DIY IDE-USB Adaptor tutorial?

[NightLord]

Sorry if this is a bit off-topic, but I want to make my own IDE-USB Adaptor for using on my mac mini/macbook, but I don't know where to find a tutorial on making my own. I've checked google but its not thrown up much.

Any help would be much appreciated

 

[orangezorki]

Pardon me if you already know this, but this is a very non-trivial task. It's not like you just need to do a bit of rewiring, but the signals need to be converted. Just to start with, USB is serial, and IDE is parallel. The common chipsets are the 'oxford' ones, which I guess you could find somewhere if you fancied soldering a million tiny contacts. Summary: too expensive, too tricky.

David

 

[NightLord]

yes, I knew this, but its great having something you made yourself as opposed to something you bought, plus I like the challenge.

 

[Makosuke]

I suppose since these things cost all of $15, most people just don't bother with the DIY route.

Here's what you'd need, though: An IDE-USB2 bridge board (they are sold bare by a few companies), a USB cable, and a power supply that can output the 5V/12V that a drive needs, and also whatever power the bridge board needs.

All you'd really need to do is wire an IDE connector to the bridge board (you could either use a ribbon cable, or solder on a right-angle edge connector for a direct connection), permanently attach the USB connector to it (or not--you could just plug it in), and then wire the power supply to the bridge board and put a molex connector on it for the drive. Alternately, you could try wiring the power output of the USB cable to the bridge board so it doesn't need an external power supply, but you're still going to need to get juice to the drive.

It's probably not all that hard since bridgeboards already come with all the necessary workings and you just need to get power to them and connectors dealt with, though it'll probably also look hideous.