wheeee Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 (edited) Hi all... I've been trying to find a laptop IDE to the same ribbon cable. I just had the thought that if you could use a cheap IDE/USB adapter in reverse of the norm I could get by for now. Basically I'm wondering if there is a way to use a USB/IDE adapter to share a disk image so you can connect the IDE adapter part to another motherboard. Probably not, but this would be very handy. If you think it would be possible and know what I should search for, please share. 10x points if you can provide a link to a yes/no it is possible and here's why. 50x for software link. 100x for windows software that can do it. Thankies. ::edit:: It's still early here so my brain is functioning at a quarter capacity. I currently have an IQ of 10. :P Edited August 31, 2010 by wheeee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparda Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 What? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheeee Posted August 31, 2010 Author Share Posted August 31, 2010 What? So you have two systems. One is up and running, the other needs a drive. Connect the IDE adapter directly to the second. systems motherboard. Connect the USB part of the adapter to the working system. Create a virtual drive in the working system and share it out over the adapter. Like I said... probably not possible, but would be handy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparda Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 It is possible, but not with a USB IDE/SATA controller. You would need a USB IDE/SATA drive emulation device (I have no idea if these exist), which would have some pretty funky software behind it. TL;DR: Use a hard disk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheeee Posted August 31, 2010 Author Share Posted August 31, 2010 It is possible, but not with a USB IDE/SATA controller. You would need a USB IDE/SATA drive emulation device (I have no idea if these exist), which would have some pretty funky software behind it. TL;DR: Use a hard disk. Yeah. I figured that, but I'm a cheap SOB and would rather not shell out the $4 for the cable I need :) That- and it'd be handy to have a way to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digip Posted August 31, 2010 Share Posted August 31, 2010 (edited) Im not exactly sure what you're after, but I have a Rosewill SATA/IDE 3 in 1 adapter for PC and Laptop drives when needed to recover data off dead machines. It lets you hook a drive from another device such as a laptop HDD to a workstation PC via USB. One thing to know, is some laptops have a different pin format, such as older Gateways, because they have power directly in the IDE adapter, some laptops require special converters. Mine only works with some laptop hdd's, not the older ones that have the 4 pin power on the IDE itself which need a specific interface to drive data and power. These wont hook directly in with a mobo because of the power being on the IDE, but it is possible to buy adapters to hook them up to a workstation. Now, if having a HDD is what you want for the second workstation but don't have a spare HDD to install, you can do one of a few things. 1, boot a live disc, no HDD required and store and access files on your network via a share on the other PC, or 2 boot off a live disc while making permanent changes saved to a thumb drive. 3, create a live thumbdrive with permanent changes and be done with it. You can have a live Linux or Live Windows thumb drive and keep your changes, just need a large enough drive to house everything you need. Edited August 31, 2010 by digip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheeee Posted August 31, 2010 Author Share Posted August 31, 2010 Im not exactly sure what you're after, but I have a Rosewill SATA/IDE 3 in 1 adapter for PC and Laptop drives when needed to recover data off dead machines. ... 3, create a live thumbdrive with permanent changes and be done with it. You can have a live Linux or Live Windows thumb drive and keep your changes, just need a large enough drive to house everything you need. I do have the spare drives, just not the old style laptop IDE cable. I also have some drive to USB adapters. I've used them to get data off a drive and on to a computer, but here I'm looking to use it in reverse... a drive emulator. I probably can't do it, but I figured it was worth asking. The thumbdrive idea may work. I just don't know if the system will boot off of one. In the end, I'll get the cable I need, but I would think that if someone found a way to do drive emulation using a cheap adapter, it'd be nice. Thank you both. I'll keep looking, but I don't have too high of hopes for this crazy idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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