IDE Cable Worries

Had a problem a few weeks ago where I received the dreaded 'no hard disk found' message. Decided to see if I could find out what the problem was and so took the player apart (thanks to the excellent FAQ). After nosing around I found a couple of possible issues with the IDE cable. One of the connections to the drives looked as though the connector had not been properly crimped to the cable:



And the connector to the motherboard didn't seem to sit flat, raising as it moved toward the right:



I did a bit of shoving on the cables and put the Empeg back together again and it does now appear to be working, but I'm a tad concerned as to how long it will last. Should I look to swap this cable out for long-term reliability or are the connections good enough?

Cheers,
Jim.

Greetings!

There are known issues with some of the original cables and the crimping, but they all have a red or pink marking for the pin 1 connection. This is the first time I have seen it on a cable with a black stripe.

The contacts, after recrimping, should last for a while. But the problem might happen again over time. It might be wise to get a replacement cable to have on hand in case it does.