone though...

Reply 10 of 10, by bjwil1991

User metadata
Rank l33t
Rank
l33t

I had to use contact cleaner on some of my IDE ribbon cables since I cannot find new ones anymore, and they still work. Maybe it's dusty, dirty, or corroded. Try cleaning out the IDE cable ends with a can of compressed air, and use DeoxIt or something similar to get rid of the corrosion or dirt.

Discord: https://discord.gg/U5dJw7x
Systems from the Compaq Portable 1 to Ryzen 9 5950X
Twitch: https://twitch.tv/retropcuser