Date   : Wed, 20 Dec 2006 05:21:17 -0600
From   : julesrichardsonuk@... (Jules Richardson)
Subject: Curse of the long TUBE cable

Richard Gellman wrote:
> I then got this rather silly idea to replace the unpleasantly short TUBE
> cable with something a bit more feasible. This is necessary as the
> situation of my model B does not afford an alongside placement.

How long is the new cable?

> So, one quick cable change later and... nothing. No fault or anything, it
> just doesn't "activate". 

First things first - have you checked continuity for every single pin of the 
cable? IDC cables are notorious - it's easy to melt the insulation if they're 
soldered and create shorts between lines, it's easy to not make a clean cut at 
the ends so you get stray strands of wire which short things out, and it's 
easy for the connector crimping to not work in such a way that it *looks* like 
it's on solidly even though one or more of the lines aren't making a good
contact.

I'd suggest ruling that out first (if you haven't done so already) before 
worrying about line drivers and the like.

Screened cable may well help too, as might cable comprised of twisted pairs 
(assuming every other line on the TUBE connector is a ground).

cheers

Jules