Hey, first post on here. I'd like to start making my own 80 wire 30 AWG IDE cables as I go through a lot of them, but in my search for components I've found some connectors that are labeled as being meant for 80 wire ribbon cable and this is a bit confusing to me. Is there a difference between the normal keyed 40 pin IDC connector and a connector I'd use to create an 80 conductor IDE cable?
The 80pin cables have additional mass/ground lines between the data lines, to lower cross talk (noise).
However, I'm not 100% certain that they can
be used as a substitute for older equipment.
It's possible for a PC BIOS to detect 80pin cables, for example.
So there might be a pinout difference, if it isn't measuring actual signal quality.
That's why sometimes, I think, 40pin cables seem to be more universal.
They can be used for non-IDE purposes, also.
The simple cables with merely two connectors are 1:1, if memory serves.
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The blue/grey/black connectors, most often found in 80 pin cables (but may or may not exist in 40 pin version?) are indeed different, in those cables the cable per se is just straight through and the connectors do the magic* by having some pins NC and some shorted together, while the "non-UDMA" plugs are standard and (give or take stupid implementations of cable select) it's a generic >38 pin flat cable 😀
* = cable select, enablinging high speed modes, actually using the extra wires as grounds, and something else I don't remember)
In particular never use a blue/grey/black cable for a Raspberry's expansion port!
The older computer I've used 80 pin IDE cables was an IBM 300gl, 430vx chipset.
The Wikipedia article explains the differences between the 80 pin and 40 cables. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_ATA#Pa … l_ATA_interface
They should be interchangeable because the 80 pin cable only has more ground, but the pinout is the same.
The 80-wire-40(39)-pin connectors have thinner "teeth" (how do you call, the pointy bit of the pin that displaces the insulation) to deal with the thinner conductors, and have an additional blade between the two rows of pins that grounds every 2nd wire in the ribbon, and also pin 34, which is how the system tells if the cable is 80 wire or not.
I've tried manually crimping a couple of 80 wire ide cables and my suggestion is just don't. Custom 40-wire origami cables are easy, but 80-wire is a nightmare.
Hoping wrote on 2022-12-02, 18:41:
andrea wrote on 2022-12-02, 19:13:
Ryccardo wrote on 2022-12-02, 18:22:
Thank you, those links and your explanations definitely clear things up. Now my problem is finding connectors with the proper connections for this at a reasonable cost ($2.50 per is just too much,) there doesn't seem to be whole lot of info on specifically what I need to be looking for or how these connectors are labeled. I don't see a search parameter for it on Digikey or Mouser, udma or ultra ata connectors don't have a lot of search results either, plenty of premade cables show up though... Have any of you ever tried to purchase these things?
The 40 pin kind (which, as said, can be used as a generic cable) has the equally generic name of "40 pin IDC connector" (no doubt plus specifications for the cable), no idea about the newer ones although "ultra dma" is probably the most common name...
...and I would probably be looking at aliexpress or the like, the serious electronics stores all rip you off with shipping unless you're making jumbo orders anyway!
I've had old drives not work with 80 wire cables but work perfectly with 40 wire ones.
I have used 80 conductor cables in old retro units. They are better. But if it will ever show yields in that old equipment, prob not.
To use them you often have to use a hot paperclip to melt the hole in the one key pin
They're for installing newer SATA drives in Original Xbox consoles so they do indeed work, the connectors just have to be put on backwards so ordering premade cables requires additional length if they're not already oriented properly. That's one of the reasons I'd like to just make my own.
Still having issues sourcing these, I placed an order with one place that immediately refunded me as they were out of stock. Ultra ATA connectors are either not usually labeled that way or they're not so easy to find for whatever reason.
The 80 pin cables ground pin 34 in the blue connector while the 40 pin cables pass signals through on pin 34 or are not connected.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_ATA#Pa … l_ATA_interface
https://www.techarp.com/bios-guide/atapi-80-p … able-detection/
