Common Questions About IDE/EIDE/PATA Female-SATA Male Drive Cables and Adapters
IDE to SATA converters, adapters, and cables can convert your existing IDE devices to the new serial ATA protocol. Easy to mount on the back of any IDE devices likes CD-ROM, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD+RW, and hard drives, these small converters can turn your IDE devices into serial ATA at a low cost.
What are IDE devices?Integrated drive electronics (IDE) is a standard electronic interface used between the computer's disk storage devices and the motherboard's data bus. Based on the IBM PC Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) 16-bit bus standard, the IDE interface is used in systems that use other bus standards. It was adopted as a standard in 1990 by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI).
ANSI's name for IDE is Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA). The standard is one of many maintained by the T10 Committee. Motherboards often have IDE controllers built in. Controllers used to be separate external devices before the IDE drive. IDE reduced numerous problems that were related to storage devices and integrated controllers.
What is SATA?While there are many computer products out there saying they are SATA devices, they are so called because they use the SATA interface. The cables connecting them to the PC are connected using a SATA port on the drive with the other on the motherboard.
Usually described as a singular port of connector, SATA connectors encompass two ports: the power connector and the data connector. The data connector is a short, L-shaped, 7-pin connector. The power connector is a longer, taller l with a 15-pin connector.
How do you convert IDE hard drives to SATA drives?New and used IDE hard drives on eBay can be converted to SATA drives with the following steps:
- Step one: Pull the ATA hard drive out of the case.
- Step two: Remove the 80-pin TA cable and ensure that the 4-pin molex power connector is also disconnected.
- Step three: Connect the 4-pin molex power connector with a 5-pin SATA adapter cable.
- Step four: Take the 40-pin connector end of the ATA to SATA converter and press it into the ATA converter on the hard drive. Notice the way it's seated based on the connector tab and ensure it is seated firmly and completely.
- Step five: Hook up the SATA cable to the SATA connectors on both the motherboard and the converter, then connect the converted power cable to the SATA and ATA converter.
IDE and SATA are different types of interfaces that connect storage devices like hard drives to a computer's system bus. SATA and IDE are also sometimes called parallel ATA or PATA. SATA and SATA drives are typically quicker than PATA or IDE drives.