• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Round cable for X-Fi?

W

WCES Ryan

Gawd
Joined
Mar 28, 2005
Messages
723
Where can I get a round cable for my X-Fi Fatal1ty? Does Creative sell one, or is there one I can buy aftermarket that will work? Anybody know?
 
I'm not sure they sell a rounded cable. What i used to do with my Audigy was fold up the IDE-style cable, then use cable sleeving kit to make it look clean.
 
Its WAY too hard to find a cable that fits the X-Fi. Some have that pin that is blocked, that wont fit into the X-Fi. Others have the pin open but it is essentially a "dummy" hole (as if there is no pin in the hole.) Also I rounded mine myself. All it takes is some cuts with a X-acto knife, some sleeving, and heatshrink tubing. Its WAY cheaper than having to send it to PPC's (although they do a fine job :) ). If you have never done this before, then practice on an old ribbon cable. Youll be kicking yourself when you cut through that 30AWG wire. :eek:

PS. BBA what are you trying to show in that pic? I do not see a X-Fi.

PS^2. Ryan I had a long talk (via e-mail) with the owner of PPC's. Is a very helpful guy, he also told me that regular old IDE cables wont work (1 device cables). Of course I didnt listen to him and bought the cable anyway, and of course it did not work. :rolleyes:
 
DaRkF0g said:
PS^2. Ryan I had a long talk (via e-mail) with the owner of PPC's. Is a very helpful guy, he also told me that regular old IDE cables wont work (1 device cables). Of course I didnt listen to him and bought the cable anyway, and of course it did not work. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

LOL! Don't ya just love not taking other peoples' been-there, done-that advice?! I didn't listen to my dad... and now I have a small chernobyl (pressHOT) rig sitting on my desk, raising room temps by 4 degrees or so :( I'm glad it isn't only me who doesn't listen to good advice!
 
Normally I do listen. Its just that when I asked the X-Fi had LITERIALY just gone to market, and I figured, what can he possibly know about something so new. Maybe it was just coincidence that he was basing his info off of the A2, and the X-Fi's pinouts are very similar to the A2.
 
I used a rounded cable with my A2ZS. You have to find one that doesn't have the middle pin blocked. You will have some pins unused on each side since it's a little wider. Is the XFi cable different from the A2ZS?
 
You noobs dont know how to round your own cables? :p

Cut a short slit between every 4th wire on the cable (more or less if you want) and then pull them apart gently. Remove the connector from one end of the cable so you can put some sleeving/heatshrink on it, put the connector back on with some pliars and heatshrink the sleeving to the cable.

There you go, rounded cable.
 
DaRkF0g said:
PS. BBA what are you trying to show in that pic? I do not see a X-Fi.

PS^2. Ryan I had a long talk (via e-mail) with the owner of PPC's. Is a very helpful guy, he also told me that regular old IDE cables wont work (1 device cables). Of course I didnt listen to him and bought the cable anyway, and of course it did not work. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...


If you dont see an X-Fi in that pic I am sorry your blind.

As for regular IDE cables, I have not seen one yet that did not have the connection pin under the hole cover. Single device cables...maybe, but not standard IDE cables. All you have to do is take a small drill bit and pierce the light plastic cover where the pin hole is.

Darkfog...All I can say is your confused and providing misleading information.
 
BBA if you can make round cables for one, you want to make one for me, or trade + cash for one that you already have?
 
BBA said:
If you dont see an X-Fi in that pic I am sorry your blind.

As for regular IDE cables, I have not seen one yet that did not have the connection pin under the hole cover. Single device cables...maybe, but not standard IDE cables. All you have to do is take a small drill bit and pierce the light plastic cover where the pin hole is.

Darkfog...All I can say is your confused and providing misleading information.
Click to expand...
Woah looks like all that sleep deprivation finally caught up with me. Sorry!

And all the rounded cables that I own (as well as a few ribbons) have that hole plugged off.

Ryan its not that difficult to make rounded cables (I know some of the ones on these forums are pretty gory), but if you take your time it will come out very nice.
 
I found one at fry's that was a super thin rounded cable w/out the hole plugged. It wasn't ata66 and I think it was designed just to use with older ata33 drives or cdroms.
 
WCES Ryan said:
BBA if you can make round cables for one, you want to make one for me, or trade + cash for one that you already have?
Click to expand...


Dude...it's really that easy...just use a 1/16" drill bit held in hand (maybe with pliers, but I have a hand held drill holder) and open the hole up..there is a full pin connector under that plastic block off and it's very easy to drill the plastic out.

Do not use heated pins or such to melt through that hole...the plastic will melt all over the pin connector you need to connect to.

One piece of advice...label both ends clearly so you dont connect it backwards, which some have reported may damage the drive bay. (I conencted one end of mine backwards first time, but it still worked after hooking it up correctly.)
 
Thanks for the info BBE! I may buy a copper cable to match my other rounded ATA cables.

BTW I never knew there is a full pin under that plugged hole.

I know you dont want to plug that in backwards, 5V to GND cant be that good for the transistors. Will probably let out the magic smoke.
 
BBA said:
Dude...it's really that easy...just use a 1/16" drill bit held in hand (maybe with pliers, but I have a hand held drill holder) and open the hole up..there is a full pin connector under that plastic block off and it's very easy to drill the plastic out.

Do not use heated pins or such to melt through that hole...the plastic will melt all over the pin connector you need to connect to.

One piece of advice...label both ends clearly so you dont connect it backwards, which some have reported may damage the drive bay. (I conencted one end of mine backwards first time, but it still worked after hooking it up correctly.)
Click to expand...
why wouldnt it work if its hooked up backwards? the cables are just straight through
 
WCES Ryan said:
why wouldnt it work if its hooked up backwards? the cables are just straight through
Click to expand...

I think he meant one side of the cable flipped
 
Yeah, I went to fry's and dug around looking for a rounded cable that didn't have the a keyed connector, found one finally.
 
magnetik said:
I think he meant one side of the cable flipped
Click to expand...

Yes, that is what I meant. Luckily it still works ok.

Of course I havent tried all the functions...like the din connectors or the optical, so those might have taken a hit, but the headphone and microphone and controls work fine still and that is all I need to use.
 
BBA said:
Yes, that is what I meant. Luckily it still works ok.

Of course I havent tried all the functions...like the din connectors or the optical, so those might have taken a hit, but the headphone and microphone and controls work fine still and that is all I need to use.
Click to expand...

to tell you the truth... I flipped mine around on my A2ZS all different kinds of ways before I got it right... nothing bad happened.. but YMMV. I found the easiest way to tell if you have it hooked up correctly is by removing the optical plugs and look for the red light.
 
magnetik said:
to tell you the truth... I flipped mine around on my A2ZS all different kinds of ways before I got it right... nothing bad happened.. but YMMV. I found the easiest way to tell if you have it hooked up correctly is by removing the optical plugs and look for the red light.
Click to expand...


Well...I guess the optical is still working, I got a red light with the plug removed.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top