Resolved IDE laptop optical drive connector

[poiihy]

So after a big fight I managed to remove the optical drive from my dead iBook (Radeongate (just like the 2011s )) and after an even bigger fight I got the metal plate (holding the connector on) off. So it uses another alien port that I have never seen before. It is some type of mini IDE for laptop optical drives. What do you call it?
I want to test this thing because I dont know if it works or not. How can I test it without spending a lot of $$$ if necessary?
This is a SONY® CD-R/RW/DVD-ROM Drive, manufactured in 2002.
Attached is image of what it looks like (not mine though)

 

[Intell]

That is the standard PATA interface used on nearly every PATA slim tray/slot loading optical drive. It is called the ATAPI interface and is a universal standard.

 

[weckart]

You can buy USB caddies for those for not much on eBay. If lucky, you might even find a Firewire version. That will give you an external writer useful for Macbook Airs, netbooks and other notebooks without optical drives.

 

[poiihy]

That is the standard PATA interface used on nearly every PATA slim tray/slot loading optical drive. It is called the ATAPI interface and is a universal standard.

I know the interface but I am talking about this physical port; what is it called? Or does it not have a specific name?

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You can buy USB caddies for those for not much on eBay. If lucky, you might even find a Firewire version. That will give you an external writer useful for Macbook Airs, netbooks and other notebooks without optical drives.

Is there any way to determine if a drive may be functional or does it have to be connected to a computer and tested with a disk?

 

[Intell]

In this context, the word "interface" means the same as the word "port".

 

[poiihy]

In this context, the word "interface" means the same as the word "port".

Well what you said would also apply to any other IDE connector.

 

[Intell]

Note the quoted sentence below from my first post:

It is called the ATAPI interface and is a universal standard.

 

[weckart]

Is there any way to determine if a drive may be functional or does it have to be connected to a computer and tested with a disk?

Well, ask yourself this: Can you tell if any electronic device is functional without switching it on?

 

[poiihy]

Note the quoted sentence below from my first post:

Yes I know but I'm talking about this exact connector. Different connectors have different names. ATAPI could refer to that connector or it could refer to the usual connector you use in your desktop. USB has type A and B and C, and then it has the min variations, but they all carry the same signals.

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Well, ask yourself this: Can you tell if any electronic device is functional without switching it on?

Yes you could in some cases.

 

[Intell]

You specified that connector with IDE, that is ATAPI. That connector alone, regardless of signals transmitted over it, is called a JAE 50 connector.

 

[poiihy]

You specified that connector with IDE, that is ATAPI. That connector alone, regardless of signals transmitted over it, is called a JAE 50 connector.

That's what I was looking for. Thanks.

 

[weckart]

Yes you could in some cases.

Such as?

 

[poiihy]

Such as?

If you see a circuit board all burned up, or if you see a wire broken.

Lens and everything looks ok, so what could it be if it did not work?
I already know the spinning motor works and the head-moving motor works.

 

[weckart]

If you see a circuit board all burned up, or if you see a wire broken.

Well, quite. That process describes assuming on the basis of probabilities that an electronic device is NON-functional by looking at it. My question was which electronic devices can you conclude ARE functional without switching those on.