"TE Chea" wrote in message ...
Win98se / ME will report "This device is working properly." how
ever IDE devices are connected, but IDE controllers have 2 limits
never pointed out by hdd / cdd / ddd / mboard /chipset makers

Per www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCable-c.html
"Using the middle connector and leaving the end connector
unattached... leaves part of the cable "dangling". This is called a stub
and creates much worse electrical characteristics on the cable, due
to reflections from the unterminated ends of the cable wires. It is
not recommended."
I found my Toshiba cdd & LG ddd ( using cable select, & assigned
by Award bios as 2nd channel's slave device ) though can play any
vcd / dvd just as well, cannot pass BCM diagnostic ( blue screen of
"fatal error" appears in Win98se ) unless I use the end connector of
this 80 wire cable to connect this drive ( i.e. bios assigned as master
device ) to my ( VIA ) kt266a 's IDE controller.

This web page had ( in 1998 ) warned that hdd & cdd must not share
the same IDE channel, I found this true : my Quantum hdd ( using
ALi Aladdin IV 's IDE controller ) in 1998 used to make all kinds
of errors while sharing a channel with my Toshiba cdd, until I moved
this cdd onto a separate channel.

Users beware.



more the problem of the VIA kt266 chipset and its driver version, rather
than windows 9x