Samplers on ACiD

neotrin

Member

Replacing HD on E4XT Ultra

Hi all,

Trying to replace my dead HD. Based on an older Emusonacid thread recommendation

http://samplersonacid.com/legacy-emus-o … 3.php.html

I bought a Western Digital Scorpio Blue 120 GB, 2.5" (WD1200BEVE) IDE drive and got a 2.5 to 3.5 pin adapter to connect it. Two questions:

The adapter connects with the main 40 pins on the HD but does not engage the four additional pins. Does that matter? And if so, do I need an additional cable for that?

Also, I hear that the 4 pin power cable needs to be flipped to prevent the HD from being fried. Is this correct? And if so, instead of reversing the two outer wires, can I just file down the plugs plastic edges so it fits in upsidedown?

Thanks, for any assistance.

Peter

philtipping

Administrator

Re: Replacing HD on E4XT Ultra

Hi Peter, the pins which are opposite the power socket on the adapter board are not connected. There's no key, so it's possible to get this the wrong way round. There's a photo here http://www.philizound.co.uk/freebies/em … discs.html  if you scroll down to the 'Non-removable IDE discs' section, and zoom in on the last photo, you can just see the extra pins from the disc sticking out without going into the adapter socket.
Turning the power plug round should work as the 2 middle black connectors are ground, although have never tried this. It's fairly easy to swop the molex pins though... they're held in place with a small metal tab which springs out into a slot on the plug body. If you push this down with a small screwdriver blade while pulling gently on the wire, the whole pin should just slide out. Once it's out, check if the tab has sprung out again - if not, carefully bend it a smidge. When you push the pin back into the correct hole, the tab will spring out and hold it in place.

Last edited by philtipping (2020-02-07 20:27:15)

neotrin

Member

Re: Replacing HD on E4XT Ultra

Hi Phil,

Many thanks for the quick, informative reply. I'll give it a whirl and be back if I have a problem.

One quick additional question: Did the HDs that came with Emu products have the power supply pins reversed on the HDs themselves? I could understand that if Emu provided replacement drives that had the same reversed pins, so there would be no problems with swapping one out. But if they didn't, wouldn't such a deviation from standard power supply configuration cause many people to fry replacement drives. Just curious.

Thanks, Peter

philtipping

Administrator

Re: Replacing HD on E4XT Ultra

The hard discs themselves were all standard, so if I remember correctly, EMU just used a non-standard power cable with the pins reversed. The problem has always been the design of the motherboard power socket, which had the outer pins (+12v & +5v) reversed. Cynics say this was deliberate to force people to buy their upgrade kit with the special cable, but it could just have been a 'Friday afternoon' mistake. Maybe someone else knows the true story... and yes, many people fried their discs.

neotrin

Member

Re: Replacing HD on E4XT Ultra

Indeed indeed. Thanks.

neotrin

Member

Re: Replacing HD on E4XT Ultra

Hello all. Back for more insight. (Images attached at bottom)

I hooked up the IDE hard drive and 2.5 to 3.5 pin adapter. Flipped wires on power plug. Attached IDE cable to Emu with red edge on cable lined up with pin 1 on board. No luck. The HD did not smoke or get overly hot, so I think the power cable is configured correctly.

Emu displays “IDE 0” briefly on start up when searching drives, so I’m guessing it at least sees that something is there, but the hard drive makes no noise and it does not come up in the disc display window.

The 2.5 to 3.5 adapter has a green and a red diode (opposite the power plug - see image) which both light up and that seem to indicate correct functionality (although nothing that came with the adapter specifies the significance of the lit diodes). I briefly flipped the power cord and only the red diode lit, so I immediately reversed that back before any damage could happen to the HD.

I’m pretty sure it’s not the functionality of the drive or the adapter because I have two identical ones of each that I bought new and have tried them both.

The IDE cable has the plastic key that only allows it to go onto the adapter one way and I’m pretty sure the red edge on the IDE cable goes to pin 1.

Any further thoughts?

1) Wrong adapter?

2) Wrong cable? (I have a 24” cable, but I just read that I may need an 18” cable. Is that critical?)

3) Wrong power plug? (I’m using the power plug that was originally powering the (removed) SCSI drive – is that an issue?)

Thanks Peter

EMU OS 4.70

NEW COMPONENTS I’M TRYING TO USE:

HD = Western Digital Scorpio Blue 120 GB, 2.5" - WD1200BEVE – IDE

IDE CABLE= Ultra ATA 100/133 IDE Cable, 2 Device, IDC 40 (80 Conductor), 24 inch

ADAPTER = Laptop IDE to Desktop PC Adapter, 2.5 Inch 44 Pin HDD Hard Disk Drive or SSD to 40 Pin 3.5 Inch PATA Port Converter Card

philtipping

Administrator

Re: Replacing HD on E4XT Ultra

Have checked your photos with mine as best I can, and all seems ok except for the cable - you're using 80 wires, whereas mine has 40. Not 100% sure if this is the cause but there seems to be a difference, at least according to https://techreport.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5523.  By the way, I would not have flipped the power cable back, even for a split-second, so hope the disc is still ok!
Update: further research says the 80 wire version is backward compatible with 40, so maybe this is not the problem.

neotrin

Member

Re: Replacing HD on E4XT Ultra

Hi Philtipping,

Thanks for the feedback. Really was hoping you had the solution. If any other thoughts come up, please let me know.

Anyone else got some magic?

Thanks, Peter