View Full Version : SATA/PATA
n2ize
11-23-2011, 02:55 PM
yesterday I decided to replace my ailing DVD drive. The local MicroCenter had a decent drive on sale but when i went to buy it I realized it was a SATA drive and the machine I am using it in requires PATA, or so I thought. So, I addition to the drive I got a PATA to SATA converter. But, as I was getting ready to install the converter in the standard IDE socket I notices 2 connectors on the mainboard that looked identical to SATA ports. So identical were they it turned out they were SATA ports. So, instead of installing the converter I plugged the drive directly into one of those ports and using a Molex to SATA power adapter connected the power to the drive. I turn it on and "Booo... Hissss" it doesn't work. Rats !! Then I go into bios setup and sure enough I noticed that both the SATA ports were turned off. So I turned them on, rebooted and...Viola'... it works fine. No need for the converter and, as it turns out I can use any SATA or PATA drives with this board.
Apparently, the manufacturer (Dell) chose to use standard Parallel IDE hard and optical drives when they assembled this machine and I was under the impression the mainboard was PATA all the way. But it turns out that the board was SATA ready all along, for some reason Dell decided not to use it. Perhaps they had a lot of PATA drives they were trying to get rid of or, maybe SATA was just starting to become popular. My Dad has a similar machine, just a year newer, and on his dell chose to use the SATA interface for the hard drives and the PATA for the optical drives.
So now I have a converter that I don't need. I'll see if I can return it. Pretty soon it will be time for me to upgrade to a new machine altoogether but its always nice finding that you have features and support for things you didn't realize you had.
N1LAF
11-23-2011, 03:20 PM
You may want to hold onto it for future surprises.
The SATA/PATA configuration is a transitional and inventory scheme. I have SATA on three HD's and two optical drives, and I have seen PATA on optical drives while HD's on SATA.
kf0rt
11-23-2011, 04:24 PM
You may want to hold onto it for future surprises.
The SATA/PATA configuration is a transitional and inventory scheme. I have SATA on three HD's and two optical drives, and I have seen PATA on optical drives while HD's on SATA.
PATA may not be dead, but it sure appears to be headed that way. I don't think I've bought a PATA drive in about 3 years now (including optical); last I checked at Newegg, the PATA hard drive selection was pretty minimal; nothing bigger than 320 Gig. It's odd that a lot of the motherboards still support IDE (even the tiny ones where real estate could be better utilized).
Was also going to mention that if anyone is looking for a great source for cables (SATA, LAN, HDMI, you-name-it), it's hard to go wrong with Monoprice: http://www.monoprice.com -- great prices, fast shipping.
n2ize
11-24-2011, 01:49 AM
PATA may not be dead, but it sure appears to be headed that way. I don't think I've bought a PATA drive in about 3 years now (including optical); last I checked at Newegg, the PATA hard drive selection was pretty minimal; nothing bigger than 320 Gig. It's odd that a lot of the motherboards still support IDE (even the tiny ones where real estate could be better utilized).
Was also going to mention that if anyone is looking for a great source for cables (SATA, LAN, HDMI, you-name-it), it's hard to go wrong with Monoprice: http://www.monoprice.com -- great prices, fast shipping.
Thanks for the link. I'll keep it handy.
It was funny, when I stopped into the local MicroCenter to pick up a MOLEX->SATA power connector they had two such Y connectors (i.e. single MOLEX to 2 SATA Power plugs). One was wrapped in a bubble package and cost $9.99 the other in a simple plastic bag and cost $2.39. Other than the packaging both were identical, except that the cheaper one had the little metal tabs on each SATA connector. Even the store clerk said "they are the same thing...get the cheaper one". I was just amazed that 2 identical products could vary in price so much. I'll bet sales of the more expensive one revolve around a customer 1) either not looking and noticing the cheaper yet identical connector right next to it or, 2) the customer somehow believing that the expensive one must be better in some way and opting to buy it despite the fact that the cheaper one is exactly the same or slightly better.
KC2UGV
11-24-2011, 10:54 AM
The tiny mobo's only have PATA for those Compact Flash-IDE adapters :) They don't make one for SATA yet.
I prefer the PATO interface.
http://www.freefoto.com/images/01/08/01_08_52---Duck_web.jpg
Pato is the Spanish word for duck.
W3MIV
11-24-2011, 02:52 PM
Aflac!
K7SGJ
11-24-2011, 04:43 PM
Aflac!
Ben?
n2ize
11-24-2011, 05:03 PM
I'm old enough to remember pre-ide interfaces.
I'm old enough to remember pre-ide interfaces.
SCSI, man.
N1LAF
11-24-2011, 06:41 PM
Commodore Drive serial bus
W4GPL
11-24-2011, 07:53 PM
SCSI, man.MFM and RLL... SCSI is still used. :)
K7SGJ
11-24-2011, 07:55 PM
So are SCSI women. Paper, plastic, or gunny?
MFM and RLL... SCSI is still used. :)
Really? Cool—I still have some SCSI drives around the place and a couple of controllers as well.
kf0rt
11-25-2011, 07:04 AM
I'm old enough to remember pre-ide interfaces.
Commonly referred to as ST-506. Two ribbon cables and a power cable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ST-506
W3MIV
11-25-2011, 07:39 AM
I'm old enough to remember pre-ide interfaces.
Hell, I'm old enough to remember pencils.
W4GPL
11-25-2011, 07:50 AM
Hell, I'm old enough to remember pencils.Every once in awhile I'm forced to write something other than my signature.. my handwriting, though it was never good, is absolutely horrible now. It's like I've forgotten how to write with a pen or pencil -- and cursive/script? Forget it.. Kinda sad. I've been typing just about everything for the last 20 years.
