External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed..

Tremulant · 04-10-2008, 05:08 PM

Quite some time ago, I purchased an HP dvd740e external DVD burner. The drive states that it is able to burn DVD+Rs, DVD+R DLs, and lightscribe. It functions properly as far as burning single-layer discs, and reading single-layer discs, but past that, I've had problems with it for some time. A while back, it stopped reading any type of dual-layer media, including store bought DVDs. I looked around, and found that this was a common problem for this drive, and that most people had not been able to burn a dual-layer disc with it.

At the time, New Egg had a great deal on a Samsung internal dual-layer burner, which only connects via SATA. I bought it, figuring that I could add a SATA port if I didn't have one free (I'm still pretty new at this).

Is this possible? I bought a SATA II cable when I bought the drive, but found that I do NOT have an available SATA port, or none that I can find at least. I had two PCI slots free, but installed a firewire card into one of them. Can I install a SATA "card" into my remaining PCI slot? I put the drive into the tower already, but just need a way to connect it.

Any help for this problem would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Tremulant · 04-14-2008, 12:25 AM

Anyone?

**kodi** · 04-14-2008, 01:30 AM

You can install a Sata card.
How many sata devices/drives do you have hooked up at present?

Tremulant · 04-14-2008, 02:14 PM

Thanks for the response. Much appreciated.

At present, I believe that I have zero SATA devices/drives. I couldn't find anything inside my system that even resembled a SATA port, probably due to the age of the system. It's almost 4 years old, and I'm only just now trying to make some upgrades. I already upgraded the RAM to 2 GB, and my processor is okay at 2.53 GHz. The problem is that I'm still pretty new at this. I'm just now beginning to need a new video card (current is integrated), but if I use my PCI slot to add SATA II, I suppose I'd need a new MOBO to accommodate a new video card. I guess that's going to have to be a future project, regardless.

Can you recommend a SATA II PCI card?

Thank you again,
-Bryan

**kodi** · 04-14-2008, 02:47 PM

Can you supply the make and model of your computer and we can check what ports/slots it has?

Tremulant · 04-14-2008, 03:20 PM

Sure, it's a Dell Dimension 2400.

When I ordered it, I knew nothing about computers, so I got the best that I could afford (for the time). I'm pretty sure that I upgraded the processor at the time of purchase, as it arrived with 2.53 GHz, and 512 MB of RAM, lol. I can't remember if I made any other changes at the time of purchase.

Thanks,
-Bryan

**kodi** · 04-14-2008, 03:36 PM

You could use something like this
http://www.uxcell.com/computer-ide-s...rd-p-7613.html

Tremulant · 04-14-2008, 04:45 PM

Pardon my lack of knowledge, but does that connect via IDE? I looked for a diagram of the setup of my PC online, in an effort to teach myself how to better unbderstand what's going on in there, but was unable to find one. I don't believe I have an open IDE either, but I could be wrong. I have a floppy drive (which I have never used), and the DVD drive which came installed in my PC, both seem to be connected via IDE, as does my hard drive, which seems to be, in my limited kno0wledge, inaccessible.

The product you pointed me to looks great, but they appear to be out of stock. If I am able to find one elsewhere, would I be able to connect it with my current setup? Or would I have to lose my current DVD Drive (which I would like to avoid if possible.)

Also, if my understanding is correct, SATA has two cables, one that carries data, and the other for power, and SATA II carries data and power in one cable? The new DVD drive has two ports, one of which my SATA II cable fits into, is this to give me the option to connect it via SATA or SATA II? Or am I completely off base.

Again,
thank you.
-Bryan

**kodi** · 04-14-2008, 05:50 PM

This is a better example
http://www.cooldrives.com/samibrcosadr.html

You connect the board to the back of your DVD by means of the large brown plug
You then connect the IDE lead to the other side onto the pins that are showing
You then connect the power to a terminal that is on the other side but not showing in the diagram

Do a Google search for; convert sata drive to ide

Tremulant · 04-15-2008, 12:30 AM

That looks great, I can see from the photo of the item that it will fit perfectly onto the back of the drive. However, how do I deal with the IDE issues? Will I have to disable my current burner to use its IDE cable? Or can I string on to that one? I don't have my case open, and I didn't pay much attention to the IDE when it last was, but I'm relatively certain that I have no free IDE ribbon cable either. I read this:

http://freepctech.com/pc/001/install..._devices.shtml

but don't know how jumpers and such would function when using the adapter you mentioned. It sounds great, as it'd keep my PCI slot free for another device in the near future, and is also much cheaper than the PCI SATA device. I guess from this point, I just don't know how to install it.

