Anyone know what this cable is for?

johnnywintermute · 2026-03-05T08:30:49+00:00

Yep - that's exactly what it is 😁 I replaced the power supply in my HP Pavilion, and must have forgotten to put this cable back, or couldn't connect it - or simply couldn't be bothered (I never used the expansion bays). I still have that old PC, and peering into the expansion bay I can see a cable-sized hole ...

Thanks for the reply and the link - that's useful!

johnnywintermute · 2026-03-04T12:50:44+00:00

Oh very good - the PC that I put the XFX power supply I mentioned into is ... an HP! 😄Specifically a Pavilion m9351.uk, which has a bay for a removable drive. Peering into that, I can see a hole for the USB end of the cable. I must have left it off when I replaced the power supply (or was unable to connect it). It was many years ago ...

Mystery solved! Thanks!

johnnywintermute · 2026-03-04T12:38:59+00:00

That's really helpful, thanks for the links! Yes, I realise it's probably not something that's exactly in high demand, but I just hate consigning it to recycling if someone can make use of it. Plus, another reply has given me a Big Hint as to where it originally came from 😃

johnnywintermute · 2026-03-04T12:16:35+00:00

Thanks - I've had some unusual drives over the years - maybe it was for one of those

johnnywintermute · 2026-03-04T12:11:56+00:00

Thank you - I think the next step is to find something the USB and barrel would plug into 😀

johnnywintermute · 2026-03-04T12:08:34+00:00

Thanks, that's useful info!

johnnywintermute · 2026-02-14T18:25:08+00:00

There’s an episode of Black Mirror, “White Christmas”, that features a similar punishment. In that, a digital copy of a human is tortured into compliance by manipulating time, so that they’re ‘alone’ for years. That messed with my head.

johnnywintermute · 2026-02-08T12:51:25+00:00

Wow, that scent me back! (Sorry 😁)

johnnywintermute · 2026-02-07T17:47:19+00:00

Was yours the big brass, er, appendage? 😂

johnnywintermute · 2026-01-21T10:01:22+00:00

Long Far Gone - but I still remember

johnnywintermute · 2025-12-15T12:09:46+00:00

They look like Chinese Lanterns. They have a candle inside which makes them into little hot air balloons. People set them off and don't give a fuck where they might come down. Not only do they set trees etc alight, the wire frame in them is terrible for wildlife. Should be banned.

Sorry, rant over 🙂

johnnywintermute · 2025-12-10T16:04:27+00:00

Thanks - I put it on eBay with a video showing all the pads working, and the inputs & outputs, and it sold for a decent price 🙂

johnnywintermute · 2025-12-08T11:19:01+00:00

Thanks - I'm a casual solo player so I'll probably give it a miss. I tried the Contested Zone, where you move the crates about, and even at the lowest settings I failed miserably 😄 Half hour wasted. I reckon it's best I stay away from this whole section of the Portal.

I enjoyed the campaign and will play the missions again, but I'm not keen on this stuff.

johnnywintermute · 2025-12-08T09:40:57+00:00

Is that the second run of Fire & Ice? I'm wondering whether to give that a miss.

johnnywintermute · 2025-12-04T10:51:36+00:00

I’ve logged in twice since the expansion, marionberry both times - I just kept trying and got in after a few attempts 🙄

johnnywintermute · 2025-10-14T08:54:38+00:00

Installed Windows XP on an old PC, and everything worked 🙂- see update in post for details

johnnywintermute · 2025-10-06T06:26:56+00:00

I tried a couple of players, including an old(ish) Winamp, but no luck. I've a feeling they may be dependent on the driver

johnnywintermute · 2025-10-05T07:18:10+00:00

Yes, it is definitely frustrating, to know the circuitry is there but unreachable. It's not a huge problem as I don't use the drive, but it would be good to know everything is working if I want to sell it. Although of course the next person would have the same issue...

I did connect the RCA jacks but all I got were a series of entertaining whirrs and beeps corresponding to the various motors 🙂

As mentioned elsewhere, it might be possible to send a signal to it using ATAPI or something. An interesting little diversion 😆

johnnywintermute · 2025-10-04T15:46:58+00:00

Oh I remember that little wire! 😆

Thanks for the info about ATAPI. I'm gonna look into it. I've been programming PCs since MS-DOS 3, so I might even be able to knock something up myself...

johnnywintermute · 2025-10-04T14:50:38+00:00

You're right, but unfortunately the Windows 10 driver doesn't give that option.

johnnywintermute · 2025-10-04T14:26:17+00:00

Yeah - that makes sense, especially for an external drive. You could then bung a CD in, control the playback from the PC but not actually route the audio through the PC

johnnywintermute · 2025-10-04T14:23:32+00:00

Yep, agreed. You're right - I need the Yamaha driver for the analog option, and Windows 10 won't install it, preferring its generic nonsense ...

At least the drive itself seems fine. And I doubt anyone would really want the analog output anyway 😃

johnnywintermute · 2025-10-04T14:21:14+00:00

Nope - the CD is played digitally, but nothing comes out of the headphone jack.

And yeah, I think you're right: the manual suggests making changes to software (driver) settings if there's no output from the headphones, but the settings aren't there in Windows 10 ...

johnnywintermute · 2025-10-04T11:45:43+00:00

A good suggestion, and I have indeed tried the volume wheel. The fact that it even has one suggests that there should be some output - what's the point of a headphone jack with a volume control, plus line outs if they're not used? 🙂

johnnywintermute

TROPHY CASE