SATA bridge

[andrewcj]

(06-08-2009 07:33 AM)smithster Wrote:  Not quite the solution I was after!

Sorry, wasnt meant be unhelpful... I've previously spent hours trying to get this to work (I probably had the wrong sata-ide adaptor) I even enlisted a friend to make a custom IDE cable with all the pins swapped on one end. After a while I gave up, as I preferred to be spending my time actually using the Popcornhour rather than endlessly configuring it.

NB the Maplin adaptor is a web-only item, you cant get it in their stores. Also it appears to be in stock online, so I've just ordered one myself - I might have another go at fitting a sata drive now you can get 'cool and quiet' ones...

[andrewcj]

Just received the Maplin adaptor and as expected, the SATA power/data connectors are at the top of the board, which necessitates using cables.

Also, by my crude measurement the height of the board is 34 mm, and from the Popcornhour specs on their site, the height of the A100 is 32mm (dont know whether this includes case feet). Therefore an IDE cable is also going to be required, plus the adaptor will need to be tilted so that fits inside the case. Not insurmountable issues, but ones which may prevent fitting a 3.5" drive....

[smithster]

(06-08-2009 12:43 PM)smithster Wrote:  Also found this -


http://www.span.com/product_info.php?cPa...s_id=26109


Seems to have the right connectors, and is small enough in width to slot in nicely. About £12 + delivery - so not that cheap (for what it is!)

The Maplin one seems to be unavailable - so might give this a go instead.

Still waiting on this to arrive.
Will also need the M>F IDE cable to fit, as like the Maplin board the connector is at the top, and the PCH is too close to the bottom to fit...
When I have both bits I will let know how I get on.

[andrewcj]

Well I tried fitting the Maplin adaptor last night and as I estimated, the board is too high to fit vertically inside the case. Also - when the IDE side is connected to the PCH, the SATA power/data connectors are upside down.

On the plus side, the PCH did see the hard drive.

The only way this is going to work properly is with a short male-female IDE cable, plus a SATA cable which has the power and data plugs on one end and a power and data sockets on the other - they need to be together because that's how the connectors are oriented on the board

EDIT couldnt find UK seller so ordered the sata power/data extension cable on Ebay (Hong Kong). Short IDE male to female ordered from UK supplier.

[smithster]

(06-10-2009 02:16 PM)smithster Wrote:  Still waiting on this to arrive.
Will also need the M>F IDE cable to fit, as like the Maplin board the connector is at the top, and the PCH is too close to the bottom to fit...
When I have both bits I will let know how I get on.

cable arrived today.
fitted cable,sata bridge adapter and 500gb sata drive, powered up - all OK. installed NMT apps and rebooted - all seems OK. Have had to remove everything becasuse I want to watch some shows on the old drive (Shock!).
Will post again with more detail and maybe some pictures, probably on the weekend. Not a soldering iron in sight....

[smithster]

popcorn hour A100 add SATA drive

This is my quick and easy method to add a SATA laptop drive to the Popcorn Hour A100 (IDE connector only), well certainly quicker than using a soldering iron.

Why?
The availibility of larger capacity IDE interface drives has maxed out at 320GB (this may change in future?)
There are larger capacity 3.5 inch IDE drives, but these will draw more power and be generally noisier and hotter running. Laptop drives are ideal as they are low power, quieter ,smaller and pretty robust in "always on" units. SATA laptop drive capacity is currently 500GB.

Parts used:

SATA laptop drive - WD 500GB SATA BLUE - £70 (http://www.ebuyer.com/product/150515)
IDE cable - MALE to FEMALE extender - £5 (http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/cata...ts_id=550)
SATA Bridge - IDE to SATA converter - £12 (http://www.span.com/product_info.php?products_id=26109)

These prices and links may change without notice.


There are quite a few SATA bridge's available - this one works. Important points are that it must fit inside the case,not be too wide to obstruct internal components and have both SATA drive DATA and POWER connectors (some don't have a power connector!). All the bridges I've seen support 1.5GB transfer (SATA1) only, but this is not an issue as speed in the PCH is limited by network ethernet and CPU power anyway - 1.5GB transfer is more than enough for normal use.

The IDE cable is to enable correct fitting of the SATA bridge - if fitted directly to the IDE connector on the PCH the bridge will be "upside down" (see other posts for some creative soldering solutions!)
The cable effectively moves the IDE connector on the PCH motherboard by a few centimetres to give the room to fit the SATA bridge without bending pins etc.

