S-ATA signal cable question

[xneoangel]

Ok, finally i got my new hard drive, the thing is that it's S-ATA, and i have never connected a S-ATA hard drive before so i have a question.

According to the motherboard manual a S-ATA signal cable should be like this one:
SATA Cable

And i have to connect the L-Shaped end to the hard drive and the straight end to the motherboard.

And my problem is that in my S-ATA cable both of the ends are straight, i mean they are both identical, so my question is does it really matter how i connect it?, can i connect any end of the cable to the drive or to the motherboard?, or do i have to follow some kind of order?

EDIT: Both ends fit in the hard drive as well as on the motherboard.

 

[Agozer]

If you ask me, it doesn't matter. Try it one way and if that foesn't work, try the other. I have an S-ATA hard disk, but it's been a while since I last looked inside the case.

 

[xneoangel]

Ok i connected the HDD and the BIOS detected it nicely.
Now do i have to do something before creating a partition formatting it and installing WinXP?

EDIT: I have the Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 Disc.

 

[BlueFalcon7]

well I cant imagine why it would matter. all that cable is doing, is allowing electrical current to flow through it.

It goes back to the days in 5th grade when you would connect the wire to the battery, and the light bulb. It doesnt matter which ends of the wire go where, as long as current can flow in a circut.

The only thing that makes that different from a SATA cable, is that the wires are paralelled, and that your connecting a set of wires. (theres the plastic so you dont cross the wires or reverse the order)

Edit: you beat me to it

in answer to your question, No, you should be good to go.

 

[Doomulation]

Actually...
Run installation of XP. Does it detected your HD? If yes, then you're all set to go. Another way to see is also to see if your already installed Windows installation (if you have one) detects your SATA disk without drivers.
If no, then you have a little problem. To solve it, you need drivers. There are two ways to do it.
First way: If you have a diskette with the drivers, put it in, press F6 and let windows locate your SATA/RAID drivers. If they come on a CD, or if you download them, then you must put them on a diskette. Refer to the instructions to do that.
Second way is to integrate them into your Windows installation. Refer to a guide on the web on how to burn an unattended Windows installation. You don't really need the unattended part, though, but it might be nice. You can use n-lite to integrate your SATA/RAID drivers into the installation and Windows will detect your SATA drive.

Some motherboards support accessing SATA drives without any special drivers (like mine), but some do (my old board and my laptop are examples).

 

[xneoangel]

The WinXP installation program detected the hard drive without installing any drivers.

I'm formatting the HDD right now.

So far everything seems ok, thanks guys.