At 09:13 PM 4/26/02 -0700, you wrote: >I have noticed that all ribbon cables are marked down one edge with a >red band. I have been examining all of my computers, both mac and PC, >and it seems that there is a convention to the way they must be >attached, both on the board and on the device they power. so far I >seem to deduce that the red edge always seems to face towards the inside >of the machine and also face the plug where the power supply wires go >into the device as well.
The red cable (or stripe, or dots - I've seen multiple styles of this) typically goes to pin 1. On most hard drives, that's towards the "inside" of the drive (or towards the power plug.) You can flip it around, as long as the cable's flipped the same way on the mainboard (in other words, electrically, there's no difference, the stripe is just an alignment aid.) Nowadays, MOST cables (including power supply cables) are keyed - if you look at the end of a data cable, there may be a "tab" on top of one side, and a "notch" in the connector on the hard drive. Similarly, if you look at a hard drive power supply, they're usually not *exactly* rectangular. You'll see them - well, the easiest way to describe it is "house shaped." Two corners are beveled. It only fits in one way. Boards. The metal edge toward the back doesn't ground anything, normally. That's all through the slot. Power supply clips - they should only clip in one way - look for a "column" on one side. Yes, "black to black" is the correct alignment. The higher voltage power supply shouldn't hurt it. HTH. -- Vintage Macs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... Small Dog Electronics http://www.smalldog.com | Enter To Win A | -- Canon PowerShot Digital Cameras start at $299 | Free iBook! | Support Low End Mac <http://lowendmac.com/lists/support.html> Vintage Macs list info: <http://lowendmac.com/lists/vintagemacs.shtml> The FAQ: <http://macfaq.org/> Send list messages to: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For digest mode, email: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subscription questions: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/vintage.macs%40mail.maclaunch.com/> Using a Mac? Free email & more at Applelinks! http://www.applelinks.com