If using a laptop drive there should be plenty of room for IDE cable/SATA bridge/SATA drive within the case whilst retaining good airflow and ease
of fitting. If you want to fit a 3.5 inch drive (for over 500GB capacity?) it will be a tight squeeze and probably won't be easy to fit.

Below are the pictures illustrating fitting - very easy, just plug and play. Obviously take the usual precautions when handling components, protect against static discharge and try not to force items to fit - if it feels too tight it's probably wrong!





1. parts-SATA Drive


2. parts - IDE MALE to FEMALE cable. Note that the screw slot on 1 side needs to be "snapped off" - doesn't affect the connector at all, just makes it easier to slot in - see picture.


3. parts - SATA bridge IDE side


4. parts - SATA bridge SATA side, data and power connector type


5. Empty NMT box showing IDE connector - note the pin on the top of the connector for orientation.


6. From above - note the amount of room needed on the side nearest the output panel connectors - choose a SATA bridge that doesn't have too much PCB on this side.


7. Install - simply connect the SATA bridge to the IDE cable MALE end. The SATA bridge will usually allow you to connect both ways around as they don't have a "blocking pin", only one way will work. Trial and error I'm afraid (well a 50% chance of getting it right 1st time anyway!)


8. Install - The IDE cable connected to the IDE connector on the PCH. This end can only fit one way, no errors. Power connector fitted, and cable laid flat along the bottom of the case.


9. Install - drive fitted. Obviously it's upside down! Doesn't matter will still work fine. Cable is running under the drive.


10. Install - Drive right way up. Choice is yours,plenty of room to have either, both will work.



VERY IMPORTANT!
Do not attempt to fold the IDE cable to save a bit of room! About 1 fold is all you should need (pic 10 has 1 fold in the cable). IDE cables are fussy about kinks and folds in them. If you try to "concertina" the cable to tidy up the install it almost certainly will not work - I know I tried it! Took some head scratching and working backwards to figure that one out.

Once fitted plug the PCH A100 into your TV, ethernet and power socket and boot up. The lights on the front should go orange for drive detection,if they stay blue, the drive has not been detected and one of the componenets is either faulty or connected the wrong way (happened to me twice!). If the drive is found on boot the NMT will boot as normal and give the menu option for installing the NMT apps and formatting the drive - SUCCESS!

If not the drive NMT will only give you networking options and no menu item for installing a drive. Most likely cause is either the IDE cable is upside down (the key pin is not blocked on the MALE end - so it will fit but be inverted pinwise). Just switch the SATA bridge 180 degrees - this should work.
If after several attempts at fitting the drive and still not being detected you may have a faulty cable/SATA bridge/SATA drive...these parts are manufacturd in the millions so there will be a few duff ones out there. Try connecting the parts to a PC with an IDE connector on the Motherboard or a USB enclosure with IDE connector - to see if its any of the parts in the chain.

If you have lots of stuuf on the "old drive" you will have to transfer it to the new one if you still want the files. Lots of methods for this,but quickest is connect the old drive a to PC and use EXT2FSD utility to copy over (see elsewhere in forum for instructions). You could connect the new drive at the same time and do a direct copy drive to drive, but probably safer to copy to PC then copy to new drive, at least you then have a backup.

Keep the old drive for a few weeks before formatting/ebaying/ putting to other use - just in case!

[andrewcj]

I'm impressed - the annoying thing is that I actualy bought that Span IDE-SATA bridge before but couldnt get it to work !! Thanks for showing it is actualy quite easy to fit a SATA drive in the A100 with the right bridge/cable.

Now just have to wait for 500Gb drive to arrive.

Ps you omitted one small detail - I assume you had to cut off one of the brackets from the 'male' end of the IDE cable as otherwise the IDE connector would not ft into the socket on the PCH ?

[smithster]

Ps you omitted one small detail - I assume you had to cut off one of the brackets from the 'male' end of the IDE cable as otherwise the IDE connector would not ft into the socket on the PCH ?
[/quote]

Changed the text and picture to show "snapping off" of bracket. It would fit...just, but I'm all for an easy life!

[popcornuser]

can someone post a link to the same SATA bridge as described by smithster available for purchase in the USA? shipping from UK is adding a pointless cost. thanks!