SATA > IDE converter?

[Per Hansson]

No, the arrow is not reversed, I need a SATA to IDE converter, because I want to to do a crazy project, connect a Gigabyte i-RAM drive to a Dreambox DM7000 satellite receiver

And the reason is that I have run out of memory on it, it only has 30MB RAM and I'm right now having to do swapping on a USB 1.1 memory stick, not the fastest operation as you might imagine... It also has the problem that flash based devices have a limited number of writes they can handle, and we are not talking about years to use them up but days... (when used like this as a swapfile that is)

So, the Dreambox has a IDE interface, it also has a NIC interface but I do not wanna go that route because it does not do proper checks to see if the mount is alive before using it; thus hardlocking if the remote machine is not available...

Just FYI the i-RAM only uses it's PCI interface to get power, nothing else... So I'm gonna desolder a PCI slot from a dead mobo and then connect 5v at the proper places to drive it...

Of course the idea is crazy and I could just use less mods on the Dreambox or get a DM7025 (has 128mb RAM) but where would the fun be in that

[toastygoodness]

Where did you get that i-RAM drive? I've been looking all over the web for one and can't find a store that sells it!

[gonzo0815]

Yes this i-ram is a very interesting thing for us hw freaks.
But unfortunately i haven`t seen a reverse adaptor in the way your looking for. Probably this isnt`t even existant.
The only thing i have is the normal IDE HDD >SATA adaptor and thopse usb sata kables. But if those devices are only some media hubs and the commands are the same (as far as i know there is now differenz on the instruction set between IDE and SATA), those adaptors could be working in the other direction too. But i doubth that my bad guess could be real.

[Per Hansson]

gonzo; yea, I had the same thought as you... That they can work in reverse, however my only SATA drive is a Raptor 150GB and I'm not gonna risk setting it on fire

toastygoodness; I have not bought it yet, however if I buy it it will be from eBay, they go for great prices there and shipping worldwide... just search for i-ram...

I did some more research and saw that this i-RAM does not support Reg ECC memory, got a bit bummed by that since I have 2G's just laying around...

So I did a fun test; put it in my Epox 9NDA3+ that does not have a single mention in it's manual about ECC, it worked just fine, passed memtest86+ 4 times and has been up for 24 hours now... I find it odd since the only difference between the Socket 940 and 939 CPU's was that the 939 would not require Registered memory; like the 940 pin CPU's does... Oh well, live and learn I guess

[Per Hansson]

Two links for your reading pleasure

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/...ame=GC-RAMDISK

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/sho...spx?i=2480&p=1

[toastygoodness]

Thanks, Per. I found a few links on eBay.

[Per Hansson]

Found it for 120$ here...

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-RAMDISK

found the linkeh on storagereview...

[arneson]

http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/s...productID=2381

PCI to IDE, common device may be reverse engineered.
These guys also offer a PCI to PCMCIA card that's interesting.
Just for FYI.

[arneson]

http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/s...productID=4668

This may be more appropriate.

[Per Hansson]

I already have 2x IDE > SATA converters...

I do not have any SATA harddrive I am willing to test them on though, it could go very wrong...

[gonzo0815]

I have just got the new Cornad elektronik katalog, one of Germanies bigger elektronic component sellers, and guess what i have senn there? yes an retail Sata> IDE converter. It is sligthly more expensive than the Ide> Sata convertes, but with 29€ i think it is reasonable.