Sorry to be such a pain, and thanks again,
-Bryan

**kodi** · 04-15-2008, 01:21 AM

In the guide you posted it shows two drives on the one lead that is what you have to do.
The device on the end must be jumpered as master and the one in the middle as slave.
You then have to connect a spare molex power connector to the adapter board

Tremulant · 04-18-2008, 12:46 PM

Sorry for the delay in response, but I wanted to open up my case and have a look at my options. I seem to have three IDEs off of the MOBO, one to my HD, one to my unused floppy drive, and the third to my existing DVD drive.

The third one has an unused lead in the middle, but there is no spare molex connector for it. Being that the new SATA drive has no jumper settings (can that be done from the SATA to IDE board?), and my floppy drive has never seen a single use, would I be able to disconnect the IDE and molex cables from the floppy, and connect to the new adapter board? That would enable me to keep my existing DVD drive, save my open PCI slot, AND connect my new SATA burner, correct?

If this is possible, would I experience any problems in doing so, or would I simply disable the floppy through device manager?

Thanks again for all of your help,
-Bryan

**kodi** · 04-18-2008, 04:29 PM

The IDE and floppy cables for the floppy are different to the others so you can't use them.
Use the IDE cable with the dvd on and connect the new drive on the end and the old one in the middle jumpered to CS (cable select)
You can purchase double adapters for your molex power connection
http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...oducts_id=2679

Tremulant · 04-18-2008, 05:13 PM

Okay, I think I understand everything, and how to go about it all. As soon as the wife signs off on the purchases, I'll be getting to work on it.

If I'm lucky, I can get her to agree to the purchase of a new video card at the same time. Unfortunately, there are still a few things I'm unsure about, so I'll likely be starting a new thread to hopefully get some help on that too. I'm going to try to use the PCI slot that you helped me save, although from the looking around that I did, most cards don't use them anymore.

Thanks again, I really appreciate all of your time.

04-10-2008, 05:08 PM	#1 (permalink)
Tremulant Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 8 OS: xp	External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. Quite some time ago, I purchased an HP dvd740e external DVD burner. The drive states that it is able to burn DVD+Rs, DVD+R DLs, and lightscribe. It functions properly as far as burning single-layer discs, and reading single-layer discs, but past that, I've had problems with it for some time. A while back, it stopped reading any type of dual-layer media, including store bought DVDs. I looked around, and found that this was a common problem for this drive, and that most people had not been able to burn a dual-layer disc with it. At the time, New Egg had a great deal on a Samsung internal dual-layer burner, which only connects via SATA. I bought it, figuring that I could add a SATA port if I didn't have one free (I'm still pretty new at this). Is this possible? I bought a SATA II cable when I bought the drive, but found that I do NOT have an available SATA port, or none that I can find at least. I had two PCI slots free, but installed a firewire card into one of them. Can I install a SATA "card" into my remaining PCI slot? I put the drive into the tower already, but just need a way to connect it. Any help for this problem would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

04-14-2008, 12:25 AM	#2 (permalink)
Tremulant Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 8 OS: xp	Re: External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. Anyone?

04-14-2008, 01:30 AM	#3 (permalink)
kodi Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 7,408 OS: Windows 7-Ultimate 64 Bit My System	Re: External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. You can install a Sata card. How many sata devices/drives do you have hooked up at present? __________________ Brian

04-14-2008, 02:14 PM	#4 (permalink)
Tremulant Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 8 OS: xp	Re: External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. Thanks for the response. Much appreciated. At present, I believe that I have zero SATA devices/drives. I couldn't find anything inside my system that even resembled a SATA port, probably due to the age of the system. It's almost 4 years old, and I'm only just now trying to make some upgrades. I already upgraded the RAM to 2 GB, and my processor is okay at 2.53 GHz. The problem is that I'm still pretty new at this. I'm just now beginning to need a new video card (current is integrated), but if I use my PCI slot to add SATA II, I suppose I'd need a new MOBO to accommodate a new video card. I guess that's going to have to be a future project, regardless. Can you recommend a SATA II PCI card? Thank you again, -Bryan

04-14-2008, 02:47 PM	#5 (permalink)
kodi Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 7,408 OS: Windows 7-Ultimate 64 Bit My System	Re: External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. Can you supply the make and model of your computer and we can check what ports/slots it has? __________________ Brian

04-14-2008, 03:20 PM	#6 (permalink)
Tremulant Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 8 OS: xp	Re: External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. Sure, it's a Dell Dimension 2400. When I ordered it, I knew nothing about computers, so I got the best that I could afford (for the time). I'm pretty sure that I upgraded the processor at the time of purchase, as it arrived with 2.53 GHz, and 512 MB of RAM, lol. I can't remember if I made any other changes at the time of purchase. Thanks, -Bryan

04-14-2008, 03:36 PM	#7 (permalink)
kodi Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 7,408 OS: Windows 7-Ultimate 64 Bit My System	Re: External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. You could use something like this http://www.uxcell.com/computer-ide-s...rd-p-7613.html __________________ Brian

