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SSebeny · Jul 8, 2000, 08:35 PM

Hello,

I have a B&W G3 / 400mhz. Currently it has two hard drives. The original 6gig Quantum that came from Apple, and a 10gig Maxtor that I added. Those two drives are on the main ATA controller. The CD-ROM drive is on the secondary IDE controller, and this cable runs under the motherboard, across the door, and up the other side of the case! Its a long cable, and it has 2 connectors, one for the CD-ROM drive, and one for the Zip if a Zip was there. I don't have a Zip.

Today I went and bought a 30gig Maxtor drive for $122, it was a great deal, I couldn't pass it up. However I don't see how to connect it. I got an 18" IDE "Y" cable with the drive. The 18" cable is WAY TOO short to reach the CD drive and the new hard drive. So I thought I'd just put the new hard drive in where the Zip would go, and it fits, but the holes to screw it in don't line up. Actually 2 of the 4 holes line up, so I screwed it in those 2. But then the power connector will not fit into the drive because the the metal thing on the back blocking it... So, now I'm back to square one.

I got on the phone and called all the computer stores in town, they all only carried 18" IDE cables, no good. I looked in a catalog and saw a few that were 24" still probably not enough.

I need a cable with a HUGE gap between the 2 connectors of the "Y" part cause it needs to reach from the drive bay on the bottom of the machine to the CD-ROM drive up top, plus be long enough to reach over to the IDE connector on the motherboard... Anyone know where I can get such a cable, or get one custom made?

Also, I have heard of a mounting bracket for putting a hard drive ABOVE the CD-ROM drive, if I can get this bracket, it might not block the power connector like the Zip bay does and allow me to put the drive up there. Anyone know where I can get a mounting bracket like this?

Let me know, thanks!!!

P.S. Is an IDE cable and a ATA/66 cable one in the same, or is an ATA/66 cable a faster version of an IDE cable?

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Stephen M. Sebeny
[email protected]

bowwowman · Jul 9, 2000, 09:39 PM

Well I dont know about the rest of your questions, but I would contact Belkin for the custom cables. HTH

bowwowman · Jul 9, 2000, 09:41 PM

OH yea, "EIDE" ( E for enchanced) is the same specs as ATA/66, but plain IDE usually refers to the slower ATA/33 standard.

Dalgo · Jul 10, 2000, 07:28 AM

Hmm... I think that an ATA 66 connection for the hard drive if faster than the standard ATA connection for the CDROM/Zip. Also, IDE=ATA. (That part I know for sure.)

I don't know if the cables are the same, but you can answer that question yourself. Look at the cable that connects the hard drive that came with your computer, does it look the same as the one that connects your CDROM? (i.e some number of pins) If it does it probably is.

I don't know if the hard drive will work on the same connection as the CDROM because I don't think it is an ATA 66 connector. You might have to buy a controller card. One thing that you could try would be to unplug the CDROM drive and plug in the new hard drive. That way you'd know if it would work, or even if the cable would fit, without going out and buying a new IDE cable.

reader50 · Jul 10, 2000, 12:22 PM

The two ATA busses are the same. They support ATA/IDE/EIDE/ATAPI devices. You should use the better ATA-66/EIDE cable, though. It has the standard 40-pin connectors, but uses 80 wires instead of 40 (separate ground wire for each primary wire). This makes the cable more resistant to noise at higher speeds. You would not get the higher speeds unless you installed a new ATA-66 PCI card in the future, but better cables are a good investment anyway.

If you buy a longer cable, then plug it in based on the connectors. Drive ribbon cables intended for the PC world often place the red stripe on the opposite side that Apple does. This is a cosmetic difference only.

The 3rd hard drive should work in the Zip bay with the existing cables. The holes that Apple supplies are for the Zip only, reportedly you need to drill new holes for a hard drive. It is possible that using the wrong holes is placing the drives' connectors in the wrong position.

If you do drill new holes in the correct positions for a hard drive, I would place a towel over the motherboard first to catch any metal shavings.

Hope this helps.

SSebeny · Jul 10, 2000, 11:30 PM

Hi,
I cut a hole in the back of the Zip drive bay so the power connector has room to fit in. I let the hard drive just sit there since the holes to screw it in didn't line up. This allowed me to use the cable that was there and intended for the Zip. It works fine. Thanks!

spicyjeff · Jul 11, 2000, 08:26 PM

You actually didn't need to cut a hole in that plate on the back of the Zip bay. If you unscrew the front of the Zip bay and slide it out from the front of the G3 you can then slip of that metal back part which was blocking your power connector. Then just put it back together again without that back plate. I did this in a G3 machine for a hardrive as well, just make sure the drive doesn't overheat in the small space of the Zip bay since it was not designed to cool a hard drive adequately.