First, the other postings are correct. A standard IDE channel handles two, and
no more than two, devices. I have been in this business for many many years,
and I have torn apart, serviced, or built thousands of computers. NEVER have I
seen a 3-device 40-pin IDE cable. If it does exist, it also requires a
non-standard IDE controller of some sort. IDE drives have exactly two device
settings: master & slave. So no more than two devices per cable. SCSI
controllers support up to 7, or even 15, devices depending on the type of SCSI
you have. But SCSI uses 50-pin or 68-pin cables, not 40-pin.

Second, you can add PCI IDE controller cards to a system to expand the number of
IDE channels beyond the usual primary and secondary. I have seen systems with
four IDE channels, two devices each, for a total of eight IDE devices. Even
more are possible.

Third, especially if the system is a Compaq, there is the possibility that the
"floppy" drive is/was an LS120 drive with an IDE connector. LS120 reads and
writes both its own 120MB disk and standard 1.44MB floppy diskettes. A system
with three IDE devices would customarily use two IDE channels and have two
cables.

Rather than simply denying responses, as in the past, how about identifying the
IDE controller card (manufacturer and model) which uses a 3-device cable and
allows 3 devices to be attached? Thanks... Ben Myers

On Mon, 3 May 2004 21:36:19 -0400, "tele64" wrote:

Where can I buy a 3 drive (plus the motherboard connect) 40Pin ribbon cable?

thanks in advance,

tele64