SATA Controller Recommendation?

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Ok. This is where I'm at.

I want to put in one of the three Western Digital hard drives I won:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&item=300001166586

And use the Hitachi Deskstar 160G SATA drive(model HDT722516DLA380) as
an outside storage drive.

But do I still have the option of using teh SATA drive *inside* my
system with one of these?:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&item=200001152885

I now have four of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8829680592, but they
do not come with the e.SATA cables.

But this item I won does:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8762192511.(Funny
that it says that a product requirement is an IDE drive. I assume that
is a mis-print).

Anyway, I'm holding off on getting this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&item=120000304028,
because I'm not sure if I need the bracket/cable.

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
******************************************************************************************************
 
Ok. This is where I'm at.

I want to put in one of the three Western Digital hard drives I won:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&item=300001166586

And use the Hitachi Deskstar 160G SATA drive(model HDT722516DLA380) as
an outside storage drive.

But do I still have the option of using teh SATA drive *inside* my
system with one of these?:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&item=200001152885

I now have four of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8829680592, but they
do not come with the e.SATA cables.

But this item I won does:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8762192511.(Funny
that it says that a product requirement is an IDE drive. I assume that
is a mis-print).

Anyway, I'm holding off on getting this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&item=120000304028,
because I'm not sure if I need the bracket/cable.

Thanks a lot.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
Click to expand...

OK. This is an IDE drive.

Western Digital (WD) 40GB ATA100 Hard Drive, 7200RPM, Model: WD400BB, OEM
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&item=300001166586

And you claim to have a Hitachi Deskstar 160G SATA drive
(model HDT722516DLA380).

And this unbranded contraption, converts an IDE motherboard, to
a SATA connector, suitable for a SATA drive. Seeing as
you have no data stored on the Hitachi drive, I suppose it won't
hurt to try it. But, generally speaking, the history of
conversion dongles is spotty, with some of them being
more trouble than they are worth.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&item=200001152885

The Rocket 1511 uses a proprietary connector. I hope the
cable is inside the box:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8829680592

The RocketMate 1100 enclosure is for a _PATA_ drive. There
is a PATA to SATA converter chip in there. The Hitachi isn't
going in there.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8762192511

The Rocket 1511/RocketMate 1100 enclosure bundle is reviewed
here. This is wrong on so many levels, all I can do
is smile :-) They must obviously have some good drugs
over in Taiwan.

http://www.dansdata.com/esata.htm

And this thing, appears to convert from an internal, standard
SATA interface, to the proprietary connector used on the
Rocket 1511. If you had a SATA motherboard, and wanted to
use a Rocketmate 1100, then you'd buy one of these. Based
on your posting above, I don't see any way for you to
use this.

"HighPoint B11 e.SATA Bracket For RocketMate e.SATA"
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&item=120000304028

Which leaves you with the 200001152885 item and your SATA
drive, and a potential internal mounting and connection
of the SATA drive. And a pile of left-over bits and bobs.

Paul
 
Paul said:
OK. This is an IDE drive.

Western Digital (WD) 40GB ATA100 Hard Drive, 7200RPM, Model: WD400BB, OEM
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&item=300001166586
Click to expand...

Yes. At present my first option to put inside the HP 7955 PC.
And you claim to have a Hitachi Deskstar 160G SATA drive
(model HDT722516DLA380).

And this unbranded contraption, converts an IDE motherboard, to
a SATA connector, suitable for a SATA drive. Seeing as
you have no data stored on the Hitachi drive, I suppose it won't
hurt to try it. But, generally speaking, the history of
conversion dongles is spotty, with some of them being
more trouble than they are worth.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&item=200001152885
Click to expand...

Then perhaps I shouldn't try it.(Reliability is important to me).
The Rocket 1511 uses a proprietary connector. I hope the
cable is inside the box:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8829680592
Click to expand...

No cables. A cable is supposed to be included with the RocketMate 1100
enclosure.
The RocketMate 1100 enclosure is for a _PATA_ drive. There
is a PATA to SATA converter chip in there. The Hitachi isn't
going in there.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8762192511
Click to expand...

?!? It doesn't mention PATA anywhere in that auction.
The Rocket 1511/RocketMate 1100 enclosure bundle is reviewed
here. This is wrong on so many levels, all I can do
is smile :-) They must obviously have some good drugs
over in Taiwan.

http://www.dansdata.com/esata.htm
Click to expand...

