Can SATA and IDE CoExist

[Guest]

Hello all,

I just bought a new Dell system which came with 250GB SATA drive. I want to
add my older 80GB IDE drive into the new system but the all the cables coming
off the power supply look like SATA power connector.

Is is possible for me to use the IDE drive in the new OptiPlex system? This
SATA stuff is totally new for me so I don't know much about how to get other
things to co-exist with it. Can somebody please school this old dawg on this
new tech stuff

-A

 

[Juan Perez]

Hi: Basically what you have is two options:

1- An IDE PCI controller to connect your HDD and check if your power supply
of your new computer, has the right power cables.

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SY-SIL-133R&cat=CCD


2-You can use a USB external box with a external power supply and connect
this box to one free USB connection. Sorry the example is from Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.nl/N-USB-2-0-Alumin...Disk-Case_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQitemZ300106929375


Un saludo
Juan Perez

 

[Guest]

Sounds like what he has is a strictly SATA power supply. The PCI IDE board
would provide commo supply for his 80-wire ribbon to his HD for less than
twenty bucks, but he is still out of power from what he says. IF his MB has
an empty IDE ribbon connector, then a different power supply would be the
easiest fix, since his present power supply has no 4-plug supply wires for
his IDE Drive. If i had it to build over, (and the next 20 will be) i'd
forget messing with the SATA drives even though they transfer data much
faster. The dainty power and commo fittings are not to my liking, they are
always trying to come unhooked while the ATA drive is attached with the old
robust ribbons and power supplies. So they look neater, i prefer substance.
Anyway, that's mho.
(3-SATA HD's, 1-IDE HD on this box. VISTA on the SATA's, W2GPro and Linux

 

[Guest]

Juan and KGMountainman,

I found a 4 plug power cable tucked and hidden away inside my computer case.
It actually splits off the SATA connector for the DVD drive, how weird.
Anyway, the power connector is very short and won't reach far enough to
connect to my IDE drive inside the drive bay.

I think it's possible to purchase extenders for the power cable which should
allow me to connect it to the IDE drive. Then all I need to do is get the
PCI IDE controller and plug the data cable into it, right!

 

[Lakesidezx]

I've seen those extenders in our local shops so they do exist. But in a
pinch when I was living on top of a mountain and didn't want to make the 3
hour drive into the city, I just extended the wires myself by cutting them
in the middle, added the needed length of extra wire of the same (roughly)
guage and then soldered and insulated them together. Worked perfectly.

Granted not everybody will want to cut the cables of their power supply or
have the ability to solder them properly, but it worked just fine for me in
a pinch.

BTW, ANYBODY THAT TRYS IS, *UNPLUG THE POWER SUPPLY FROM THE ELECTRIC WALL
SOCKET BEFORE DOING IG*. Did I really need to mention that? Probably.

 

[Guest]

Lakesidezx,

Thanks for the reply. If I was 3 hours from the city I would be cutting
away. Fortunately, there's a Fry's Electronics not far from me so I'll be
headin' over to find those extenders and get that controller card.

-A

 

[Drew]

Alias...If you go down to your local electronics store,,A Compusa if you
have one,,They sell an adapter that converts a IDE drive to sata...Cost is
about 20 bucks...I did this on my older computer that had the same
situation..After installing the gizmo I setup a raid0 and ran these drives
for a yr like that....I have since changed to my new home built machine but
my son in law still uses the old one