Connecting a 39 pin IDE hard drive to a 40pin motherboard.

[Forest_Penguin]

I recently got a slot 1 motherboard with a pentium 3 and want to connect a hard drive to it. When I tried to plug an IDE cable in it wouldn't fit because the motherboard only has connectors with all 40 pins and I only have IDE cables with the 1 pin hole obstructed.

1st question: can I just make a hole in the cable or cut the pin off the mobo?
2nd question: can I still connect a 39 pin hard drive?

Thanks in advance

 

[Petrossa]

You can safely make that hole in the cable as that pin is not used on the drive.
Don't try cutting the pin off the board - you'll end up damaging the board.

 

[Forest_Penguin]

You can safely make that hole in the cable as that pin is not used on the drive.
Don't try cutting the pin off the board - you'll end up damaging the board.

Thanks you, and it will work with a 39 pin HDD?

 

[Petrossa]

Yep, no worries.

 

[wolarts]

Just use something like a thumbtack to poke a hole into the blocked off pin of the cable. Works perfectly.