How to connect this (pic) portable drive to my mac?

[jkandell]

I have a removable hard drive which pops out of its enclosure in my windows machine. I want to transfer data using this drive to my iMac G5 as cheaply as possible.

The connectors at the back of the drive when it's out look like this:
http://www.sysmatrix.net/~jkandell/IMG_0415_1.jpg
The connectors in the enclosure within my windows machine look like this:
http://www.sysmatrix.net/~jkandell/IMG_0418_1.jpg

What kind of connectors are these?

What is the cheapest way to connect this drive to my iMac (firewire400, usb2)? Can I simply buy an adapter? Are there cheap enclosures that would take these connectors and hook to my mac?

Thanks

 

[davegoody]

No problem here !

I have a removable hard drive which pops out of its enclosure in my windows machine. I want to transfer data using this drive to my iMac G5 as cheaply as possible.

The connectors at the back of the drive when it's out look like this:
http://www.sysmatrix.net/~jkandell/IMG_0415_1.jpg
The connectors in the enclosure within my windows machine look like this:
http://www.sysmatrix.net/~jkandell/IMG_0418_1.jpg

What kind of connectors are these?

What is the cheapest way to connect this drive to my iMac (firewire400, usb2)? Can I simply buy an adapter? Are there cheap enclosures that would take these connectors and hook to my mac?

Thanks

The photo you have taken here is of a removable Hard Disk enclosure. The actual disk is inside this device, and it is a standard 3.5" IDE drive. so the easiest way to connect the device is to either:

1) Take the ACTUAL drive out of the enclosure and then put it in an external USB2 or Firewire enclosure instead . . . . . or . . . .

2) Purchase ANOTHER Drive bay as you already have - this will have (externally) a standard IDE connector. Put this WHOLE drive bay into a FW or USB2 enclosure that is designed for a CD-ROM etc and you can then take the drive bay out of your PC and put it into your FW enclosure connected to the iMac and there you have it. You also then have the advantage of having purchased a second drive bay, you will have a spare slot out section (as in your picture) that you can put another HDD into at a later time. Just Make sure that the hard Drive is formatted in a PC readable format (FAT32 etc) rather than Mac Format or it will only be readable on a Mac, if it is PC formatted your iMac will still be able to read / write to it. Hope this helps !

 

[cr2sh]

The actual disk is inside this device, and it is a standard 3.5" IDE drive. so the easiest way to connect the device is to either:

Wow... who would of thought that they'd connect a standard 3.5" IDE drive via a Centronics 50pin SCSI interface.

What kind of connectors are these?

They're 50pin SCSI connectors... and getting that into a g5 iMac isn't going to happen.

I don't know if they make a USB/FW external enclosure for SCSI... it would have to have a scsi card built it... and I just don't know if they exist.

The easiest route.. is to network the two machines and copy the files over... so unless you have a really good reason for using that SCSI drive - its not going to be worth it.

 

[cr2sh]

Wow! Go figure.. I found this:

http://www.iodata.com/usa/products/products.php?cat=MIJ&sc=NJSR&pId=USB2-SC

Connect a SCSI external device to PC with USB: Equipped with the standard USB1.1 and 2.0 specifications
- Up to 4 SCSI devices are available by SCSI daisy chain
- SCSI D-Sub half pitch 50 pin supported

Only $25!

Model Type USB1.1/2.0 converter for an external
Host Interface USB A connector
SCSI Interface 50 Pin SCSI D-Sub half pitch
Number of Drives 1 Unit
Voltage DC 5V +/-5%
Current 720mA
Environment Temperature 5 - 35 dec C
Environment Humidity 20 - 80% (without dew condensation)
Size 50.0(W) x 12.5(D) x 42.0(H) mm
Weight Approximately 35 g
USB Cable 1 Unit Bundled (A-B cable with 1m length)
Support OS Windows XP/Me/2000Professional/98SE/98

I'm not sure if it'll plug and play with osX... but its worth a shot. The harddrive file formats I don't think will work though... tell us more about the OS on the windows machine and what type of files you want to transfer.


Good luck! Let us know what you do and how it works out! Very interesting!

 

[davegoody]

Good point . . . . but in this case WRONG !

Wow... who would of thought that they'd connect a standard 3.5" IDE drive with a Centronics 50pin SCSI interface.




They're 50pin SCSI connectors... and getting that into a g5 iMac isn't going to happen.

I don't know if they make a USB/FW external enclosure for SCSI... it would have to have a scsi card built it... and I just don't know if they exist.

The easiest route.. is to network the two machines and copy the files over... unless you have a real reason for using that SCSI drive - its not going to be worth it.

I actually agree, these connectors are USUALLY used for SCSI drives, just that these particular drive BAYS (and not the actual drives) use the 50pin Centronics connectors to connect the "removable" drive bay to the internal enclosure. If you take the lid off the removable bit (with the drive) you will see that the actual drive connector is standard IDE (ATA). I know it is confusing but there is nothing in the specification for enclosure manufacturers to use any standard connector for their connections. The only reason I think they use these 50pin Centronics connectors in the first place is that they are highly resilient to multiple plug / unplug movements. For the most part modern IDE / SATA drives are pretty much as quick (if not quicker) than most SCSI drives for day-to-day use and it is not worth the price premium to add SCSI if you do not need to. I can say all of this with authority as I have an external RAID array with six of this type of drive bays and they DO have the 50pin Centronics connection but use standard IDE (NOT SATA) drives. Hope this help !

