ASUS P7H55-M LX confusion

Aloha,
Bought a bare bones box outfitted with ASUS P7H55-M LX with Intel CPU Core i5 760.
I've installed some older IDE hardware. when ready to plug IDE cable into MOBO IDE connector slot, I find it covered with clear plastic overlay with no way to remove it. LPT and Floppy connector also covered.
Whats up with this.
don

 

That's because that board does not support IDE, LPT and Floppy. And that's the trend of the future because most printers now use USB or network connections, SATA has replaced IDE, and floppy drives were phased out long ago. I assume that base board was used in the past for previous versions so the locations are still there, but not the actual connectors, or controllers. And to avoid confusion (though apparently not very effectively) they put permanent covers over those spots.

Note the board's specs at Newegg - no mention of IDE, LPT or floppy.

 

Ya, same as at ASUS. No mention of older plugs. Strange thing is them spending money to install those connectors in the first place and then blocking the same! That's an LGA1156 socket board so is not an older one. What were they thinking?:confused Sorry you got burned man. I'd return the board if I could.

 

Hello,
Digerati is right, there are no IDE or Floppy headers on this board. In order to get those you need the P7H55-M LE.

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_1156/P7H55M_LE/#specifications

 

Aah, that makes sense upto a point, manufacturing wise. I'm surprised that a budget uATX board would still include legacy peripheral support these days.

 

Did you mean to say, "not" surprised. Because my point was it is "not" surprising budget boards do not support legacy HW.

As I noted, these base boards were probably from a previous motherboard version or model. They may have ordered/made 500,000 of them, but only used 100,000. The connectors may have come preinstalled with the original 500K. But that does not mean there is any controller chip connected to the board side of those connectors. My guess is there is no EIDE or floppy controller chip on those boards. The legacy connectors, of which there may be millions still sitting in warehouses, are just being used up. Rather than have someone remove these connectors - potentially damaging the boards, they just plug them up.

I note most cars are made fully wired, harnessed and ready for any electronics accessory. But if you opt for a lessor trim line or don't choose that fancy option, the wire connections are just left dangling.

 

Aloha Digerati, augiedoggie & tgell,
Thanks for the info...
I'm now waiting to see how ASUS replies and what they might do to make this right.
I had no idea that IDE hardware is past its prime. I wouldn't use the floppy or LPT, but intended to use the IDE for 2 HD's & 2 Optical drives. My effort to save some green seems to have been an illusion.
Thanks again for your info.

 

The motherboard I referenced (P7H55-M LE) still has only 1 IDE header which would mean that you could either put on two hard drives or 1 HDD and 1 CD drive. One master and one slave.

 

To be precise, two IDE drives. That can be two hard drives, two CD drives, or two DVD drives, or any combination thereof.

 

Thanks Digerati, sorry I wasn't exactly clear on that.

 

I just finished my 3rd cup of coffee, so my fingers were itching to go.

 

Aloha guys,
thx once again for your continued info...
I have a new thought. I haven't yet explored the possibility of a crossover adapter for female IDE to SATA. Is that a possibility. I have 6 SATA connectors. I just might upgrade the 2 HDD's to SATA since they are both at least 6 years old and it's a real gamble to keep using them.
Your thoughts are welcomed.

 

I would not trust adding an adapter between the hard drive and the SATA ports except as a temporary solution for transferring data from the IDE to the SATA drive. You can get a good 500GB hard drive at Newegg for a decent price.

 

There are adapters, but they are generally a temporary solution.

Note that IDE (EIDE, PATA, ATA or whatever you want to call it) is being phased out for a reason. SATA is better.