04-14-2008, 04:45 PM	#8 (permalink)
Tremulant Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 8 OS: xp	Re: External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. Pardon my lack of knowledge, but does that connect via IDE? I looked for a diagram of the setup of my PC online, in an effort to teach myself how to better unbderstand what's going on in there, but was unable to find one. I don't believe I have an open IDE either, but I could be wrong. I have a floppy drive (which I have never used), and the DVD drive which came installed in my PC, both seem to be connected via IDE, as does my hard drive, which seems to be, in my limited kno0wledge, inaccessible. The product you pointed me to looks great, but they appear to be out of stock. If I am able to find one elsewhere, would I be able to connect it with my current setup? Or would I have to lose my current DVD Drive (which I would like to avoid if possible.) Also, if my understanding is correct, SATA has two cables, one that carries data, and the other for power, and SATA II carries data and power in one cable? The new DVD drive has two ports, one of which my SATA II cable fits into, is this to give me the option to connect it via SATA or SATA II? Or am I completely off base. Again, thank you. -Bryan

04-14-2008, 05:50 PM	#9 (permalink)
kodi Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 7,408 OS: Windows 7-Ultimate 64 Bit My System	Re: External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. This is a better example http://www.cooldrives.com/samibrcosadr.html You connect the board to the back of your DVD by means of the large brown plug You then connect the IDE lead to the other side onto the pins that are showing You then connect the power to a terminal that is on the other side but not showing in the diagram Do a Google search for; convert sata drive to ide __________________ Brian Last edited by kodi; 04-14-2008 at 05:51 PM.

04-15-2008, 12:30 AM	#10 (permalink)
Tremulant Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 8 OS: xp	Re: External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. That looks great, I can see from the photo of the item that it will fit perfectly onto the back of the drive. However, how do I deal with the IDE issues? Will I have to disable my current burner to use its IDE cable? Or can I string on to that one? I don't have my case open, and I didn't pay much attention to the IDE when it last was, but I'm relatively certain that I have no free IDE ribbon cable either. I read this: http://freepctech.com/pc/001/install..._devices.shtml but don't know how jumpers and such would function when using the adapter you mentioned. It sounds great, as it'd keep my PCI slot free for another device in the near future, and is also much cheaper than the PCI SATA device. I guess from this point, I just don't know how to install it. Sorry to be such a pain, and thanks again, -Bryan

04-15-2008, 01:21 AM	#11 (permalink)
kodi Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 7,408 OS: Windows 7-Ultimate 64 Bit My System	Re: External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. In the guide you posted it shows two drives on the one lead that is what you have to do. The device on the end must be jumpered as master and the one in the middle as slave. You then have to connect a spare molex power connector to the adapter board __________________ Brian

04-18-2008, 12:46 PM	#12 (permalink)
Tremulant Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 8 OS: xp	Re: External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. Sorry for the delay in response, but I wanted to open up my case and have a look at my options. I seem to have three IDEs off of the MOBO, one to my HD, one to my unused floppy drive, and the third to my existing DVD drive. The third one has an unused lead in the middle, but there is no spare molex connector for it. Being that the new SATA drive has no jumper settings (can that be done from the SATA to IDE board?), and my floppy drive has never seen a single use, would I be able to disconnect the IDE and molex cables from the floppy, and connect to the new adapter board? That would enable me to keep my existing DVD drive, save my open PCI slot, AND connect my new SATA burner, correct? If this is possible, would I experience any problems in doing so, or would I simply disable the floppy through device manager? Thanks again for all of your help, -Bryan

04-18-2008, 04:29 PM	#13 (permalink)
kodi Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 7,408 OS: Windows 7-Ultimate 64 Bit My System	Re: External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. The IDE and floppy cables for the floppy are different to the others so you can't use them. Use the IDE cable with the dvd on and connect the new drive on the end and the old one in the middle jumpered to CS (cable select) You can purchase double adapters for your molex power connection http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...oducts_id=2679 __________________ Brian Last edited by kodi; 04-18-2008 at 04:39 PM.

04-18-2008, 05:13 PM	#14 (permalink)
Tremulant Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 8 OS: xp	Re: External DVD+R DL to SATA internal DVD+R DL Help needed.. Okay, I think I understand everything, and how to go about it all. As soon as the wife signs off on the purchases, I'll be getting to work on it. If I'm lucky, I can get her to agree to the purchase of a new video card at the same time. Unfortunately, there are still a few things I'm unsure about, so I'll likely be starting a new thread to hopefully get some help on that too. I'm going to try to use the PCI slot that you helped me save, although from the looking around that I did, most cards don't use them anymore. Thanks again, I really appreciate all of your time.