Help locating non standard IDE cable

[Raleigh]

I have a external hard drive/media player and need to replace the IDE cable but it is not a standard one and I cannot find what I am looking for anywhere.  The side that connects to the board is not the standard connection, the board has has two rows of 40 pins sticking out to go directly into the cable, the cable has a metal guide that lets you put the cable in and match up the premade holes on the cable with the pins then it is clamped down with a metal brace, the other side of the cable is your standard IDE connector.  I attached pictures for some visual aid.  I am hoping to avoid soldering a set of regular IDE pins to the board as my soldering skills sucks and don't want to risk damaging the board.  Thanks in advance.

[MikeDeuce]

I could be really, really wrong (and I probably am, since you mentioned it's an external hd/media thingy, and probably has a bunch of proprietary stuff), but it looks like the connector just fell apart and the wire pulled out.

The part that is sticking out of the board that looks like several  )( shapes made of metal... inside the connectors those usually make the connection, cutting through the wire insulation.

Is there any chance there's a full set of headers on that board inside the  plastic plug?

edit: looking at the first pic again it totally looks like the plastic is just plugged into bare headers sticking out of the board. But eh could just be me.

[AtomSmasher]

I could be really, really wrong (and I probably am, since you mentioned it's an external hd/media thingy, and probably has a bunch of proprietary stuff), but it looks like the connector just fell apart and the wire pulled out.

The part that is sticking out of the board that looks like several  )( shapes made of metal... inside the connectors those usually make the connection, cutting through the wire insulation.

Is there any chance there's a full set of headers on that board inside the  plastic plug?

edit: looking at the first pic again it totally looks like the plastic is just plugged into bare headers sticking out of the board. But eh could just be me.

Agreed, that is what it looks like.  Try pulling up on the black plastic piece thats on the mobo, I'd bet it pulls off to show its actually a normal IDE connector.  When removing a cable, always pull on the plaster head piece and not on the cable.

[Raleigh]

Looking at the backside of the board (see pic below) that's what it looks like.  Unfortunately the plastic does not pull off (I've even tried with a set of vice grips and no budge).

Edit:  I went ahead and desoldered it and it was definately one piece, now just to solder on a normal connector.

[NightGod]

What in the hell kind of computer manufacturer came up with that messed up ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---? Seriously, tell me, I want to make sure no one I know ever touches one of them.

[Raleigh]

http://www.airlinktek.com/english/prod_mg35.htm

The biggest problem is that the cable was only long enough to connect to the hard drive with just the slightest of excess.  I had a few hard drives I had been swapping out in it and I guess as I would be pulling out the cord from the hard drives it would be tugging a bit at the base and it eventually pulled out of the board.  Then as I tried to line it up and get it back in place I had problems with the other end of the cord (the standard end that goes in the hard drive). 

Here is a pic of the desoldered connector, if you can make out the pin I pulled out and put to the side it is soldered to the board then has the two pined side that connects in the IDE cable.