Floppy disk drive connector :
These are used for connecting floppy disk drives, hard disk drives, and CD drives.
The floppy disk interface uses what is likely the strangest cable of all those in PCs today. It is similar to the standard A IDE cable in that it is usually a flat, gray ribbon cable. It is unusual in terms of the number of connectors it has and how it is used to configure the setup of the floppy disks in the system.
The reason that the standard cable uses pairs of connectors for the drives is for compatibility with different types of drives. 3.5" drives generally use a pin header connector, while 5.25" drives use a card edge connector. Therefore, each position, A and B, has two connectors so that the correct one is available for whatever type of floppy drive being used. Only one of the two connectors in the pair should be used (they're too close together to use both in most cases anyway). The more common pin header (IDC) connector is shown below.
The three-connector cables are found either in very old systems or in ones where the manufacturer was trying to save a few pennies. They reduce the flexibility of the setup; fortunately these cables can be replaced directly by the five-connector type if necessary.
You will also notice that there is an odd "twist" in the floppy cable, located between the two pairs of connectors intended for the floppy drives. Despite the fact that this appears to be a "hack" (well, it really is a hack), this is in fact the correct construction of a standard floppy interface cable.
These are used for connecting floppy disk drives, hard disk drives, and CD drives.
The floppy disk interface uses what is likely the strangest cable of all those in PCs today. It is similar to the standard A IDE cable in that it is usually a flat, gray ribbon cable. It is unusual in terms of the number of connectors it has and how it is used to configure the setup of the floppy disks in the system.
The reason that the standard cable uses pairs of connectors for the drives is for compatibility with different types of drives. 3.5" drives generally use a pin header connector, while 5.25" drives use a card edge connector. Therefore, each position, A and B, has two connectors so that the correct one is available for whatever type of floppy drive being used. Only one of the two connectors in the pair should be used (they're too close together to use both in most cases anyway). The more common pin header (IDC) connector is shown below.
You will also notice that there is an odd "twist" in the floppy cable, located between the two pairs of connectors intended for the floppy drives. Despite the fact that this appears to be a "hack" (well, it really is a hack), this is in fact the correct construction of a standard floppy interface cable.