[rescue] The fat lady. . .

[Kurt Huhn]

> anyway, i stray from the point.  in both instances none of the IDE cables
were
> keyed.  which is odd since all the controllers and drives are.  anyway,
i've
> never seen IDE cables that were keyed.
>

Here's where subtleties *should* kick in.  All controllers *should* be
marked where pin 1 is located, the same with all drives.  On the cable, one
wire should be marked with a different color - red or blue, or something...

The differently colored wire is where pin 1 *should* go.

I'll insert the caveat that "this is how it should be".   However, with
every Tom, Dick, and Harry making controllers, cables, and drives - it might
not be so anymore.

Kurt