W3MIV
11-25-2011, 08:38 AM
I hear you. Uncle Sugar taught me to type in 1964 on old, gray Royal manuals. Take out the ribbon and store it in the safe every night, then go wash your hands for thirty minutes trying to get the ink off. Penmanship for me, too, remains a serious challenge -- but I make it a habit to write letters by hand, and I struggle daily to keep what remains of my cursive alive. Mine is readable, but just.
Every once in awhile I'm forced to write something other than my signature.. my handwriting, though it was never good, is absolutely horrible now. It's like I've forgotten how to write with a pen or pencil -- and cursive/script? Forget it.. Kinda sad. I've been typing just about everything for the last 20 years.
W4GPL
11-25-2011, 08:46 AM
I had to send my Mother some paperwork the other day and she asked me if I was drunk when I filled out the form & envelope. I did write it in a hurry, but I suspect even if I had taken the time to write it more legibly, it wouldn't have been all that much more legible. :-|
And no, for the record, I wasn't drunk. :hahano:
:shifty:
n2ize
11-25-2011, 11:45 AM
Hell, I'm old enough to remember pencils.
If you think that's bad I still use pencils frequently (as in every day).
ab1ga
11-25-2011, 03:08 PM
...
Penmanship for me, too, remains a serious challenge -- but I make it a habit to write letters by hand, and I struggle daily to keep what remains of my cursive alive. Mine is readable, but just.
Just remember, if the quarter falls off of the back of your hand, Sister Mary Elizabeth will rap you on the knucles with a steel-edged ruler. That should do it.
K7SGJ
11-26-2011, 05:39 PM
Hell, I'm old enough to remember pencils.
And quills and scrolls.;)
kf0rt
11-26-2011, 06:27 PM
Kind of an aside...
We recently sent a bunch of computers to recycling at work. Security and all, I had the foresight to pull all the hard drives. Now own a box of about 30 hard drives; mostly IDE and some are pretty small.
Two points:
1] WTF am I going to do with this?
-and-
2] All those computers worked; were just too outdated and/or survived too many layoffs ("surplus to our needs" as they say on eBay). Hope the recyclry puts them to good use, but I doubt it.
W4GPL
11-26-2011, 06:49 PM
We have traditionally sent our unused old hard drives to the incinerator.
kf0rt
11-26-2011, 06:54 PM
We have traditionally sent our unused old hard drives to the incinerator.
Never met an unused hard drive. ;)
The incinerator sounds like a good idea, though.
Take the old HDs apart. They have two very strong magnets inside and the disc makes an excellent first-surface mirror for playing around with lasers and other optical stuff.
kf0rt
11-26-2011, 08:22 PM
Take the old HDs apart. They have two very strong magnets inside and the disc makes an excellent first-surface mirror for playing around with lasers and other optical stuff.
Kinda what I'm thinking. Make some sort of artwork out of them or something.
I'm old enough to remember pre-ide interfaces.
So am I.
MFM, anyone? ESDI? How about SASI?
Really? Cool—I still have some SCSI drives around the place and a couple of controllers as well.Don't suppose any of them are Ultra Fast SCSI III, are they?
W3MIV
11-30-2011, 05:03 PM
Kinda what I'm thinking. Make some sort of artwork out of them or something.
A wall hanging to catch the sun and splash spectral color around the room! I like it!
Or maybe a mobile. You need to find some natural fibers... um... I could suggest a certain genus, but you must not get all f*cked up stringing the disks.
I knew you were nothing but a damned hippy at heart.
kf0rt
11-30-2011, 06:16 PM
A wall hanging to catch the sun and splash spectral color around the room! I like it!
Or maybe a mobile. You need to find some natural fibers... um... I could suggest a certain genus, but you must not get all f*cked up stringing the disks.
I knew you were nothing but a damned hippy at heart.
My cover is blown. :rofl:
K7SGJ
11-30-2011, 07:18 PM
And probably the olny thing that's going to get..........oh...........never mind
Don't suppose any of them are Ultra Fast SCSI III, are they?
I seriously doubt it, but I'll check. If any of them are, you can have them.
I seriously doubt it, but I'll check. If any of them are, you can have them.Thanks, just in case. Of course, I'll cover S&H.
I was given an old Compaq 1U server. Takes a pair of Ultra Fast SCSI III drivers, in a RAID array. Unfortunately, the pair that came with it are 18 GB, and considering their age, there's an obvious concern about failure. I'd like to use the box at home as a file server (you wouldn't believe the number of photos my wife wants to keep "live"), but that's just not going to do, storage wise.
Oh, note to Corey... we got the Ubuntu workstation software working on it, no problem. Have to reburn the ISO for Ubuntu server, but it should work (32 bit though, it's an old dual-processor P4 box). Yes, I've dipped my toe in the water...
I checked, Ron, they are all plain vanilla SCSI.
I checked, Ron, they are all plain vanilla SCSI.Oh well, it was worth a shot.
Got any decent sized drives in the lot? I do have a SCSI card I can throw in one of the workstations... just haven't had anything sitting around that made it worthwhile.
Almost hard to believe, especially when thinking of the good old days of MFM & RLL, that I'd be calling a 1 GB drive small...
Oh well, it was worth a shot.
Got any decent sized drives in the lot? I do have a SCSI card I can throw in one of the workstations... just haven't had anything sitting around that made it worthwhile.
No, I imagine the largest SCSI drive I have would be less than 10GB. And the cards are ISA bus as well.
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