 

[davegoody]

One more thing . . . .

Sorry forgot to mention . . . on the back of the drive enclosure (i.e. the bit that stays in the PC or enclosure) - the sockets are 1x standard IDE and a power socket from the computer's (or enclosures) PSU. Not trying to create an argument here as there IS confusion regarding the connector type USUALLY being used for SCSI . . . . Any reply ????

 

[cr2sh]

Sorry forgot to mention . . . on the back of the drive enclosure (i.e. the bit that stays in the PC or enclosure) - the sockets are 1x standard IDE and a power socket from the computer's (or enclosures) PSU. Not trying to create an argument here as there IS confusion regarding the connector type USUALLY being used for SCSI . . . . Any reply ????

If he's right and there really is an IDE drive in that enclosure... then you're in different territory than I'm familiar with.

Apple released some sort of PC transfer kit a while back... I'm not sure what was involved with that package... but the file system from that machine and to OSX might cause a bit of havoc also.

The case gets more interesting!

 

[davegoody]

Easy resolution here !

If he's right and there really is an IDE drive in that enclosure... then you're in different territory than I'm familiar with.

Apple released some sort of PC transfer kit a while back... I'm not sure what was involved with that package... but the file system from that machine and to OSX might cause a bit of havoc also.

The case gets more interesting!

As you have already given photos of the drive bay connectors, remove the lid from the actual drive enclosure and send a photo of the connectors of the hard drive ! - I can say that there used to be SCSI versions of these drive bays a LONG time ago but last time I checked they were not available (as the 50pin Centronics connector is for older SCSI I and SCSI II configurations which are as old as the hills these days !)

Looking forward to seeing what appears. . . . . and either myself or cr2sh will bow our heads in shame for being wrong - we are here to help each other after all - good luck and if you need any further help, let me know !

 

[CanadaRAM]

OK OK, the OP says it connects via IDE cable inside the PC, and I counted the frippin' leads on the ribbon cable... there are 80 of 'em so it's a high speed IDE cable, not a SCSI cable. So... it's an IDE drive in a removeable tray that happens to use Centronics connectors as the hot-swap conntction.

 

[cr2sh]

OK OK, the OP says it connects via IDE cable inside the PC, and I counted the frippin' leads on the ribbon cable... there are 80 of 'em so it's a high speed IDE cable, not a SCSI cable. So... it's an IDE drive in a removeable tray that happens to use Centronics connectors as the hot-swap conntction.

Yeh yeh yeh... but anyone could have figured that out.

 

[belvdr]

OK OK, the OP says it connects via IDE cable inside the PC, and I counted the frippin' leads on the ribbon cable... there are 80 of 'em so it's a high speed IDE cable, not a SCSI cable. So... it's an IDE drive in a removeable tray that happens to use Centronics connectors as the hot-swap conntction.

You're right, except I think it's only a 40-pin cable. Either way, it's IDE, so it's not important.

These types of enclosures were common in '96-'97. They had a power and activity light on them and also included a key to lock them in. Yes, it is a Centronics connector used for the hot-swap case, but it is an IDE drive.

If you think about it, it couldn't be SCSI. How would the power be applied to the drive? With IDE, 40 pins are used for the IDE interface and 4 are used for power. If it were SCSI, there would not be enough connectors for power.

 

[cemorris]

Assuming your PC has a USB connection. Why not just get rid of the drive bay enclosure and put it into a USB enclosure. The PC would be able to see the drive using USB and your Mac can use USB. They can be had for as little as $35. Unless there is some reason you have to stick with that enclosure.

 

[CanadaRAM]

You're right, except I think it's only a 40-pin cable. Either way, it's IDE, so it's not important.

These types of enclosures were common in '96-'97. They had a power and activity light on them and also included a key to lock them in. Yes, it is a Centronics connector used for the hot-swap case, but it is an IDE drive.

If you think about it, it couldn't be SCSI. How would the power be applied to the drive? With IDE, 40 pins are used for the IDE interface and 4 are used for power. If it were SCSI, there would not be enough connectors for power.

IDE33 cables are 40 pins, when IDE100/133 was release there were noise problems and they switched to an 80 lead ribbon cable with two leads per pin to maintain reliability at higher buss speeds.

With IDE, 40 pins are used for the IDE interface and 4 are used for power

That's true of laptop IDE drives with 44 pin connectors, not true of 3.5" drives with 40 pin connectors which still need a separate power connector.

 

[belvdr]

IDE33 cables are 40 pins, when IDE100/133 was release there were noise problems and they switched to an 80 lead ribbon cable with two leads per pin to maintain reliability at higher buss speeds.

That's true of laptop IDE drives with 44 pin connectors, not true of 3.5" drives with 40 pin connectors which still need a separate power connector.

I think you may have misunderstood what I was saying (or attempting to say). I don't think the case in the above system supports Ultra ATA100/133. You can use an ATA100/133 compliant drive in the case, but it won't utilize ATA100/133 transfers.

The pinout I was referring to was the connection from the hotplug case to the computer. 4 of the 50 pins on the Centronics connector above are used for powering the hard drive so it can be removed and inserted easily and quickly. In other words, you don't have to connect a standard power connector to the hard drive tray in order to use it. The hard drive inside the tray uses a standard 4 pin power connector.