Hdd adapter only boots on ata33

[Certificate of Excellence]

I have a dual 450mhz Graphite PMg4 and am experiencing a unique quirk. I can only get a newer sata drive+adapter to boot off the ata33 port that the dvd drive uses. The ata66 hangs at boot everytime. Any thoughts on why this might be the case? I’ve not experienced this odd behavior before with any of my pmG4s or my B&W - kinda weird. Thanks in advance

Mac in question

 

[Wild Hare]

Oh no, not the tarnish & oxidation speech again! (Sorry.)

It could be (as it has been a few times in the past) tarnished or oxidized pins inside of that Ultra ATA mobo connector, or one of the pins’ solder points (on mobo backside) has weakened / loosened?

And I’ve forgotten what miracle solution one person used to “restore” his pins to shiny, good solid connections - but there was some solution that worked great. At any rate, a close visual inspection and subsequent cleaning of all those pins might provide a solution. *Maybe vinegar (acetic) brushed on and around inside the connector pins several times?

I also have one of those red sata drive adapters (as pictured) that I’ve never used or tested. And could it be the ribbon cable you’re using? (Without one strand punched out?)

My own personal Sawtooth Hell from June of last year:
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php?topic=7182.msg55676#msg55676

AND (non-partitioned) HD size above 128 GB?

Cheers!

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

It could be the ribbon cable. I’ll remove it from the equation for testing purposes this evening. The solution I use for oxidation on electronics is deoxit- works great! I’ll treat my ata connectors to a nice healthy dose for good measure

Thanks for the suggestions. Always good to talk the situation through.

 

[NewbiePPC]

From the picture it's not clear to me if it's an 40 or 80 wires cable of not, have you tried using an 80 wires IDE cable?

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Winner winner chicken dinner. You guys nailed it. It is the cable and the fact that the cable is 40 vs 80 way so usable for ata33 but not ata66 and higher which is what the primary ATA is on this graphite and why it would boot on the ATA33 but not the ATA66.

Boots just fine with out it.

I have plenty of 80 wire cable but none that are male to female so will have to look around. I'm pretty sure I have a male to male adapter around here somewhere that I could use on the end of one of these ultra ata cables that would probably work.