All I mean is that the socket that the ribbon cable goes into is a little wider than the ribbon cable itself.
Once when I was moddding a Saturn it didn't work properly the first time that I fired it up because one of the pins of the socket just wasn't quite lined up properly with the cable. Putting it back in again did the trick. However seeing as you've done it so many times now, that makes it a little more unlikely...
BTW, if that 'straight' ribbon cable has deteriorated too much, you can use the other ribbon cable, as long as you take the twist out of it.