Utility to test IDE cable connections?

error being unable to enable DMA?

"David R" wrote in message
...
Are there any (hardware or software) utilities which will test if
all the
pins in the 40-way connector on an IDE cable have all made proper
contact
with the socket on the hard drive and/or with the socket on the
motherboard?

I recently had a strange fault which was due to one of the 40 IDE
connections being inadequate. Now, I would like to be able to
actually
test for such a thing.

"David R" wrote in message
...
Are there any (hardware or software) utilities which will test if all the
pins in the 40-way connector on an IDE cable have all made proper contact
with the socket on the hard drive and/or with the socket on the
motherboard?

I recently had a strange fault which was due to one of the 40 IDE
connections being inadequate. Now, I would like to be able to actually
test for such a thing.


If you are deeply serious about wanting to test your cables you may want to
invest in this

http://www.abccables.com/258895.html

ss.

"Tx2" wrote in message
I still prefer my method, bung another cable on and see
what happens...

Yep, thats the method I use also :-)


--
No66y©
Those who find they're touched by madness
Sit down next to me

Reply to address is a spam trap.
Use no66y [at] breathe [dot] com

Synapse Syndrome wrote:

"David R" wrote in message
...

Are there any (hardware or software) utilities which will test if all the
pins in the 40-way connector on an IDE cable have all made proper contact
with the socket on the hard drive and/or with the socket on the
motherboard?

I recently had a strange fault which was due to one of the 40 IDE
connections being inadequate. Now, I would like to be able to actually
test for such a thing.



If you are deeply serious about wanting to test your cables you may want to
invest in this

http://www.abccables.com/258895.html

ss.



That's a lot of money to test continuity. Especially when the
dynamic characteristics might be just as important because of
the high frequencies involved.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

While I agree with another post concerning physical memory (RAM) being a
component of I/O can be a problem, there is nothing mystical about it. IE -
cosmic ray. Nor do I agree that ECC should be used for an at home desktop.
Stick with quality memory from Crucial for instance. Don't mix/match memory
either.

Another part of the I/O is the delivery cable for ide. Stick with 80 wire
versions, 18 inches long, ribbon type. Use default master/slave, where
master is at end and slave in middle.
"David R" wrote in message
...
Are there any (hardware or software) utilities which will test if all the
pins in the 40-way connector on an IDE cable have all made proper contact
with the socket on the hard drive and/or with the socket on the
motherboard?

I recently had a strange fault which was due to one of the 40 IDE
connections being inadequate. Now, I would like to be able to actually
test for such a thing.

Lil' Dave wrote:

While I agree with another post concerning physical memory (RAM) being a
component of I/O can be a problem, there is nothing mystical about it. IE -
cosmic ray. Nor do I agree that ECC should be used for an at home desktop.
Stick with quality memory from Crucial for instance. Don't mix/match memory
either.

You seem to be mixing apples and oranges (type of memory and
manufacturer). Crucial sells ECC.


Another part of the I/O is the delivery cable for ide. Stick with 80 wire
versions, 18 inches long, ribbon type. Use default master/slave, where
master is at end and slave in middle.
"David R" wrote in message
...

Are there any (hardware or software) utilities which will test if all the
pins in the 40-way connector on an IDE cable have all made proper contact
with the socket on the hard drive and/or with the socket on the
motherboard?

I recently had a strange fault which was due to one of the 40 IDE
connections being inadequate. Now, I would like to be able to actually
test for such a thing.





--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

"CJT" wrote in message
...
Lil' Dave wrote:

While I agree with another post concerning physical memory (RAM) being a
component of I/O can be a problem, there is nothing mystical about it.
IE - cosmic ray. Nor do I agree that ECC should be used for an at home
desktop. Stick with quality memory from Crucial for instance. Don't
mix/match memory either.

You seem to be mixing apples and oranges (type of memory and
manufacturer). Crucial sells ECC.

You seem to be missing the point . I think the point is that ECC is not
necessary for desktop systems if you use good quality non-ECC memory, such
as Crucial.

The fact that the majority of chipsets on motherboards used for desktop
systems can't take advantage of ECC makes it largely a moot point anyway.

Alex

Lil' Dave wrote:

While I agree with another post concerning physical memory (RAM) being a
component of I/O can be a problem, there is nothing mystical about it. IE -
cosmic ray.

