IDE devices in SATA system

[Jamezuva1]

Sorry, I'm nowhere near as advanced as any of you, so i apologize if my questions are stupid

Anyway, I recently bought a Dell 9200 Dimension computer and didn't realize it was a SATA system (didn't even know about SATA beforehand). I wanted to install my old dvd burner and harddrive into this system and they are both IDE. I know there are PCI cards out there that have the connectors where the long, thin grey cables connect but I don't know whether my motherboard even will support IDE devices and what do about the power cables. There was one long IDE device power cable which I can connect to my dvd burner drive but I see none down where by my harddrives are. I tried searching dell's website, but I couldn't find squat regarding the motherboard in this cpu.

 

[Jamezuva]

i finally figured out my old account...my specs are below

 

[HDs suck]

I may be misreading this, so I'll share the two things i think you're asking.

1. Yes, there are add-in cards for the grey data cables for your drives, so as long as you have a PCI slot, you should be able to use one of those cards no problem.

2. As far as power goes for your drives, double check i guess to make sure you didn't miss any IDE power rails besides the one you found. If you really need to, you can find adapters that go from SATA/IDE fairly easily at your local computer store. Not best buy or curcuit city mind you, you're more likely to find what you're looking for if you look up computers in the yellow pages and find a small store that sells those smaller, more specific parts. Or you can just order it online. Hope this helps

 

[Harvey]

The motherboard diagram on this page on Dell's site shows no ATA connectors.

If possible possible, the best thing you can do is return it and build the machine you really want.

 

[HDs suck]

uh, looking at the diagram, i think i see several IDE power lines that you could use.

 

[Jamezuva]

i looked around the case as much as possible without removing stuff and only saw one of the old school white power cables...the other cables coming from the power supply are not the right shape (they are more cubical)

i'm not smart enough to build my own cpu hence one of the reasons I'm buying from Dell

 

[HDs suck]

http://cgi.ebay.com/SATA-to-IDE-Power-A...1QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

i'm trying to find the opposite of this for you...but not having much luck.

EDIT: try splitting it http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...em-details.asp?EdpNo=1003989&CatId=462

 

[Jamezuva]

hmm..i don't think that split power cable will be long enough...my case is pretty big and the sole white power cable is very far from teh harddrive

 

[RalphTheCow]

I had to use the RAID connections when I bought a SATA MB and an IDE disc drive. Set it up as JBOD.

 

[Jamezuva]

ok, so after doing a little searching, I found these two adapters:

http://www.rosewill.com/product/product.aspx?productId=413
^^ I'm thinking this will allow the SATA data cable to attach to my IDE device

http://www.cooldrives.com/sa15poto4moa.html
^^ whereas this will allow me to use the SATA power cable to attach to my IDE device

Would this work????

 

[Fern]

Look into the Syba SATA to IDE dongle. About $15 IIRC, they're sold everywhere.

It allows you to connect your ATA HDD/CD?DVD to the SATA interface.

Why do you need a power adapter. Does your current PSU lack sufficient molex connectors?

Fern

 

[Jamezuva]

yeah...there's only one free molex connector

 

[Jamezuva]

hmm...on second thought it seems it would be easier to go with a PCI IDE controller card so i can connect using my old ribbon cables. Seems like I would have to buy a molex splitter with floppy connector to use these adapters that connect directly on back on the drive

 

[Quasmo]

Does your DVD drive use SATA?

 

[JackRipper]

Originally posted by: Jamezuva1
Sorry, I'm nowhere near as advanced as any of you, so i apologize if my questions are stupid

Anyway, I recently bought a Dell 9200 Dimension computer and didn't realize it was a SATA system (didn't even know about SATA beforehand). I wanted to install my old dvd burner and harddrive into this system and they are both IDE. I know there are PCI cards out there that have the connectors where the long, thin grey cables connect but I don't know whether my motherboard even will support IDE devices and what do about the power cables. There was one long IDE device power cable which I can connect to my dvd burner drive but I see none down where by my harddrives are. I tried searching dell's website, but I couldn't find squat regarding the motherboard in this cpu.

Okay I was in ur shoes like a few months ago...

My Original Thread

Few things to note:

Dell 9200's DO NOT HAVE IDE SUPPORT WHATSOEVER

Installing an IDE controller card would be completely useless if you want the drive to work right... (Trust me I tried 3 different kinds)

Yes your drive will be connected and work but it will not burn faster than 2x because of the PIO/DMA issue... there is no way to force your devices on the add in cards to DMA mode... they will 99.999999% of the time go to PIO and u will be stuck there pissed off like I was...

Your best bet is to use a SATA dvd burner... and I know there aren't many out there right now that have modified bioses like the old NEC's and others...

oh yeah... ide to sata converters will not work either...

goodluck

-JR