I ahve already researches the responses to otger questions regarding 40-wire versus 80-wire IDE cables but haven't one similar to mine. I installed an older Seagate 10.2GB hard drive [ATA-66] into a rather current machine with a 40-wire cable. During boot-up, the BIOS issued a message stating that this HD could not run at speeds greater the ATA-33 unless I installed an 80-wire cable. But it seemd to run fine. I was able to install and run a Linux operating system.I did. Then I reluctantly replaced the 40-wire cable. The system hung several times. If an 80-wire cable is the preferred one, how come I'm getting these problems?

1. The message was correct. 2. Perhaps Linux didn't like the change. 3. We have a Linux forum here. Skip

40-wire IDE cables are for older ATA-33 HDDs & optical drives. They can be used on ATA-66/100/133 devices, but the cable will limit the data transfer rates to 33mb/sec (ATA33). When using the wrong cable with ATA-66 & above, it's normal to get a message on the boot screen alerting you to the cable "error". I can't answer why you're having these problems after switching to the "proper" cable...it could be the way you have the devices configured, it could be a bad cable, could be you had a problem with your HDD to begin with but it didn't surface because the rates were limited to ATA33. It's difficult to say what the optimal IDE config is without knowing how many devices you have...but you should be using the master or slave jumpers, NOT cable select, & it's good practice to put the master at the end of the cable. Also, don't pair up two HDDs on the same cable

Thanks to all who responded. The hard drive in question is the ONLY device on the channel and connected to the end of the cable. I have the jumper set to single drive. I will try another 80-wire cable [if I can find one laying around here.].