Rosewill RC-A-SATA-IDE SATA to IDE Adapter

Pros: Easy to use.
No Drivers required. Just plug it in and and it does the rest

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: As with all PATA/IDE devices make sure you have the jumper set correctly (Master, Slave or Cable Select). This could explain why others could not get the board working.

The manual has some interesting translations. I'm not sure how to "shoot the computer down".

Pros: Ordered this to interface with an IDE only motherboard. Works flawlessly.

Cons: The only downside is that is can be a little bulky when attached to a drive. Make sure you have ample space around HDD.

Pros: I wanted to upgrade my 2006 Mac Pro to Mountain Lion, using jabbawok's technique, and as a result, I had to convert a SATA drive to IDE. (In order to place my boot drive under the optical drive). At first I bought a generic adapter from an auction site, but I couldn't boot from the drive no matter what I tried. However, this Rosewill adapter worked flawlessly. I put the jumper on Cable Select, and connected it to the computer, and the Mac Pro booted up like nothing had changed. What more could you ask?

Cons: The manual is total "engrish" but thankfully, it's not needed for a product like this.

Pros: Used to upgrade a Dell Dimension 2400 (IDE) to a 256gb sata SSD. Worked very well. No hardware hiccups, wored right out of the box.

Cons: None so far

Pros: Well-built and easy to use, when it works.

Cons: Works for a while, and then the computer simply freezes. No crashdump, no blue-screen, nothing. It's like it hits an interrupt and stops the clock. Reboot brings everything back, but the problems persist. I bought the adapter (several months ago) to use with a Lite-On DVD writer that I purchased at the same time. I've used the writer externally through USB and it works great. Not internally on the IDE line, though. I did try using the original DELL IDE cable (I had switched because the differing lengths of the optical drive enclosures doesn't work with the short-distance DELL cable). I noticed that the DELL cable has a deliberate cut in line 27 (IOCHRDY) but that made no difference.

I guess I'll be calling the tech support line to see if they have any answers. I am troubled by the fact that one reviewer said that these adapters are not for use with DVD burners. There is no documentation on that...

Other Thoughts: I have also tried various suggestions: taping and isolating the adapter with electrical tape, trying various combinations of the master/slave/cable-select jumpers, swapping the pysical location on the cable, using various other IDE drives in combination with the SATA drive, only using the DVD burner to read CDs, etc. etc. Nothing seems to make ANY difference!

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
Thank you very much for purchasing this unit. We strive to provide the most reliable and highest quality products to our customers. Please kindly contact the Rosewill support team either via phone at 800-575-9885 or via email at rma@rosewill.com so we may assist you with a replacement.
Thanks,
Rosewill Customer Care

Pros: I purchased 14 of these (Addondics and Startech) along with WD 1TB Green drives, to upgrade the capacity in our SuperCircuits 16-ch DVR systems (for my workplace). The drives were all detected correctly; one set to slave and the other to master per the HDD install instructions in the SuperCircuits documentation.

Cons: Now, for some reason, the DVD-RW drives on all 7 machines are not detected no matter what the jumper setting is on them. The DVD-RW is on a separate IDE bus, and there was a 3rd unused bus, so I tried that also. No luck. Unable to find any info about this from Addondics or Startech (the Rosewill appears to be the exact same). Unfortunately, the SuperCircuits systems we're using have documentation about as good as the instructions that came with these adapters. They support "400 GB or greater" drives, and it's difficult to tell if it's an issue with the WD drives or the adapters. Have been unable to find updated firmware for the DVRs....

Other Thoughts: I did break a rule for IT projects: Test one first, and if it works, then buy more... I kind of did it the opposite, assuming all would be well; didn't imagine the drives would work but cause some conflict with the DVD-RW on a separate bus!

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
Please contact the Rosewill support team either via phone at 800-575-9885 or via email at techsupport@rosewill.com so that we can assist you with your issue.
Thanks,
Rosewill Customer Care

Pros: I had to buy a 2nd one, just because I am using my other. I have used this for many reasons, for drive after drive, with no issues. It does seem a little loose when you connect it, but it hasn't worn out yet.

Cons: Just a little sloppy, buy nothing that creates a problem connectivity wise.

Pros: Worked briefly...

Cons: Tremendously frustrating and tedious. This worked fine until I wanted to add another SATA device to the same cable. With the jumpers set it wouldn't work. Also, the jumpers tend to jump ship even if a cable brushes on them (they fall off really easily.) If you are looking to add more SATA drives to your computer your better off looking for a SATA to PCI or PCIe adapter instead. I've tried two brands of these things and they barely work.

Other Thoughts: In general this adapter worked well until I wanted to add another sata device to the drive. The contacts for the IDE pins on the board are very prickly, also there doesn't seem to be enough space/protection from the board making contact with the metalic sides of the drive/drive bays/computer case.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Valued Customer,
Please contact the Rosewill support team either via phone at 800-575-9885 or via email at techsupport@rosewill.com so that we can assist you with your issue.
Thanks,
Rosewill Customer Care

Pros: These are a great item to have for older motherboard supporting IDE cable connections but no Sata connections. Super easy to put on your sata device makes it real nice as well. I have been using these for few months now and like them alot. with it supporting Sata II speeds makes it a very good choice for its low price.

Cons: Have not had any problems with these little cards.

Other Thoughts: Its low profile to fit behind a device with very little to no over hang is real nice in keeping you case looking nice and clean.

Pros: Was pleased with the product initially. Low profile, easy install and did exactly what it was supposed to...

Cons: ...until it abruptly decided to not do those things anymore.

Other Thoughts: Thought the drive had failed at first, so always check on another cable before needlessly tossing the wrong component!