Then I guess that means it is not worth looking it over for info on the
enclosure?
And this thing, appears to convert from an internal, standard
SATA interface, to the proprietary connector used on the
Rocket 1511. If you had a SATA motherboard, and wanted to
use a Rocketmate 1100, then you'd buy one of these. Based
on your posting above, I don't see any way for you to
use this.

"HighPoint B11 e.SATA Bracket For RocketMate e.SATA"
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&item=120000304028
Click to expand...

So I guess the IDE to SATA motherboard adaptor mentioned above is
useless in this situation?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
Then perhaps I shouldn't try it.(Reliability is important to me).
Click to expand...

The first generation of IDE_drive to SATA motherboard connector had
their problems. The above adapter is from SATA_drive to IDE motherboard
connector. I don't recollect reading of any user experiences with
these, and one worry about the above particular one, is it is
unbranded and the only instances I can find in a web search,
are via Ebay sales.

I remember reading about one chip, which performs the above
function, and by changing one pin on the interface, it works
in the opposite direction (a bidirectional protocol converter).
But again, I haven't seen a branded version of one of these,
with reviews from customers, on a site like Newegg. It helps
to have someone else review things like this first, to see
what level of flakiness to expect. It can take a long, long
time, with some hardware bugs, for the impact to become
evident in the users data.

This is one of the reasons, that if a person seeks to
connect a storage device, I would try to recommend using
what everyone else is using. Unique gadgets are fun to
play with, but not if my only copy of valuable data is
stored on them.
?!? It doesn't mention PATA anywhere in that auction.
Click to expand...

PATA is mentioned in the Dansdata review article.
Then I guess that means it is not worth looking it over for info on the
enclosure?
Click to expand...

The 1511 controller card, uses an _IDE_ controller chip, then
uses an IDE to SATA converter, to come up with the SATA
high speed signals. So, right there, we have one of those
problematic conversion steps. Then the product has a proprietary
connector on the PCI faceplate. Say you lose the cable and
Highpoint goes out of business - where do you get a cable in
a hurry.

On the enclosure end, there is an IDE to SATA converter on
the adapter board.

If the enclosure held a SATA drive, used a standard E-SATA
cable to get to the PCI card, and the PCI card had a standard
SATA to PCI bus chip, this would be a safe and effective
product. There would then be only one chip between the user's
data and the computer. And with a standard cable, you could
presumably drop into a local computer store and get a replacement
cable if one was ever needed.

Like I say, I don't know what those folks were smoking when
they came up with the product...

I was hoping to find some good examples of enclosures and
cards you could use, but so far the available enclosures
are a "dogs breakfast". Pitiful. But I don't have any
more time right now, to search for a decent one. I like
to see an enclosure have vent holes and a fan, to ensure
the drive is cooled properly. A nice power switch, so you
can turn it off. A secure power connector, for the wall
wart that powers the drive. The comments I've seen so far,
don't recommend any of the enclosures I looked at.
So I guess the IDE to SATA motherboard adaptor mentioned above is
useless in this situation?

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
Click to expand...

You're right. I guess you could take that IDE motherboard to
SATA converter, plug a B11 on the end of it, then connect a
RocketMate 1100 enclosure. You'll need to stick a PATA
drive into the enclosure of course.

Right now, I'm thinking your SATA drive would be safer, if
it was mounted inside your computer case. Try the IDE_motherboard
to SATA converter and see what happens. One test I've used in
the past, is I copy a 1GB file from my known-good system boot
disk, to the new disk drive. I make multiple copies, until the
new disk is full. Then I ruh a checksum program, that reads
all those 1GB files and calculates the checksum. That runs a
ton of data through the new hardware path, and is better than
nothing.

If you have a spare PCI slot in your computer, a SATA interface
card with internal connectors, would be another way to access
the SATA drive. By keeping the SATA drive inside your computer,
you have power and cooling already provided.

Paul
 
Paul said:
The first generation of IDE_drive to SATA motherboard connector had
their problems. The above adapter is from SATA_drive to IDE motherboard
connector. I don't recollect reading of any user experiences with
these, and one worry about the above particular one, is it is
unbranded and the only instances I can find in a web search,
are via Ebay sales.