What's "mystical" about cosmic rays? They do reach earth. Cosmic rays
and local radioactive decay can and do do cause computer memory errors
(IBM Journal of Research and Development, Volume 40, Number 1).

A test made by IBM on a 4Mbit DRAM found a soft error rate of about 6000
in a billion chip hours. A similar test in a vault under 20 tons of rock
produced no errors.

Nor do I agree that ECC should be used for an at home desktop.

Is there any reason not to use ECC besides some cost and a very small
loss of performance?

I suppose this comes down to what a "home computer" is. Some may be used
to play games and write letters; others may archive a lifetime's worth
of work.

If not ECC memory, there is advantage to using parity-checked memory; a
memory error should cause the computer to halt with a warning, rather
than corrupting files.

Best wishes,
--
Michael Salem

Lil' Dave wrote:

While I agree with another post concerning physical memory (RAM) being a
component of I/O can be a problem, there is nothing mystical about it. IE
-
cosmic ray. Nor do I agree that ECC should be used for an at home
desktop.
Stick with quality memory from Crucial for instance. Don't mix/match
memory either.

The incremental cost of ECC is minuscule and the performance penalty equally
so. The only reason _not_ to use it is the paucity of boards that support
it (three Bronx cheers for Intel).

Another part of the I/O is the delivery cable for ide. Stick with 80 wire
versions, 18 inches long, ribbon type. Use default master/slave, where
master is at end and slave in middle.
"David R" wrote in message
...
Are there any (hardware or software) utilities which will test if all the
pins in the 40-way connector on an IDE cable have all made proper contact
with the socket on the hard drive and/or with the socket on the
motherboard?

I recently had a strange fault which was due to one of the 40 IDE
connections being inadequate. Now, I would like to be able to actually
test for such a thing.

--
--John
Reply to jclarke at ae tee tee global dot net
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

Michael Salem wrote:

Lil' Dave wrote:


While I agree with another post concerning physical memory (RAM) being a
component of I/O can be a problem, there is nothing mystical about it. IE -
cosmic ray.


What's "mystical" about cosmic rays? They do reach earth.

I think he means that the odds of the stated symptom being caused by cosmic
rays is much less than more conventional sources. So much less that it
falls into the 'mystical' category.

Cosmic rays
and local radioactive decay can and do do cause computer memory errors
(IBM Journal of Research and Development, Volume 40, Number 1).

A test made by IBM on a 4Mbit DRAM found a soft error rate of about 6000
in a billion chip hours. A similar test in a vault under 20 tons of rock
produced no errors.

That rate comes to 1 per 19 years, assuming 24/7 operation. Hey, if you're
lucky it was off when that one came through Or you were doing any of the
90% of the time non critical things people normally use a home PC for.

Nor do I agree that ECC should be used for an at home desktop.


Is there any reason not to use ECC besides some cost and a very small
loss of performance?

Two good reasons.

I suppose this comes down to what a "home computer" is. Some may be used
to play games and write letters; others may archive a lifetime's worth
of work.

It comes down to more than that. The odds of it happening and the
consequences if it does (which is an entire probability set of it's own) vs
the cost of taking preventative measures.

Once in 19 years is a rather rare event and even if it happened that
doesn't mean you automatically lose 'important' data. It would have to
occur at a particular time that affected a particular thing in a particular
manner. Ok, so maybe I lost a 'pixel' in a picture of pooch or it blew a
character in of those wonderful SPAM emails that come with garbled text to
begin with. Odds are the real impact [pun intended] would be 'erp',
unexplained program error, a few curse words about 'microsoft software',
and restart [as if THAT never happens even without the help of cosmic rays].

For the typical home user, the odds of losing EVERY thing from a hard drive
failure, combined with the traditionally lousy backup regimen, or some
other failure that causes the system to go 'nuts' is much, much, higher
than worrying about cosmic rays. The odds are higher it'll get bumped at an
inopportune time, or that a component will fail, or that a connector will
work lose from thermal creep, or any number of things. Hell, the odds of
the user screwing his data up HIMSELF is a thousand times higher.

And we didn't even touch on getting a virus.

If not ECC memory, there is advantage to using parity-checked memory; a
memory error should cause the computer to halt with a warning, rather
than corrupting files.

I agree, if one is using it to calculate warp drive trajectories and an
'oops' may put you inside a sun somewhere. But then I'd be recommending
multiple redundant systems too.