In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.storage glee wrote:
"glee" wrote in message
...
You are correct as far as what that particular web page refers to: 40-pin,
80-wire IDE cables.

Correction/Typo: That should read: 40-pin, 40-wire IDE cables. Brain
failure (again)!

I'm not sure I should go so far as to say you are correct there, either.....
there can and will be the possibility of "electrical disturbances"
regardless.

True. There will be signal echoes on the wires. The enpoint
will indeed get a significantly cleaner signal.

But as I said a device at the end will not improve the
situation for the device in the middle in any way. It does not
matter whether it is an 40/40 or an 40/80 cable. IDE devices
just don't do any termination. That means that while inactive
the IDE device at the end will just be a very high resistance
digital input. No effect on electical echoes on the wires at
all.

If you have a borderline broken device, then you may observe it
only working on the cable end. However if you have a correctly
working device it must work in both positions, regardless of
whether another device is present. (Disregarding the CS/jumpers
issue for the moment.)

Arno