Thread: Extra Extra Extra long IDE cables

Originally Posted by BiggusLaddus

i've seen pictures of installs that have cd-roms in the headlining and i was wondering where you get IDE cables long enough to get all the way into the boot?
I want to use a swanky remote control i've found thats got a reciever meant for floppy drive bays. i've got a nice little cubby hole in the dash to put it in, but i'd need a really long cable.

Any ideas???

Hmmmm... ever heard about USB?? :-)

The max. lenght of IDE-cables is 90cm.

SkyFlyer

They make 15 Feet long IDE cables, it was posted once or twice, do a quick searcyh, u'll find it.

Originally Posted by BiggusLaddus

i've seen pictures of installs that have cd-roms in the headlining and i was wondering where you get IDE cables long enough to get all the way into the boot?
I want to use a swanky remote control i've found thats got a reciever meant for floppy drive bays. i've got a nice little cubby hole in the dash to put it in, but i'd need a really long cable.

Any ideas???

The IDE specification is for cables a maximum of 18 inches long. You can get cables longer than that. I'd think 24 inches is the practical usable limit for IDE. Anything longer is going to decrease performance (at best) or not work at all (at worst).

For a longer run, convert to USB of firewire.

If you'd have used the , you'd know this already.

It 's not said that because the receiver uses a floppy bay that it will use ide or the 34p floppy connector. It'll probably be usb or serial...

Joa

This has worked well for me - and they're very reasonably priced. I just hope they continue to keep these items stocked.

http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp...2IDE-N&cat=HDD

I've personally built a 6+ foot ide cable out of shielded CAT5, and can tell you from experience that it's not a worthwhile venture. The IDE bus was not designed to deal with the EMI associated with long cabling. Put this in the EMI rich environment of a car / carpc and the problem only gets uglier.

Well to shut all of you naysayers up.

My 6 foot IDE cable works perfectly. And for you who pointed out USB as an alternative. In a sense you are correct (that it is an alternative).Firewire is a much better alternative (if you have that capability)

Originally Posted by antimatter

Well to shut all of you naysayers up.

My 6 foot IDE cable works perfectly. And for you who pointed out USB as an alternative. In a sense you are correct (that it is an alternative).Firewire is a much better alternative (if you have that capability)

Yeah, you and your evile doings with long IDE cables....
It's still outside the official spec.
Glad it works for ya, REALLY. But for someone wanting to hook one up, I wouldn't count on having a 6-foot (or longer) IDE cable and expecting it to be trouble-free.

Also, having your IDE shielded behind all sorts of lead helps, doesn't it?

Originally Posted by antimatter

Well to shut all of you naysayers up.

My 6 foot IDE cable works perfectly. And for you who pointed out USB as an alternative. In a sense you are correct (that it is an alternative).Firewire is a much better alternative (if you have that capability)

I have 2 high quality 24" IDE cables which cause CRC errors whenever I use them with my high end Abit motherboards. Sometimes the systems won't even boot correctly, and this happens with more than just 1 hd or motherboard, so let's just say you got lucky, there is a reason that the specs say not to go that long (nor would I trust it anyways).

the only really good way to do this is with cat5 table.. I did it for my long ide run till a dumbass friend decided to pull it up and rip the cable. I didn't want to go back and build a new one.

I'd just run usb2 and get a converter at the ide end.