CF to IDE adapter has too many pins

[wilykat]

Typical IDE (both 3.5 and 2.5") hard drives and connector has one blocked pin. The CF adapter I got has all 44 pins and won't fit in the connector that has one blocked hole.  Which pin is the right one to snip?  The CF adapter doesn't have pin numbering so I can't even tell where pin 1 for reference.

Also the Wallstreet IDE connector has strange connector, it also connects to drive master/slave/Csel pins as well. When I plug the hard drive, I noticed the pin 1 on the hard drive didn't match the number on the connector board. Which side is the real pin 1?  Connector I'm talking about is below:

 

[jsarchibald]

I had to remove the insert in the ribbon to fit the adapter. You shouldn't need to snip anything.

 

[Elfen]

On most ribbon or tooth type connectors, look at the soldered pins carefully. Pin #1 is usually set into a Square Grommet while the others are set into a round grommet.

(Hope you know I had to take apart my Wallstreet to see the orientation of the pins... GRRR!!!! lol)

Pin #1 on the Wallstreet connector is on the left when looking on the soldered side. BUT(!!!!) those first 2 pairs of pins are for Master/Slave/CS and the next pair is blank! (See Diagrams)

This Pin #20 is to be bent back or cut (I bend it back) for it to fit the connector on many laptop IDE/ATA connectors.

When the adapter is in the Wallstreet, the CF should be facing down, in the direction of the edge connector on the drive connector. The jumper on the CF adapter is to be set as Master.

 

[MacJunky]

I know I have at least one CF adapter that will not work in WS/PDQ because it uses a different layout for the master/slave/cselect pins. In that case the only option would be to snip off those pins and bridge on the PCB or desolder and attach some wires to a glued down header for easy jumper use.

Or, you trim&bridge the WS/PDQ's connector, but that seems like a less ideal fix.

As for identing the adapter's pin1, is there a gap between the regular pins and the select pins? can you follow the traces from the CF slot?

 

[Elfen]

Never trim the Wallstreet connector. You may need it in the future to be intact.

I would need to see the connector you speak of, as I am confused about it. Of the three Wallstreets I own, 1 might be  PDQ but all the connectors are the same as I posted above.

Maybe another diagram will help? Post yours to see what it looks like.

 

[Elfen]

As for identing the adapter's pin1, is there a gap between the regular pins and the select pins? can you follow the traces from the CF slot?

Pin to pin from the IDE/ATA connector to the CF is not one to one alignment. There are a few crossed lines here and there between the CF and IDE that the adapter makes for you.

See:

But all the wires are there to make it run as an IDE/ATA device because that is how it was originally designed to do.

 

[MacJunky]

Pin to pin from the IDE/ATA connector to the CF is not one to one alignment. There are a few crossed lines here and there between the CF and IDE that the adapter makes for you.

Yes, but you can still follow them about and figure out what way things plug in.

OP's question is already answered, but this is what I was talking about. Not all CF adapters just plug into the WS/PDQ because WS/PDQ tries to take over master/slave/cableselect pins and not all CF adapters follow normal pinouts with those.

The adapter that I ended up using in my PB1400/166 is one that will not work in any WS/PDQ without the master/slave jumpers being relocated.

Sure, most are not like this, but it is a consideration because not everyone here will notice why their CF adapter is not working.

Also of consideration for OP is that if he has an adapter with no 2.5" mounting holes(such as the ones in elfen's pics) he will need to properly insulate and secure the adapter to avoid shorting or dislocation.

 

[Elfen]

I see the situation now, at least with your card. wilykat's question was from his card being 44 pins wide, but yours is 50 pins. The pins on the Wallstreet connector denotes what the drive comes up as - like on all laptop connectors and cables.

As I remember it, no jumpers on the hard drive is Cable Select and the first closest pins to the IDE/ATA Port being jumped is master. This would be the case with your card. At the same time, any M/S/C  jumpers on the board would override that the cable would set the drive to be.

That's an interesting card you have there, MacJunky. I do not see jumpers on the board itself, thus you would need jumpers on the header end of the cable takes care of that for you.* At best one would have to bend the pins and short out the master pins and cut the rest out. In the very least the drive denotes the M/S/C option and not the cable and the pins on the cable must not be connected. Once again, Bad Apple Engineering strikes again! I'm sure if they made aircraft, one of them crashing every three weeks would be fine with them. I'm just saying.

All this says that we as a Macintosh Community must be able to share such information to share possible solutions. In your case, MacJunky, you would need to bend the master pins to short them out and cut out the slave and cable select pins for this to work. For me and some others, I have off set the adapter  three pin rows from the connector's Pin #1.

Since the screw holes do not line up on my adapters, I use thick double sided tape, which also insulates the adapter from the metal caddy.

Q: MacJunky - did you have to bend back or cut Pin #20 on your adapter because of the blocked pin on the connector? On the ones I have I had bend them back.

____________

*Note: I looked at 9 laptop hard drives (6 Travel Stars by IBM, 2 Hitachi, and 1 Toshiba) and none of them matched as to what was master, slave or cable select, and all required some kind of jumper at the header to set this option up. Only on two drives was no jumpers made the drive as Master.

 

[MacJunky]

*Note: I looked at 9 laptop hard drives (6 Travel Stars by IBM, 2 Hitachi, and 1 Toshiba) and none of them matched as to what was master, slave or cable select, and all required some kind of jumper at the header to set this option up. Only on two drives was no jumpers made the drive as Master.

I am sorry, my previous image was askew.

But I did probe the six pins at that end of the WS/PDQ adapter to find that they are not connected to anything at all. My issue was not an incorrect jumper, it was no jumper.(but I use this adapter in my 1400 anyway, so no problem)

Silly apple, covering unused pins. You might presume a shorter connector would be cheaper.

Bad Apple Engineering strikes again!

Since the screw holes do not line up on my adapters, I use thick double sided tape, which also insulates the adapter from the metal caddy.

In my 286 I had doublesidednessly taped an adapter to a section of plastic from some packaging to bridge a gap in the metal right where the adapter needed to be. Seems to stay put.

Q: MacJunky - did you have to bend back or cut Pin #20 on your adapter because of the blocked pin on the connector? On the ones I have I had bend them back.

No, there is not even a pad for it on the PCB. I do however have other adapters that need some snippage.
RE: the other pins... it would be more reliable to just desolder them and either bridge pads with a wire or solder wires to a header glued on a clear area of the PCB.