HELP: want more than 2 IDE devices when MB got 1 IDE slot.....

[dhruba.bandopadhyay]

I got a ECS 915G-A motherboard which has only 1 IDE slot. In the past I had motherboards with 4 IDE slots (for RAID, etc.). I guess these new motherboards are phasing out IDE slots and replacing them with SATA slots. I have a IDE HD & 2 IDE DVD drives. As you can see, I can only use 1 HD & 1 DVD drive. I do not want to buy a new HD. Is there any way to get another IDE device? Do I have to buy one of those IDE expansion boards?

[Sartori]

Put it in an external case and use a USB connection .

[jagabo]

Add an IDE controller card. Or use a SATA to IDE converter like these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812206002
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812203016

[edsmith77]

Just a quick question are you referring to your PCI slots or IDE connectors. In the past most if not all IDE connectors would support two (2) IDE drives (one in master mode and one in slave mode). My MB has two (2) IDE connectors and two (2) SATA connectors. Thus, I can have a total of six (6) HDD drives. 4 IDE and 2 SATA. It just seems strange that your MB IDE connector would only support 1 IDE drive. I presume that would be in Master mode.

Ed

[jagabo]

Many motherboards only include one PATA connector now (so only two drives). Intel motherboards are dropping PATA altogether.

[edsmith77]

After a little bit of google searching for your named motherboard I found the following:

IDE/SATA: 1x Ultra DMA100/66 channel support 2 devices; 4x Serial ATA ports


Ed.