Can I convert my IDE drive to SATA?

15075 Views 14 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Rushton50, Jan 25, 2009

be4con

Discussion Starter · Dec 8, 2006

I have a 250Gb Seagate Barracuda IDE drive which has been nestling in an external caddy since I purchased it about 9 months ago. For the 3rd time now I have had problems with the file system becoming corrupt and the drive becoming unreadable. I am inclined to believe that this is because the drive is not intended to be used in an external caddy (indeed Seagate themselves have suggested as much in the past) so having salvaged the data I would like to mount the drive internally.

I have a spare bay but no spare IDE controller. I have spoken to the PC manufacturer who has confirmed that the mobo I have only supports 2 IDE devices (my DVD and DVDRW drives) but supports 4 SATA devices. I currently only have 1 SATA HDD in the system.

Is there a reliable and safe way to convert an IDE HDD to a SATA connection so that I can mount the drive internally? A friend has suggested that I might be able to get an IDE to SATA dongle which will do the job. Is this true, and if so are they safe to use or is there a risk of equipment failure and data loss?

Or, would I be better mounting the drive as is by sacrificing one of my IDE DVD drives and getting a SATA DVD drive as a replacement?

Thanks

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1 - 15 of 15 Posts

dai

· #2 · Dec 8, 2006

you can use something like this
http://www.firewire-1394.com/ide-to-sata-converter.htm

be4con

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 8, 2006

Thanks Dai

Are they stable to use? Quite pricey though, I can pick up at SATA DVDRW for about £30, do you think maybe that would be the safer option and just connect the HDD internally to the freed up IDE?

crazijoe

· #4 · Dec 8, 2006

I think he needs to go the other way around.

http://www.firewire-1394.com/serial-ata-ide-converter.htm

dai

· #5 · Dec 8, 2006

i would prefer that method

be4con

Discussion Starter · #6 · Dec 8, 2006

sorry, which method? :1angel:

kev1952

· #7 · Dec 8, 2006

How many hard drives and optical drives do you currently have in the system?

be4con

Discussion Starter · #8 · Dec 8, 2006

Currently 1 internal SATA HDD, 1 DVD ROM and 1 DVDRW drive both IDE.

linderman

· #9 · Dec 9, 2006

have a look for PCI slot IDE controller cards
\

they are fairly cheap

your options are either as you have suggested or ide controller card

no you cant adapt an IDE drive to run on a sata controller

you can however convert the other way = convert a sata drive to run on an IDE controller

See less See more

kev1952

· #10 · Dec 9, 2006

be4con said:
Currently 1 internal SATA HDD, 1 DVD ROM and 1 DVDRW drive both IDE.

Do you have one or two IDE ports on the mobo?

be4con

Discussion Starter · #11 · Dec 9, 2006

I haven't checked, but my PC manufacturer (medion) informs me I have just the 1, I'll have a look today to confirm.

linderman said:
no you cant adapt an IDE drive to run on a sata controller

oh, so the adapter here: http://www.firewire-1394.com/serial-...-converter.htm won't work then?

dai

· #12 · Dec 9, 2006

this was the one i was refering to
I can pick up at SATA DVDRW for about £30

kev1952

· #13 · Dec 9, 2006

The corrected link for "be4con" is here.

be4con

Discussion Starter · #14 · Dec 9, 2006 (Edited)

ray:

Thanks guys, I think on balance I'm going to pick up the SATA DVDRW drive, it's dual layer too so an effective upgrade on the one I have. I feel less confident about the converter and things are already pretty tight in the case so I may find myself running out of room, and space for air movement if I stick yet more kit in there. I might also need more power cables at some point if I want to add anything else further down the line as it looks like the converter needs it's own power supply separate to the drive.

Interestingly, the SATA DVD drives I've seen are shorter than the standard IDE equivalents too so that should improve the air flow problem a bit, plus fewer IDE ribbons can only be a good thing.

Thanks once again for the invaluable advice. :smile:

Rushton50

· #15 · Jan 25, 2009

be4con said:
I have a 250Gb Seagate Barracuda IDE drive which has been nestling in an external caddy since I purchased it about 9 months ago. For the 3rd time now I have had problems with the file system becoming corrupt and the drive becoming unreadable. I am inclined to believe that this is because the drive is not intended to be used in an external caddy (indeed Seagate themselves have suggested as much in the past) so having salvaged the data I would like to mount the drive internally.

I have a spare bay but no spare IDE controller. I have spoken to the PC manufacturer who has confirmed that the mobo I have only supports 2 IDE devices (my DVD and DVDRW drives) but supports 4 SATA devices. I currently only have 1 SATA HDD in the system.

Is there a reliable and safe way to convert an IDE HDD to a SATA connection so that I can mount the drive internally? A friend has suggested that I might be able to get an IDE to SATA dongle which will do the job. Is this true, and if so are they safe to use or is there a risk of equipment failure and data loss?

Or, would I be better mounting the drive as is by sacrificing one of my IDE DVD drives and getting a SATA DVD drive as a replacement?

Thanks

I know you can get a caddy for external ones, but you need to have a sata link, usually orange to the back of the mainboard also orange then an external sata socket and im sure my pc shop said you could get a patch lead to convert internally, but run a bit expensive for lead only which mine was around #20 or around $40

1 - 15 of 15 Posts

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