Connecting an SATA to an IDE-only motherboard

mkeller · 01-27-2008, 03:10 PM

Hello,

I recently had one of my two hard-drives die (well, actually, it gave me a notice that it was going to die), so I bought a new one. I had heard that SATA 2 drives were better than IDEs, so I bought one - and discovered that they have different connector pins than IDEs do, and that my motherboard doesn't have a plug for them.

From reading around online, I found that it is possible to use SATAs on an old computer, by using a SATA host controller. I found some on eBay, too, for cheap. But it says on the eBay page that the controller for sale is "Compliant With Serial ATA 1.0 Specification". I've got a SATA 2. Will it still work? The link to the controller in question is:

http://cgi.ebay.com/US-SATA-To-IDE-U...QQcmdZViewItem

Also, I read somewhere that SATA drives are always treated as 'master' by a computer. I have an IDE drive that I want to install Windows on, and then use the SATA 2 for Linux. However, I've heard that Windows won't work unless the drive it's installed on is the 'master.' What can I do? (the IDE drive won't work with Linux, due to driver bugs)

belfasteddie · 01-27-2008, 04:08 PM

I would imagine the Sata2 will just downgrade itself to the connector specs.
On a Motherboard that takes Sata and Ide as per normal then the Master/Slave relationship doesn't come into affect. You simply go into the Bios and set the First disk priority.
However if your board doesn't accept Sata then I don't know what will happen.
With regard to Windows and Linux or any other O/S , Windows should always be the 1st O/S on the 1st partition of the 1st H/D. Reason, Windows will always overwrite the MBR.

mkeller · 01-27-2008, 07:54 PM

Okay, thanks! The controller is only a few dollars, so I guess I'll buy it, and see if I can get the thing to work.

01-27-2008, 03:10 PM	#1 (permalink)
mkeller Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 18 OS: Windows XP SP2, Ubuntu Gutsy 7.10	Connecting an SATA to an IDE-only motherboard Hello, I recently had one of my two hard-drives die (well, actually, it gave me a notice that it was going to die), so I bought a new one. I had heard that SATA 2 drives were better than IDEs, so I bought one - and discovered that they have different connector pins than IDEs do, and that my motherboard doesn't have a plug for them. From reading around online, I found that it is possible to use SATAs on an old computer, by using a SATA host controller. I found some on eBay, too, for cheap. But it says on the eBay page that the controller for sale is "Compliant With Serial ATA 1.0 Specification". I've got a SATA 2. Will it still work? The link to the controller in question is: http://cgi.ebay.com/US-SATA-To-IDE-U...QQcmdZViewItem Also, I read somewhere that SATA drives are always treated as 'master' by a computer. I have an IDE drive that I want to install Windows on, and then use the SATA 2 for Linux. However, I've heard that Windows won't work unless the drive it's installed on is the 'master.' What can I do? (the IDE drive won't work with Linux, due to driver bugs)

01-27-2008, 04:08 PM	#2 (permalink)
belfasteddie tech hardware team Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Belfast N.I. Posts: 1,552 OS: Puppy Linux 4.12	Re: Connecting an SATA to an IDE-only motherboard I would imagine the Sata2 will just downgrade itself to the connector specs. On a Motherboard that takes Sata and Ide as per normal then the Master/Slave relationship doesn't come into affect. You simply go into the Bios and set the First disk priority. However if your board doesn't accept Sata then I don't know what will happen. With regard to Windows and Linux or any other O/S , Windows should always be the 1st O/S on the 1st partition of the 1st H/D. Reason, Windows will always overwrite the MBR. Last edited by belfasteddie; 01-27-2008 at 04:11 PM.

01-27-2008, 07:54 PM	#3 (permalink)
mkeller Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 18 OS: Windows XP SP2, Ubuntu Gutsy 7.10	Re: Connecting an SATA to an IDE-only motherboard Okay, thanks! The controller is only a few dollars, so I guess I'll buy it, and see if I can get the thing to work.