On Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 6:44 AM, Kris Tilford <[email protected]> wrote: > Sometimes adapters have firmware updates that correct issues, so > you might check for that, but I saw no support pages on the MCE website, so > it appears unlikely.
SATA<->PATA adapters don't (in my experience) have firmware updates. I believe this is the case because these devices are just "simple" interface bridges. I believe that all a SATA<->PATA adapter does is convert the commands/data transmitted between the serial bus and the parallel one. My understanding is that both SATA & PATA hard drives are still both ATA drives. That is, the commands sent to the hard drive are the same whether it is a SATA or a PATA drive. (OK, a little inaccurate because I'm sure the ATA commands used with PATA are now just a subset of those supported for SATA drives. My point is just that a SATA drive should recognize all the ATA commands a PATA drive would. That's why this little gizmo's work.) I tried to come up with an analogy but unfortunately I do not have a good one. All that came to mind was the difference between wired and wireless ethernet. Two different mediums for moving data and commands, but the underlying commands and (especially) data are the same. (They're both just ethernet when viewed from the top of the protocol stack "down", no?) BTW, FWIW I found this ancient PDF circa 2005 on the Addonics web site. I don't know if there's anything of interest in it, but it seemed of possible interest. Easily Convert SATA Hard Drives to IDE http://www.addonics.com/news/media/2005/SATA-IDE.pdf Apparently some folks even went so far as to take a G4 Mini and mount it inside a larger (Centris ??) case just so they could use a 3.5" drive and/or a full sized 5.25" optical drive. Needless to say some folks out there were shocked, outraged, and appalled by this sacrilegious act. (What's the emoticon for shrugging one's shoulders in apathy?) > Perhaps the 500 GB SATA HD is bad? Yes. If possible I would try the drive in another system. This may not be easy to do though given that a 2.5" IDE connector is required to connect your 2.5" SATA drive bay, correct? You might want to start by just connecting the drive to a SATA system if you have one. Another alternative would be to try it in an external USB attached SATA drive enclosure. (SATA connectors are the same for both 2.5" and 3.5" drives so if you have a external drive enclosure for 3.5" drives you should be able to test the 2.5" drive in it). Frankly at this point I'm having a hard time keeping track of which drives you have and whether or not they worked and what the context was. This is was I think you have said. Please correct if I've got it wrong. 500 GB 2.5" SATA WD Scorpio via SATA-PATA optical drive replacement bay. Not recognized by Mac Mini. 80 GB (2.5" ???) Hitachi. I think you said this drive was both recognized and can be used to boot Mac Mini, yes? (Was it used in the SATA-PATA optical bay when this was done?) 250 GB (2.5" ???) PATA WD Scorpio Blue. Was also able to boot Mac Mini from this drive, correct? -irrational john -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
