IDE to SATA adapter

[George27]

I have PLEXTOR IDE Model PX-870A I'd like to use it on a board that doesn't have an IDE slot. I've looked at some adapters I don't know how the rational or even if there is a difference in its application. What is the direction of implementation? Does the adapter fit in to the Plextor or does it fit on the board? It would be really helpful if you the reader could direct me to the proper adapter in the Newegg catalog. Thanks in advance.

Edited November 19, 2012 by George27

[jaclaz]

I have PLEXTOR IDE Model PX-870A I'd like to use it on a board that doesn't have an IDE slot. I've looked at some adapters I don't know how the rational or even if there is a difference in its application. What is the direction of implementation? Does the adapter fit in to the Plextor or does it fit on the board? It would be really helpful if you the reader could direct me to the proper adapter in the Newegg catalog. Thanks in advance.

See this thread (more about SATA to IDE, but also talks about "bi-directional" ones):

What you want is something like this (you have a "SATA only" motherboard - and presumably power supply connectors - and you want to install to it a IDE/ATA (ATAPI) CD/DVD drive, right?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232004

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812107112

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200787

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812705119

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200196

the point is if you have a suitable power connector coming from the PSU, the one above uses a "floppy style" one AND if you have enough space "behind" the CD/DVD drive in the case, otherwise you will need this kind:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812197005

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812186095

that takes very little space.

Anyway you have an IDE device that you want to connect to a SATA port, if you read attentively you will find (though the ide 2 sata or sata 2 ide is used indifferently) which one are the "right" ones for you.

jaclaz

[George27]

Thank you jaclaz!

[ricktendo]

Thanks, I may also be needing one of these soon

[tomasz86]

And be careful because some of those adapters are extremely crappy and buggy. I had one which initially seemed to work OK but the disk was suddenly disconnected in the system while copying files on and from it (therefore the adapter was unusable) and also another one which did work but the transfer was limited only to ATA33.

[jaclaz]

.... and also another one which did work but the transfer was limited only to ATA33.

... but to connect a CD/DVD drive I don't think that an ATA33 speed is a real bottleneck.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-ROM#Transfer_rates

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-ROM#Technology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_ATA#Speed_of_defined_transfer_modes

jaclaz

[Tripredacus]

Are these adapters, or the drives themselves, smart enough not to allow the faster SATA speed to damage the drive? I seem to recall that some SCSI types using an adapter, connected to a newer or faster SCSI spec could actually damage the drive.

[jaclaz]

Are these adapters, or the drives themselves, smart enough not to allow the faster SATA speed to damage the drive? I seem to recall that some SCSI types using an adapter, connected to a newer or faster SCSI spec could actually damage the drive.

There have never been AFAICR SCSI2SCSI "converters" (or at least they must have been peculiarly "rare"), I have only seen "passive" adapters (pinout converters) or "full fledged" ISA, MCA (SIC!) or PCI SCSI cards.

Additionally (and I do have my experience with mixing SCSI things ) I don't recall any similar issue , as far as I know you can "mix together" all kind of SCSI devices, of course performance may depend on the "slower" device....

It would be interesting if you could provide some data ....

jaclaz

[Tripredacus]

Are these adapters, or the drives themselves, smart enough not to allow the faster SATA speed to damage the drive? I seem to recall that some SCSI types using an adapter, connected to a newer or faster SCSI spec could actually damage the drive.

There have never been AFAICR SCSI2SCSI "converters" (or at least they must have been peculiarly "rare"), I have only seen "passive" adapters (pinout converters) or "full fledged" ISA, MCA (SIC!) or PCI SCSI cards.

Additionally (and I do have my experience with mixing SCSI things ) I don't recall any similar issue , as far as I know you can "mix together" all kind of SCSI devices, of course performance may depend on the "slower" device....

It would be interesting if you could provide some data ....

jaclaz

Unfortunately no data available. Just old tech support knowledge from jobs of years past. It has something to do with using a pin-adapter on some form of SCSI Iomega drive (Zip or Jaz) to adapt to either Fast/SCSI-2 or maybe SCSI-Wide. All I remember is that such things weren't covered under warranty because they had the habit of causing damage to the drives. Something about it running too fast on those controllers.

Definately not about chaining drives, although I do remember that putting a Zip drive in between chained Macs didn't work.

[submix8c]

re: ATA33 speed. True enough, but there are some out there that go UDMA Mode 4 (66.6 - I have one), requiring the 80-wire connection to use it. Worst case, you'll reduce the transfer speed but it should be ok.

[jaclaz]

re: ATA33 speed. True enough, but there are some out there that go UDMA Mode 4 (66.6 - I have one), requiring the 80-wire connection to use it. Worst case, you'll reduce the transfer speed but it should be ok.

How is that device (I presume a DVD-ROM reader/burner) "marked"?

Higher than "24x DVD"?

However the specific OP model:

http://www.plextoramericas.com/index.php/dvd-rw/internal-dvd-rw/px-870a?start=1

should not have that speed.

jaclaz

[submix8c]

lite-on dvdrw lh-20a1p White or Black (no extra) <--tray "sticks"

Buffer Size 2 MB

Supported transfer mode: PIO mode 4, DMA mode 2 and Ultra DMA mode 4

SmartBurn Buffer Underrun + Smart-X Speed Adjust

DVD:

DVD+R 20X maximum by CAV

DVD-R 20X maximum by CAV

DVD+R9 8X maximum by Zone CLV

DVD-R9 8X maximum by Zone CLV

DVD-RAM 12X maximum by PCAV

DVD+RW 8X by Z-CLV

DVD-RW 6X by CLV

Read 16X maximum by CAV

CD:

CD-R 48X by CAV

CD-RW 32X maximum by Z-CLV in UltraSpeed disc

Read 48X maximum by CAV

You are correct, Sir Jaclaz - OP is unaffected. Post was an FYI/OT for anyone else visiting this topic.

[jaclaz]

You are correct, Sir Jaclaz - OP is unaffected. Post was an FYI/OT for anyone else visiting this topic.

Not at all OT , I am wondering if the data on Wikipedia I referenced is correct or if there is something (like a buffering or whatever) that prompted the Lite-on guys to use UltraDMA mode 4, or if it is just a way to say that you can connect it with an 80 wires cable...

I mean:

48x CD = up to 7.38 MB/s

20x DVD=27.70 MB/s

both are well within the 33.3 MB/s of the "plainer" ULTRA DMA 2

jaclaz

[submix8c]

Hmmm... don't know about the CD/DVD WIKI's, but the PATA gives a link to the PDF:

http://www.t10.org/t13/project/d1321r3-ATA-ATAPI-5.pdf

on page 351:

"Ultra DMA modes 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 have maximum transfer rates of 16.7, 25, 33.3, 44.4, and

66.6 MB/s, respectively."

IOW, the first two WIKI's must be lacking further info re: a Combo DVD Drive and must be inaccurate? Bear in mind, WIKI is user-contributed. No time for further investigation right now - keeping the OT subject open for CD/DVD IO, ok?

I limit read/burn speeds to prevent mechanical failure.

[bphlpt]

As far as I can tell, you both agree that Ultra DMA 2 has a maximum transfer rate of 33.3 MB/s, so it doesn't seem that Ultrs DMA 4 is needed for CD/DVD use.

Cheers and Regards