By "terminators" don't you mean the jumper positions?
Aren't those jumpers actually "read" by the IDE channel,
and if they are set to indicate Cable Select, *then*
the connector position determines Master or Slave?
In other words, ATA cables don't specify Cable Select
mode, only the jumpers on the hard drives do?

*TimDaniels*


"Edward J. Neth" wrote:
In theory at least, all Ultra ATA cables are supposed
to be cable select - master at the connector further
from the mainboard, slave on the middle connector.
In practice, not all cables work this way. The drives
themselves have terminators on them -- the UltraATA
cable is supposed to read the terminator to distinguish
master from slave.

"Timothy Daniels" wrote:
What makes an 80-wire cable a Cable Select cable
or not a Cable Select cable?