Extending IDE cables (well, sorta)

Ok, I have decided that I wanna build a case. basically, I am gonna make a lexan case, where my mobo will go. Then, there will be a smaller box, just small enough to squeeze the height of my HDDs in, along with a laptop floppy and CDROM drive. Ok, here is my prob. Well, first of all, here is a pic of how my case top would look. O ya, BTW, the top is gonan be latched down.

Now, the problem is, if the cables are directly connected to the RAID Card, then I cannot take the top off. SO, to get around this, I figured the easiest way is to run a cable through the main case from the card and into the back. Then, I would some way have to make a port. That way,the cables could be disconnected to allow the top to come off. But I dont know how to do this. Would I have to fashion some sort of port myself? I know it sounds wiled, but how about using a strong wire to hook inside the main cases's ide cable (from raid card) end's holes and then making some sort of lock to hook the two cables together. I doubt that the making of pins between would work, but it is possible. What do you guys think? Also, quality and difficuly of disconnecting is important, as I dont want to screw up my Hdd
Thnx.

the max of IDE cables is about two feet. (maybe less) iff you want to do this, you need SCSI.

oh god, it wont be more than 2 feet. It isnt really extending, but more of a "splitting of cables in half". the point isnt for a longer cable, but rather so I can take the top off with ease. I can probably find real small ide cables. Actually, I think I would be fine doing something like this with 10 inch round cables.

here we go, 2 of these: http://svcompucycle.com/blac10rounfl1.html

and 6 of these: http://svcompucycle.com/whit10atroun.html
should be enough.

Hmm....... I could use a 24 inch for the cd-rom, as it needs a long one. I am pretty sure IDE is good up to 36 inches, according to all the cables.

actually, the 3 inside cables should be these:
http://svcompucycle.com/whit18atroun.html

as It will allow for more space. I will have to finish complete designs to decide. Then, the harddrive would be 10 inchers (lol) and the floppy/HDD would have to be like 18 inch. That is anout how big the top will be. But, like said, I need final plans to decide.

hmmm... well, i could use one cable for the HDDs, as the backs shoul;d be exposed. Then I have to deal with the HDD and cd-rom. Any ideas are appreciated.

Ok, here's what you could do. Get two old CD-ROM drives for each cable you want to extend. take the circuit board off the bottom and cut off the IDE connector. do this to both of them.

After you do that, solder them together in some way as to make each pin continue through to the right pin on the other side. put his contraption at the joint and just unplug the cables when you need to.

I think they sell IDE connectors at radio shack.

so u mean just take out the pins and put them in the holes? Or do u mean connect an IDE cable to each side?

There are several ways to do this.

This mod may help.

http://www.area450.com/thesampozone/articles/externalremovable.htm

Here's a male crimp on IDE connector.

http://www.pccables.com/01810.htm


Promise external IDE adapter, you'd need two and probably expensive if you can find them.

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.html?i=981

hmm... the male crimp one intrigues me... SO could I just hack off the female end of an IDE cable and attach the male one? Would that work?
Thnx.

o ya, how hard would it be crimping a male onto a rounded cable? Is it possible? Thnx.

Yep, there's a tool for crimping the connectors, but I've seen it work without the tool as well. It will limit you since it's a 40 conductor cable, but you may be able to find 80 cunductor versions as well. Make sure you get the polarity right on the cable or it coule get ugly.

so, a round cable is 80 pin? I really dont know, as I have never used rounded cables before lol.

Close, they're all 40 pin for standard IDE connectors, but the cables that allow the higher UDMA modes use an additional 40 wires for shielding and prevention of data errors due to induced EMI. The extra wires are grounded at the MB, that's why they color code the ends. The round cables should all be 80 conductor cables.

i thought they made some that werent grounded? Also, does anybody know of a place where I can get the same kind of thing, only for a floppy?
Thnx.

Crap, I just remembered that if you do a multiple part IDE cable, you will either be limited to lower speed modes or will need to use supplemental grounding connections through the entire chain to ground the additional wires along the entire signal path to the devices. I'll have to give it some thought on how to modify the wiring harnesses to allow for this. This is why SCSI is so much more friendly to external devices.

hmm... i could just jam wire into a female conenctor and then jam that wire into another.....

Don't trust it. Find the pin connections and you can come up with a better solution, possibly an additional connector to connect to the ground path. It's probably going to invlove a bit of soldering, but it'll be a much better solution. Remember the ground path has to go back to the mother board ground for the IDE connection. It souldn't be too complex since you'll have power connections to route as well.

so, i would use tthe 40 pin one and then have to make some other means of grounding the others?

I haven't found a reference for the 80 conductor connectors. I made a mistake, if you can find them then there would be no need for additional wiring, since you could connect the motherboard ends of the cables oriented towards the motherboard and obtain the benefits of the EMI resistance. If possible you may want to contact some of the companies that offer these and see if they'd know where to obtain the others.
Floppy Connector:

http://www.compoutlet.com/cso/product.asp?dept_id=150&sku=PI1200034PXXXXXXXX

Still 40 conductor, looking for 80 conductor.

http://www.compoutlet.com/cso/product.asp?dept_id=150&sku=PI1200040PXXXXXXXX

IDC crimp tool here:

http://talou.net/store/pricelist.htm#COMPUTER TOOLS

OMG I THINK I SOLVED IT!

Ok, her eis what I do... I MAK EMY OWN ROUND CABLES! I could pick up some cheap 40 pin IDE cables and some of the stuff found in here: http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=169319

w00t!