ide splitter?

[lumis]

i'm looking to purchase an ide splitter. i figured out how to get recordings off of my dvr box, but that process involves opening the dvr box & removing the harddrive each time i need to do that. so i thought i would purchase an external usb 2.0 enclsosure, remove the board, build a little box to mount it in, put that box next to the hdd & run the power & usb 2.0 cable through a hole that is in in the box.

the problem is that i need to split the power & the ide.. the power is no problem, just a simple y-splitter.. one connecting to the dvr box, one to the usb 2.0 board & one to the hdd itself..

now the problem is that for this to work i would also need an ide splitter.. i looked on google, but was able to find nothing..

here is quick mspaint job of what i'm looking for:



i know i might not be able to get a F/M/F ide splitter, so a F/F/F would would work.. because i think they sell the M/M converters..

thanks

p.s. - i do realise that i have to unplug the dvr before booting up the enclosure box for use on pc, and vise versa

[lumis]

bump bump bump :P

[e404pnf]

Could be talking complete rubbish, but I think that there is a maximum length for an IDE (PATA) cable - about 18 inch from memory. I don't know if this is an old wives tale or just a suggested maximum, but may be worth double checking as this could be your limiting factor.

- e404pnf

(and sorry can't help on the splitter)

[drjtech]

Is your dvr a Tivo?

Custom IDE and Y Power Splitter #17583

-drj

[lumis]

nope, my dvr is a dish network 625.

i dont think i'll need to exceed 18 inches for the cable length..

the weeknees one looks like what i'm looking for.. but i'm thinking i might be able to get this done cheaper..

i initially thought i would need a male going to the enclosure control board, because i would just hook up the short ide cable that came with it.. but what if i just used a regular ide cable, like this?




i'm not so sure it would work though, because the enclosure control board would probably require that it be hooked up as master.. and it might also detect the dvr board as a device, or something weird.

do you have any more info about the weeknees splitter? like length? is it f/f/f?

it sounds like what i'm looking for.

[drjtech]

All I have is the description and picture from weaknees:

These two cables will work with any standard TiVo upgrade. The IDE cable is a flexible, custom-designed harness-type ribbon cable. The power-cable was designed to minimize excess cable in the TiVo after an upgrade. NOTE: IDE cable will not fit in (and is not necessary for) a Sony SVR-2000 with two drives or an HDR-series Series 1 standalone with two drives.

-drj

[lumis]

i'm going to order the enclosure and try a regular ide cable.. if it doesnt work i'll try contacting the guys at weeknees and finding out if they can provide more information on the cable..

i'm thinking of ordering this enclosure from newegg;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817186103

does anyone know if it will work with 137GB+ hdd's?

or can anyone suggest a cheap, but decent usb 2.0 enclsoure for a 3.5 inch hdd... even a 5.25 inch would work.. i just need the control board.. cooling isnt an issue, either is quality of the case construction.


thanks for your help guys.