Installing the Motherboard 2-15
User’s Manual
Figure 2-9. Photo of an Ultra
ATA/66 Conductor Cable
The SL6 supports the Ultra ATA/66 (Also known as Ultra DMA/66) specification. It
enhances existing Ultra ATA/33 technology by increasing both performance and data
integrity. This new high-speed interface doubles the Ultra ATA/33 burst data transfer rate to
66.6 Mbytes/sec. The result is maximum disc performance using the current PCI local bus
environment. Figure 2-8 shows you the different between the Ultra ATA/33 and Ultra
ATA/66 Conductor Cable.
Figure 2-8. The difference between Ultra ATA/33 and Ultra ATA/66 Conductor Cables
Figure 2-9 shows you a photo of an Ultra ATA/66 Conductor Cable. An Ultra ATA/66-
capable cable is a 40-pin, 80-conductor cable with a black connector on one end, a blue
connector on the other end and a gray connector in the middle. In addition, line 34 on the
cable should be notched or cut (this may be difficult to see).
Ultra ATA/66 is backwards compatible with all Ultra ATA/33 systems, but it will be limited
in its transfer mode to the Ultra ATA/33 (Ultra DMA Mode 2 - 33 Mbytes/sec) or PIO Mode
4 (16.6 Mbytes/sec). Ultra ATA/66 hard drives are 100 percent backward compatible with
both Ultra ATA/33 and DMA and with existing ATA
(IDE) hard drives, CD-ROM drives, and host systems.
The Ultra ATA/66 protocol and commands are designed
to be compatible with existing ATA (IDE) devices and
systems. Although a new 40-pin, 80-conductor cable is
required for Ultra ATA/66, the chip set pin connector
remains the same at 40. Hard drives that support Ultra
ATA/66 also support Ultra ATA/33 and legacy ATA (IDE)
specifications.
There are four requirements for attaining Ultra ATA/66:
*The drive must support Ultra ATA/66.
*The motherboard and system BIOS (or an add-in
controller) must support Ultra ATA/66.
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