: I just bought a new IDE hard drive for my system to go with the one
: I already had.  My problem is this.  My system only had a IDE cable
: for one drive, so I had to buy cable with two drive connectors
: on it, and consequently have to switch cables.  The problem is, 
: the new hard drive's manual refers to matching pin 1 on the cable
: with both pin 1 on the drive itself and pin 1 on the IDE card.  But
: for the life of me I cannot figure out how to tell which way to plug
: in the cable to align these.  

Most IDE drives that I have dealt with have had pin 2 labeled on the printed
circuit board (this is sufficient to determine which side is which).  If your
IDE drive does not have a label, then you can look for a polarization notch in
the receptacle (the connector on the drive with the pins).  If the receptacle
is center polarized, that is it has one rectangular notch about 4 mm wide
positioned in the center of one side, then you can identify pin 1 as follows:
look into the pins with the notch at the top, pin 1 is at the top right.  On
all drives I have seen this is toward the power connector.  As for which pin
is pin 1 on the controller, well you can use the same criteria but look hard
for the labelling of any pin.  Once you know which end pin 1&2 are on or pins
39 & 40 (the oposite end), then you are all set.  All you need to do is keep
the pin 1 end connected to the pin 1 end.  You don't even have to look at the
cable itself.  Just trace the pin 1 side of the cable through.  Usually the
pin 1 of the cable is identified by a different color (red usually).  But
beware - many cable makers are not very careful about this - I have seen cables
with pin 40 being the one marked red.  Of course with non-polarized connectors
this doesn't matter - you can plug the cable in either way and YOU decide
which side is pin 1.

: Secondly, the cable has like a connector at two ends and one between them.
: I figure one end goes in the controler and then the other two go into
: the drives.  Does it matter which I plug into the "master" drive
: and which into the "Slave"?  any help appreciated.  thanks...

It doesn't matter what gets plugged where.  But it does matter how the drives
are jumpered.  There will be (amongst other options) two jumpers that you
should be concerned with on BOTH drives.  One jumper will select whether the
drive is the slave or the master.  If it is the master, then a second jumper
selects whether or not a slave is present.  You will have to consult the 
docuementation that came with you drives.  If you do not have docuementation,
then just call the manufacturers hotline number or fax number if they have
one.  This kind of information is routinely needed by people just like
yourself.  They will fax you complete info about the jumpers.  If you don't
have convenient access to a fax machine, then you can usually get voice
help.  Or post the specific question to this group.  (I probably won't be
able to help you).

Good Luck