2024-04-25

Ultra DMA Hard Drive

Cables for Ultra ATA/66 to Ultra ATA/133 Hard Drives

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM03 mins

This FAQ applies to all Seagate, Maxtor, Quantum ATA 66, ATA 100, and ATA 133 drives.

The faster timing requirements of Ultra ATA/66 and above require the use of an 80-conductor cable. This is necessary for proper operation of UDMA modes 3 and greater. The 80-conductor cable is used with the same connector configuration as the standard 40-conductor cable. The 40 additional conductors are used as ground paths and are all connected to the 7 original ground conductors. These additional ground conductors serve to improve the overall signal quality (signal-to-noise ratio) of the ATA cable. 80-conductor Ultra ATA cables are also limited to a maximum cable length of 18 inches.

If the drive was purchased in a retail kit and not as a “bare” drive, the kit includes an Ultra ATA cable as described here. If not Ultra ATA cables can be purchased from your system vendor or reseller and are fully backward compatible for operation on all standard/legacy ATA devices and hosts. However, these cables will typically utilize the cable select (CS) configuration on ATA drives for defining a master or slave device (drive 0 or drive 1). The drive placement convention used on an 80-conductor cable is also different from the previous generation of cable select type cables. The 80-conductor Ultra ATA cables require the master drive (drive 0) to be installed at the end of the cable and the slave drive (drive 1) to be installed on the middle connector.

The connectors on 80-conductor cables are also color-coded to help ensure proper drive placement and attachment to the host (system). Typical color-coding is as follows: blue for attachment to the host (system), black is for device 0 (master), and gray is for device 1 (slave).

Cables for Ultra ATA/66 to Ultra ATA/133 Users

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Special Requirements to use an Ultra DMA Hard Drive

DATARECOVERYUNION.COM06 mins

Special Requirements to use an Ultra DMA Hard Drive Are there any special system or software requirements to use an Ultra DMA 33/66/100/133 ATA hard drive? Yes as follows:

  • To utilize the Ultra DMA (UDMA) capability of a hard drive, the system that the drive is being installed into must contain the appropriate hardware chipset and have the necessary software drivers installed. The system’s motherboard must be designed with a core logic chipset that provides the desired UDMA support. Also, it is the motherboard or system manufacturer’s responsibility to provide any additional software drivers that may be necessary to implement UDMA (Ultra ATA) operation.
  • Pentium II and newer motherboards and systems will typically contain some level of hardware support for UDMA operation (this could be UDMA 33, 66, 100, or 133 depending on the age of your system). It will be necessary to consult the system or motherboard manufacturer’s documentation to determine the level of UDMA supported by your particular hardware. For example if you install a new Maxtor hard drive capable of Ultra DMA/100 (UDMA mode 5), but your system is only capable of supporting Ultra DMA/33 (UDMA mode 2), you will only be able to achieve the Ultra DMA/33 performance. In this case you may want to consider upgrading your motherboard or purchasing an add-on PCI adapter, such as Maxtor’s Ultra ATA card, that is capable of supporting the latest Ultra DMA transfers. This is an inexpensive alternative to replacing your entire system or motherboard.

All Maxtor UDMA drives are fully backward compatible to earlier, non-UDMA systems. Just keep in mind that the transfer rate (performance) of your drive will be limited by the system’s capabilities and not necessarily by the hard drive.

  • Windows 95 (all versions), Windows 98 (all versions), and Windows NT 4.0 all have limited “bundled” driver support for UDMA operation. If you are attempting to use a hard drive capable of UDMA/66 or greater with one of these operating systems, you will more than likely need to obtain updated drivers for your system. It is best to always check with your system or motherboard manufacturer for UDMA driver requirements and availability. In some cases updated drivers may be available directly from Microsoft or from Intel if an Intel chipset is being used by your motherboard. Maxtor Corp. does not provide software drivers for UDMA operation since any required drivers are specific to the chipset and not the hard drive.
  • Windows ME, Windows 2000, and Windows XP all have expanded “bundled” driver support for UDMA operation and may already contain the necessary driver support. Updated drivers may or may not be required depending on your motherboard’s chipset. Once again, it is always best to check with the system or motherboard manufacturer for driver requirements. A good resource for Ultra ATA drivers for systems with Intel based chipsets is at the following site: support.intel.com/support/chipsets/storagedrivers/ultraATA.
  • For systems and hard drives which have all of the prerequisites for UDMA mode 3 and greater (UDMA/66 and faster), a special 80 conductor, 40-pin interface Ultra ATA interface cable is required. The 80 conductor cable reduces cross talk and improves signal integrity by providing additional ground lines between the 40-pin ATA signal and ground lines. Due to the higher transfer rates and shorter cycle times of UDMA data transfers, this cable is required for UDMA/66, UDMA/100, and UDMA/133 operation. It is also highly recommended for UDMA/33 operation as well to help prevent any possible noise related issues.

All Maxtor Retail Kits that contain a UDMA/66 or greater hard drive will also include the 80-conductor Ultra ATA interface cable. This Ultra ATA Interface Cable conforms to the ANSI Specifications.

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