IDE to SATA adapter

[Inxsible]

I have 2x2.5" (30GB & 60GB) drives sourced from old laptops which I feel are perfect for a pfSense install. Unfortunately, they are from really old Dell laptops and so they are IDE drives.

I found these adapters but all are from China and I am not sure how much to trust these adapters. On the other hand, pfSense is really easy to re-install on a new HDD/SSD and put your saved config back in.

1. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod..._sata_adapter_thzy-_-9SIABR04YT7283-_-Product
2. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod..._sata_adapter_thzy-_-9SIABR04YT9070-_-Product
   
3. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...de_to_sata_adapter-_-2BH-000B-00002-_-Product
   
4. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...re=ide_to_sata_adapter-_-12-200-196-_-Product

So should I get these? I don't mind spending $2 - $5 on these but I don't want to spend more because I feel at that point I'd rather add a bit more and get a 120GB SSD.

Secondly, I will also need a PCIE extender card/ribbon cable so that I can put my mini-ITX (AsRock J3355B) board into my existing 1U Supermicro chassis. Again, I found a few Chinese ones but I am not sure if they will be reliable enough for my Intel i340-T4 card.

1. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA6705VF3925
   
2. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...cie_extender_cable-_-9SIADTU5Z51810-_-Product
   
3. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...cie_extender_cable-_-9SIA6705VF3925-_-Product
   
4. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...cie_extender_cable-_-9SIA6706X93678-_-Product
   
5. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...cie_extender_cable-_-9SIABR04N70539-_-Product
   
6. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...cie_extender_cable-_-9SIABR04YT6973-_-Product

Does anyone have any experience with these ribbon cables? I already have a Supermicro Riser card but I cannot find a PCB board extender that doesn't have 90Degree angle. That's why I thought the ribbon cables might work but I am not too sure of the quality.


Thanks for your advice.

 

[Ericloewe]

SATA/PATA translation isn't inherently shady, but these niche things are always complicated. Also, don't forget that they're not generally symmetric - meaning that they might only support attaching SATA disks to PATA controllers and not the reverse, or vice-versa.

 

[Inxsible]

SATA/PATA translation isn't inherently shady, but these niche things are always complicated. Also, don't forget that they're not generally symmetric - meaning that they might only support attaching SATA disks to PATA controllers and not the reverse, or vice-versa.

Thanks Eric. Yeah I knew about them not being symmetric. The one I was looking at specifically mentioned "bidirectional". I might give it a go and see if it works.

Any idea about the PCIE riser extender ribbon cables? or any other extenders that you might know about?

 

[Ericloewe]

Any idea about the PCIE riser extender ribbon cables? or any other extenders that you might know about?

Links don't open for me, but my advice is to keep them as short as possible.

 

[Inxsible]

Links don't open for me, but my advice is to keep them as short as possible.

Yeah.. I have problems with newegg links too. I will try and fix them.

I need the extender to only go from the 7th slot to the 6th, so that my card will fit in the expansion card opening on the chassis. But I have read reviews for the cables that cost $2.69 (Generic Chinese brand) to cables that cost $23.77 (ThermalTake) and they all have about the same number of percentage complaining that the card didn't work or it fried their card or motherboard. So not sure whether it makes sense to buy a ThermalTake branded ribbon either as opposed to a generic chinese one.