Some Questions

[vivek1234]

What is the difference between F.S.B & bus speed of a processor

what actually happnes when the hard disk jumper setting is "upper 32 gb"

what is the difference between 40 conductor & 80 conductor data cables that we use to connect
hdds to the motherboard & how does the hdd come to know that the cable connected is 40 or 80 conductor cable

why in the cable used for connecting floppy drive, some lines of the cable are reversed

does it make any difference(in speed) when you connect 2 hdds on the same cable &when you connect them on diff. cables

[DMR]

Lol- sounds like you're looking for answers to homework questions... :p

What is the difference between F.S.B & bus speed of a processor

"Googleage"

what actually happnes when the hard disk jumper setting is "upper 32 gb"

"Googleage"

what is the difference between 40 conductor & 80 conductor data cables that we use to connect hdds to the motherboard & how does the hdd come to know that the cable connected is 40 or 80 conductor cable

The extra 40 lines in the newer Ultra-ATA cables are ground wires which are placed between the data signal lines of the standard IDE/ATA cable. The placement of the ground lines between each signal/data line minimizes the effects of crosstalk and other electrical interference; a technique that is necessary to ensure reliable communication at today's higher data-tranfer rates.

why in the cable used for connecting floppy drive, some lines of the cable are reversed

Basically a holdover from the days when computers actually had two floppy drives (A and B). The determination of which is the drive A and which is the drive B is made by the drives' placement on the cable: the floppy drive installed on the connector before the twist is IDed as the B floppy, and the drive on the connector after the twist is (obviously) the A floppy.

does it make any difference (in speed) when you connect 2 hdds on the same cable &when you connect them on diff. cables

Yes- actually it can make a difference, and the reasons for that are related to how IDE/ATA technology works as a whole (as opposed to something like SCSI).

More info on that:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=ide+ata+scsi+channel+performance+%22command+queuing&spell=1

The subject is more that bit complicated, and somewhat subjective as well

[Coconut Monkey]

Yes- actually it can make a difference, and the reasons for that are related to how IDE/ATA technology works as a whole (as opposed to something like SCSI).

Actually DMR, I'll have to disagree on that. Thanks to independent device timing, hard drives can operate at their maximum speeds on the same cable, assuming of course the right cable is used (80 conductor cable for ATA66 and above) and you're not just copying between the two (obviously the faster drive is limited to the slower one's speeds).

Performance issues arise when you have a hard drive and an optical drive on the same cable, since they use different transfer protocols.

[DMR]

Thanks to independent device timing, hard drives can operate at their maximum speeds on the same cable

Hey CM- yes, in that regard you are correct.

However, I was referring to aspects of IDE/ATA technology other than the ability of attached devices to operate at their optimal speed (even when connected to the same IDE channel as possibly slower drives).

The fact that modern drives can do that has nothing to do with the performance issues I was alluding to. I'll post more on the specifics of that tomorrow.

[Coconut Monkey]

However, I was referring to aspects of IDE/ATA technology other than the ability of attached devices to operate at their optimal speed (even when connected to the same IDE channel as possibly slower drives).

Ah, OK. I'll keep my eye on the thread then. ;)

[DMR]

OK, here's the general deal:

In terms of whether to put two devices on the same IDE channel or put them on two separate channels, the performance considerations bascally revolve around the fact that command execution in ATA/IDE technology is a sequential process. Unlike SCSI technology, only one command can be issued to, and processed by, one device on an IDE bus/channel at any given moment; pending operations on that and any other devices on the channel must wait until the device executing the current command completes that operation and then notifies the bus controller that it has done so.

This means that if you are performing operations on two drives on the same channel, the bus controller will issue a command to one device, but cannot initiate any communication with the second device until the first one finishes what it's doing and releases control of the bus. However, since each of the two IDE channels on a PC has its own controller circuitry, operations on a device connected to the first channel can be carried out at the same time as operations being performed on a device connected to the second channel.

Just as a side note- SCSI doesn't suffer from this limitation. A SCSI controller can issue multiple commands at a time to multiple devices on a single bus, and SCSI devices can disconnect from that bus while they process a given command and then reconnect once done, thereby allowing the bus to be used for other communication in the interim. SCSI also uses a technique called Tagged Command Queuing, which allows devices to rearrange the order in which they process a batch of commands to minimize performance-decreasing operations such as disk seeks.

[moderate_rock48]

DMR and Coconut Monkey, how did yall come to know so much about computers? Did yall major in college in a computer course, and if so which ones? Or did you just figure it all out, out of curiosity and all on your own? Sorry about piggy backing this question. ;)

[Coconut Monkey]

Lots of reading and plenty of trial and error!

I am doing an IT course at university, but it deals in software planning, design and programming. All of my PC tech knowledge is self-taught. ;)

[DMR]

Did yall major in college...

Yeah- digital circuit design and microprocessor architecture/programming was the focus of my electronics study, but only the very basic fundamentals of what I learned back then apply to today's computers. I mean, who the heck even remembers what a Z80 or an 8080A was anymore... :o

Like CM, I learned almost everything I know about modern computers on my own.

[Coconut Monkey]

Z80

Them buggers drive my Master System 2 and Game Gear! :lol:

[DMR]

Them buggers drive my Master System 2 and Game Gear! :lol:

LOL- Someone still does know about those the beasties. :cheesy:

[JANINE]

LOL- Someone still does know about those the beasties. :cheesy:

or is still learning about them, as is in my case. Most of what i know about computers is self taught too funnily enough. If ever my PC goes down, cos its still under warranty i take it down to PCW and sit there with them discussing the problem and learning how to put it right while watching how they do it. Saying that though I am doing an ICS home study course in PC upgrade and repair. hope to have achieved my diploma very soon, and then progress onto further study from there. my bookshelves are full of PC books and magazines like PC format.
PCs are fun!!!:D

[belama]

I think most of us computer people have taught ourselves a big part of our PC knowledge. I will have my diploma in Computer Programming in December and I think I have taught myself more content than I learned at college. I still have much to learn and will always learn new tricks, skill and other information.

Talking about errors, :D my first major error was when I first got Win 3.1, I knew almost nothing about computers and I deleted plenty of system files because I though when you could not open them with programs on your computer, they were useless. When I was going to power it up again... NO WINDOWS :cry:. I wanted more disk space. LOL

[JANINE]

just goes to show that if you dont know what to do with a computer dont go near it lol.

[belama]

no! its the opposite! If I had never done these mistakes I wouldnt know everything I know now!!

[JANINE]

no! its the opposite! If I had never done these mistakes I wouldnt know everything I know now!!

i was having a joke :lol: . after all we learn from our mistakes and lets face it we make some kind of error each day even if it be just a spelling error. mistakes are there as a learning tool and a valuable 1.:o