I remember reading about one chip, which performs the above
function, and by changing one pin on the interface, it works
in the opposite direction (a bidirectional protocol converter).
But again, I haven't seen a branded version of one of these,
with reviews from customers, on a site like Newegg. It helps
to have someone else review things like this first, to see
what level of flakiness to expect. It can take a long, long
time, with some hardware bugs, for the impact to become
evident in the users data.

This is one of the reasons, that if a person seeks to
connect a storage device, I would try to recommend using
what everyone else is using. Unique gadgets are fun to
play with, but not if my only copy of valuable data is
stored on them.


PATA is mentioned in the Dansdata review article.
Click to expand...

Then perhaps someone got a model number slightly wrong.
The 1511 controller card, uses an _IDE_ controller chip, then
uses an IDE to SATA converter, to come up with the SATA
high speed signals. So, right there, we have one of those
problematic conversion steps. Then the product has a proprietary
connector on the PCI faceplate. Say you lose the cable and
Highpoint goes out of business - where do you get a cable in
a hurry.
Click to expand...

So since I have everything else, should I get this? :
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&item=120000304028
On the enclosure end, there is an IDE to SATA converter on
the adapter board.

If the enclosure held a SATA drive, used a standard E-SATA
cable to get to the PCI card, and the PCI card had a standard
SATA to PCI bus chip, this would be a safe and effective
product. There would then be only one chip between the user's
data and the computer. And with a standard cable, you could
presumably drop into a local computer store and get a replacement
cable if one was ever needed.

Like I say, I don't know what those folks were smoking when
they came up with the product...

I was hoping to find some good examples of enclosures and
cards you could use, but so far the available enclosures
are a "dogs breakfast". Pitiful. But I don't have any
more time right now, to search for a decent one. I like
to see an enclosure have vent holes and a fan, to ensure
the drive is cooled properly. A nice power switch, so you
can turn it off. A secure power connector, for the wall
wart that powers the drive. The comments I've seen so far,
don't recommend any of the enclosures I looked at.


You're right. I guess you could take that IDE motherboard to
SATA converter, plug a B11 on the end of it, then connect a
RocketMate 1100 enclosure. You'll need to stick a PATA
drive into the enclosure of course.

Right now, I'm thinking your SATA drive would be safer, if
it was mounted inside your computer case. Try the IDE_motherboard
to SATA converter and see what happens. One test I've used in
the past, is I copy a 1GB file from my known-good system boot
disk, to the new disk drive. I make multiple copies, until the
new disk is full. Then I ruh a checksum program, that reads
all those 1GB files and calculates the checksum. That runs a
ton of data through the new hardware path, and is better than
nothing.

If you have a spare PCI slot in your computer, a SATA interface
card with internal connectors, would be another way to access
the SATA drive. By keeping the SATA drive inside your computer,
you have power and cooling already provided.
Click to expand...

I was hoping to be able to use the 160G SATA drive as an external
storage drive.

Back to the drawing board.

Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
Then perhaps someone got a model number slightly wrong.


So since I have everything else, should I get this? :
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=002&item=120000304028
Click to expand...

Ok. The main part of my confusion is that I don't know what PATA is. I
just fit one of the three Western Digital drives into the enclosure:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&item=300001166586

So I guess IDE drive is what it is.

I'm going to try to mount the SATA drive inside with this converter:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&item=200001152885
..
Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
 
Ok. The main part of my confusion is that I don't know what PATA is. I
just fit one of the three Western Digital drives into the enclosure:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&item=300001166586

So I guess IDE drive is what it is.


I'm going to try to mount the SATA drive inside with this converter:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&item=200001152885
.
Thanks.

Darren Harris
Staten Island, New York.
Click to expand...

The drive pictured in your link:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&item=300001166586

has a ribbon cable interface on it and is a parallel ATA or PATA
drive. The term "PATA" was created, as a counterpoint to the use
of "SATA" for the serial ATA drives. That drive should fit fine
in your new enclosure.

If you are going to try your motherboard_IDE to SATA adapter
dongle with your SATA drive, inside the PC, report back how it
works out. Maybe it is the $0.99 bargain of the century :-)
It could well be using the JM20330 chip.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=010&item=200001152885

The JM20330 is the chip that can handle both directions of
conversion between IDE interfaces and SATA interfaces. But
I've never seen any reviews of how well this product works.

http://www.jmicron.com/JM20330.html

Paul
 
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