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External CDRom Drive

Submitted by iMac600 on January 29, 2006 - 12:27pm. Hardware Hacks

I recently purchased a PC External CDRom drive for $5 from a used components shop.

It has a Parallel port connector, which appears to be the same as a Macintosh standard SCSI port connector. The internal
components are IDE. Can I connect this to a computer, say a Macintosh LC, and have it successfully run? Or does the IDE
controller show some problems?

I will be replacing the Internal 2x drive with a faster drive. Say a 52x. Laughing out loud

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No...

Submitted by tomlevens on January 29, 2006 - 12:39pm.

If it is indeed a Parallel drive then no.

Parallel != SCSI.

TOM

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iMac600's picture

Oh.

Submitted by iMac600 on January 29, 2006 - 1:29pm.

I guess it'll be my next hack project then.

Hack a Hard Disk in there and use it with my PC. Eye-wink

» "I think, therefore iMac." - Apple

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A good project...

Submitted by charlieman on January 29, 2006 - 9:24pm.

Unfortunately, the ATAPI command set that is understood by a CD-ROM drive (and which is embedded in the parallel to ATAPI controller inside the external enclosure) is not the command set used by an ATA disk.

Good luck,

Phil

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Whosawhatsis's picture

Re: No...

Submitted by Whosawhatsis on January 29, 2006 - 10:50pm.
tomlevens wrote:
Parallel != SCSI.
Well, that's not entirely accurate. SCSI /is/ a parallel interface... so are IDE and firewire, but none of these are directly compatible with the IEEE-1284 ports commonly found on PCs.

» I was offered a penny for my thoughts, so I gave my two cents. I got ripped off.
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iMac600's picture

Faster Drive

Submitted by iMac600 on January 30, 2006 - 8:46am.

I'll just hack a 52x in there then. A CD Burner would be even better (I have several) but I
would expect some form of problem to arise.

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Re: No...

Submitted by tomlevens on January 31, 2006 - 12:28am.
Whosawhatsis wrote:
tomlevens wrote:
Parallel != SCSI.
Well, that's not entirely accurate. SCSI /is/ a parallel interface... so are IDE and firewire, but none of these are directly compatible with the IEEE-1284 ports commonly found on PCs.
That's what I meant Eye-wink

TOM

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cwsmith's picture

Re: Faster Drive

Submitted by cwsmith on January 31, 2006 - 1:12am.
iMac600 wrote:
I'll just hack a 52x in there then. A CD Burner would be even better (I have several) but I
would expect some form of problem to arise.

I really doubt the parallel interface is fast enough to be able to use the full capability of a 52x CD-ROM drive. Give it a try, but you'll probably want to save the 52x for a FireWire enclosure or for an internal use.

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Ex-parrot's picture

Re: Faster Drive

Submitted by Ex-parrot on January 31, 2006 - 3:56am.
cwsmith wrote:
iMac600 wrote:
I'll just hack a 52x in there then. A CD Burner would be even better (I have several) but I
would expect some form of problem to arise.

I really doubt the parallel interface is fast enough to be able to use the full capability of a 52x CD-ROM drive. Give it a try, but you'll probably want to save the 52x for a FireWire enclosure or for an internal use.

FWIW, I used to have trouble burning at 2x through the parallel port.

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iMac600's picture

Hmm...

Submitted by iMac600 on January 31, 2006 - 7:37am.

Is this drive worthless or what?

2x maximum speed, no Mac compatibility, No Burner, no Hard Disk...

Perhaps it should be a garage sale item. Although I could use a 2x drive for something...

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Whosawhatsis's picture

I pulled a power supply out o

Submitted by Whosawhatsis on January 31, 2006 - 9:49am.

I pulled a power supply out of SCSI CD-ROM that proved quite useful in my last mod... perhaps this drive could have a similar use.

» I was offered a penny for my thoughts, so I gave my two cents. I got ripped off.
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