Cf To Ide Adapter

[arniel]

Hi,
of course, there are loads of adapters for connecting CF cards to IDE interfaces, but nothing to connext IDE drives to CF slots.
We've got CF-> PCMCIA adapters, and PCMCIA->IDE adapters...  now that this product exists, wouldn't it be great to be able to plus it into the Z with a minimum of extra adapters?

Arnie

[Foxdie]

Hi,
of course, there are loads of adapters for connecting CF cards to IDE interfaces, but nothing to connext IDE drives to CF slots.
We've got CF-> PCMCIA adapters, and PCMCIA->IDE adapters...  now that this product exists, wouldn't it be great to be able to plus it into the Z with a minimum of extra adapters?

Arnie

I don't think one exists.

Try CF > USB adapter and then USB > IDE Adapter

[lardman]

Cheaper might be:

CF > PCMCIA adaptor > PCMCIA to IDE adaptor > IDE

Though you might have troubles getting hold of a PCMCIA IDE card now (as opposed to a PC-CARD one).


Si

[ran]

Google turned up this one.

It won't work "out of the box",  because it doesn't implement the "card ID" functions needed to make hotplugging go.  But there's at least a chance that someone could hack a version of the CF storage driver that could be loaded and unloaded manually.  It's not a sure thing,  but,  given the diversity of the Linux community,  it wouldn't surprise me to find out someone is already trying to do it.

Ran

[arniel]

That's exactly what I do have... CF -> PCMCIA, PCMCIA -> IDE, but it is bulky.  It even works with an old Toshiba 2.5" HD.

[lardman]

but it is bulky

So is an IDE HDD.... ;-)


Si

[arniel]

but it is bulky

So is an IDE HDD.... ;-)


Si

I was thinking of the C4K40, see the link in my first post.  Not bulky at all  
Just checked out the German company, they only sell in 10s, and it is for a 40 pin interface.  Otherwise, looks ideal...

[ran]

Just checked out the German company, they only sell in 10s

Well,  we could deal with that "problem" via a group buy (which would probably be much better for U.S. customers,  anyway).

What do they cost?

Ran

[arniel]

Just heard back from them, cost each part is 26.14 Eur (* 10 pcs) + 22 eur shipping.
Works out at  283.40 eur total = £195.70.  That's a bit rich for me...

[Tom61]

Though you might have troubles getting hold of a PCMCIA IDE card now (as opposed to a PC-CARD one).

PC Card and PCMCIA are the same thing. CardBus is the one that's different and won't work with a CF->PCMCIA adapter. AFAIK, there are no CardBus enclosures anyway (everyone moved to USB instead).

Just heard back from them, cost each part is 26.14 Eur (* 10 pcs) + 22 eur shipping. Works out at 283.40 eur total = £195.70. That's a bit rich for me...

Split that up ten ways though, and it isn't too bad. One of these drives for around $40 US would be great deal, and I'd get in on a group buy. If you find eight other people who commit themselves to buying one, then you could collect money from them to use to buy the drives. Best price I've found over here is around $100 US. Do they carry the 40GB model? (model HTC424040F9AT00) I was so intriged with these drives that I ordered a USB enclosure for these drives, to tell about how big the drives were (as I was unsure if $130 for a 40GB drive was worth it). The entire enclosure is about the size of a 2.5" notebook drive by itself!


About the CF to 44 pin IDE adapter:
Is the Zaurus' CF slot output 5V or only 3.3V? Notebook drives require 5V supplied through the IDE connector. If the Zaurus can supply 5V, I may just pick one up (Advantech sells them for $40 last I heard).

[arniel]

Just heard back from them, cost each part is 26.14 Eur (* 10 pcs) + 22 eur shipping. Works out at 283.40 eur total = £195.70. That's a bit rich for me...

Split that up ten ways though, and it isn't too bad. One of these drives for around $40 US would be great deal, and I'd get in on a group buy. If you find eight other people who commit themselves to buying one, then you could collect money from them to use to buy the drives. Best price I've found over here is around $100 US. Do they carry the 40GB model? (model HTC424040F9AT00) I was so intriged with these drives that I ordered a USB enclosure for these drives, to tell about how big the drives were (as I was unsure if $130 for a 40GB drive was worth it). The entire enclosure is about the size of a 2.5" notebook drive by itself!


About the CF to 44 pin IDE adapter:
Is the Zaurus' CF slot output 5V or only 3.3V? Notebook drives require 5V supplied through the IDE connector. If the Zaurus can supply 5V, I may just pick one up (Advantech sells them for $40 last I heard).

I think you've got the wrong end of the stick here... the CF -> IDE adapter is £20, NOT the drives.  Best price I could find for the Hitachi drive is £70.

The Z outputs 3.3v, like every other CF slot.  Although most drives do need 5v, I have found an elderly 1Gb Toshiba that runs on 3.3v OK, and the Hitachi is specified to run on either.
My planned setup (with existing drive) is rather convoluted:
CF -> PCMCIA adapter, PCMCIA -> IDE (44 pin male) adapter,  44 pin female -> 40 pin male adapter (with power breakout, ignored),  40 pin female -> 44 pin female adapter (with power breakout, connected to some AA batteries that will provide the 5v drive power).
As you can see, getting a native 3.3v drive will make things a lot simpler.

[Tom61]

Ah, I see. I misunderstood your post saying "I was thinking of the C4K40, see the link in my first post. Not bulky at all
Just checked out the German company, they only sell in 10s, and it is for a 40 pin interface. Otherwise, looks ideal...", I had thought you found a company selling the C4K40.

I'll have to take a look at my 20GB notebook drive once it comes back from RMA to see if it can take 3.3Volts. I may get the adapter from Advantech if it does. If it doesn't work, I can always use it on my SBC with compact flash slot (directly connected to an IDE channel).

40 pin male adapter (with power breakout, ignored), 40 pin female -> 44 pin female adapter (with power breakout, connected to some AA batteries that will provide the 5v drive power).

Wouldn't the interface be running at 5 volts then? Seems that there could be a strong possibility that you could damage your Zaurus' 3.3Volt CF slot.

[arniel]

Wouldn't the interface be running at 5 volts then? Seems that there could be a strong possibility that you could damage your Zaurus' 3.3Volt CF slot.

No, the point of using adapters where the power line is broken out of the main connector (which it has to be in a 44-to-40 pin situation) is that the power input to the drive is separate to the power output of the Zaurus.
Signal levels should also be fine, as they are specced at TTL levels (2.4v for 1 and 0.something for 0), and as far as I can tell the CF slot should be 5v tolerant.
But that is a good point, this is all theory at the moment.
Unfortunately, there don't seem to be any experts looking at this thread, and I don't have much time spare to go through all the relevant specifications.

[ran]

CF -> PCMCIA adapter, PCMCIA -> IDE (44 pin male) adapter,  44 pin female -> 40 pin male adapter (with power breakout, ignored),  40 pin female -> 44 pin female adapter (with power breakout, connected to some AA batteries that will provide the 5v drive power).

Since the 5V power for the drive is on pins 41-44,  why not just split those conductors off from a 44-pin cable,  and solder a power connector to them,  instead of putting 2 40-pin adapters in the path?

Ran

[arniel]

Since the 5V power for the drive is on pins 41-44,  why not just split those conductors off from a 44-pin cable,  and solder a power connector to them,  instead of putting 2 40-pin adapters in the path?

Ran

That was my first idea, but the problem is that I can' t locate a spare equivalent to the cable I have and I don't rate my soldering skills highly enough to do this (fiddly) job without a backup option