emusonacid!

I will like to know how large of a hard drive will the e4xt ultra read with os 4.70, thanks in advance for any help.

The maximum size of a hard drive is related to the file system. Before EOS 4.70 EOSFAT (EMU) was the only available file system for the sampler. With EOS 4.70 installed you can also use FAT32.
- FAT32: 128GB
- EOSFAT: 20GB (because of the way EOSFAT is organized, larger drives make no sense)

The majority of users opt for the Western Digital Scorpio Blue 120 GB, 2.5" (WD1200BEVE) IDE drives
This drive has a low power requirement and doesn't place too much stain on the samplers PSU.
Just make sure it's IDE not SATA.
You will also need a 2.5 to 3.5 pin adapter.

Another option is to use a SSD in the Ultra.
In this forum you can read that SSDs are not working with the internal IDE-port of the Ultras.

On March, 29th 2014 a user of the German forum "sequencer.de" posted that he runs successfully an IDE-SATA adapter "Wintech SAK-65" with a Samsung MZ-7TE120BW Serie 840 SSD attached to the internal IDE-port of the Ultra.
He only had to drill the missing hole on the plug of the ribbon-cable of the SAK-65.

Some information are here: http://wiki.polyformal.de/en/notizen/e4xt_ultra

Great find Rob. This will probably mean that any SATA drive would work, and maybe card readers?

Because the Wintech SAK-65 is a suitable IDE to SATA bridge that fools the emu it could be used to hookup any SATA HD.
The connection could be to an internal drive or a drive bay mounted in place of the floppy drive like this.

Icy Box IB-2216StS (1x 2.5 inch) SATA Mobile Rack
Amazon £17.17 & FREE Delivery


I think this looks sturdier and smarter than the Icydock IDE bay that I have used to mod my ultra.

Once the bay is installed you could slide in a standard SATA 2.5 HDD or a SSD
or how about this novel idea.

Syba Compact Flash to Dual Interface SATA II and USB 2.0 2.5 inch Adapter
Amazon £19.99 & FREE Delivery
Same form factor and connections as a 2.5 HD but it takes a CF card. This could slide in and out of the bay and hook straight into a PC via the built in USB port. Requires no drivers, it should work.



Or if you only want a CF card bay in place of the FDD maybe this would work?

Startech 3.5 inch SATA to CompactFlash SSD Adapter Card for 3.5 Drive Bay
Amazon £19.58 & FREE Delivery



The Wintech 93205-GB SATA to IDE Converter is available from Amazon for £16.48 & incl delivery, so the option of fitting any of the above SATA devices is very affordable, eg.

Wintech Converter & Icy Box HDD bay = £33.65
Wintech Converter & Startech CF bay = £36.06
this is about £100 less than a second hand SCSI CF reader!

Just ordered one from Amazon so I can test it and see if it works with an old 2.5 SATA HDD.
Item can be bought here http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wintech-93205-GB-SATA-IDE-Converter/dp/B000ZOV9W4
It is named as Wintech 93205-GB SATA to IDE Converter, but if you read the description it is the SAK-65.

If it does what it should I will get the Icybox SATA bay and a SATA HDD to USB dock like this

StarTech.com USB to SATA Hard Drive Docking Station for 2.5in SATA HDD
link http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201068725820?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2648



This should make sourcing old SCSI & IDE gear a thing of the past I will let you all know how it works out.

Hi there,

I've ordered the SAK-65 a few days ago, arrived yesterday, tested it right away
I confirm what's been said here, this device recognised my SATA hard drive directly --> it's a GO !
Loading times are approx 1.5 to 2 times faster than with my internal SCSI compact flash reader.

Ordered a Crucial M500 120 Gb today (60€), I'll post the results here.

Laterz guys,

Olivier

that CF Card option is interesting

aerodrink wrote:Hi there,

I've ordered the SAK-65 a few days ago, arrived yesterday, tested it right away
I confirm what's been said here, this device recognised my SATA hard drive directly --> it's a GO !
Loading times are approx 1.5 to 2 times faster than with my internal SCSI compact flash reader.

Ordered a Crucial M500 120 Gb today (60€), I'll post the results here.

Laterz guys,

Olivier

Thanks for that.
So you're not going for the removable drive bay which allows easy file transfers/backups by pulling the drive from the front and connecting it to a computer?

I hope the one I ordered is just the same as yours (it appears so), if so there are 2 possible ways of tracking down this SATA/IDE bridge, I will post the results for anyone looking to mod their Ultra.

Looking around the net for drives and bays I came across this interesting bit of kit.

Syba Best Connectivity 2.5" IDE 44-pin to Dual Compact Flash Adapter
£11.80 & FREE Delivery


Link http://www.amazon.co.uk/Syba-Connectivity-44-pin-Compact-Adapter/dp/B0036DDXUM/ref=sr_1_25?ie=UTF8&qid=1397076550&sr=8-25&keywords=SATA+compactflash

This device allows CF cards to be connected to the ultras IDE ribbon. The adapter is seen by the host as a HDD, and memory depends on the card size (but it does take up to 2 cards)
It could be useful as a more robust storage solution with lower power requirements and no noise if fitted internally in place of a HDD.
Judging by the posted comments it works with Macs PCs and very old gear, everyone says their hardware sees it as a standard hard drive. So if it works (as I suspect it will) it's a bit of a steal at under £12 for an internal CF adapter acting as a Solid State Drive after adding media.
Hook it up with one of these 64Gb cards

Kingston Technology 64GB Ultimate Compact Flash Card
£40.93 & FREE Delivery


Link http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00DUAYIUU/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&psc=1&s=computers

Just sayin'
Personaly I'm looking at the SATA converter and a trayless drive bay.

Pleased to report the Wintech 93205-GB SATA to IDE Converter is a Wintech SAK-65
It arrived today. It has all the cables you need to connect to SATA, molex and IDE



Some spec here



Sorry about the blur.

I know its tedious and for the most well known, but for the newbies:

TWIST YELLOW and RED otherwise FRIED PARTS

will try also the CF solution.

Another nice solution is this: http://www.codesrc.com/mediawiki/index.php?title=SCSI2SD

Yes, SCSI2SD looks like an option.
But "kb/s" is "kilo bit per second".
The read performance is around 116 kilo byte per second.

Imagine a worst case scenario of loading a 128MB bank into your sampler.
This will take approx. 19 minutes.
... time for a nice cup of tea...

mosrob wrote:Yes, SCSI2SD looks like an option.
But "kb/s" is "kilo bit per second".
The read performance is around 116 kilo byte per second.

Imagine a worst case scenario of loading a 128MB bank into your sampler.
This will take approx. 19 minutes.
... time for a nice cup of tea...

haha

indeed!!