Question 1

Will this work with a cd drive ?

Accepted Answer

I bought this device with the intent of rebuilding an old computer with windows xp and ide devices, but I then realized from info on the internet that the xp 32 bit system would slow down the new build and went with windows 7 instead.  So, I haven't used the StarTech device.  Instead, I purchased 2 new sata3 drives and installed in the new build.  The only opportunity to use this device will be if one of the sata drives fail and I remove one of the ide drives from my old computer to replace it.  Sorry, I'm not able to give you more sunstantive info to answer your question.

Question 2

Can I use this adapter with a bootable drive, especially if want to boot OS X 4?

Accepted Answer

I cannot answer specifically to OS X4, but I am booting through this adapter to Win98, DOS, and WinXP.  Additionally, I use this adapter for a very non-operating-system situation: a Fostex Hard Disk 16-track recorder. It recognizes the drive and formats and uses it like a regular IDE drive.

Question 3

i have a IDE hdd that I want to use on a SATA only mobo. will this connect to the back of the ide drive?

Accepted Answer

No it will not, you need a female ide to male sata.
basically the reverse of these connections.

Question 4

can i use this to install an older ide dvd drive to a new sata mobo?

Accepted Answer

What you are looking to do is possible but not with this device. This adapter is for SATA to IDE, you need IDE to SATA.

Question 5

Does this have to plug directly to the MB or can it also be plugged to a (f)40 pin cable, as a slave to another device for instance?

Accepted Answer

No.This is will use the cables from a PATA drive and power and also require cables for the SATA drive taking use of an IDE port to use a Serial drive.

Question 6

what's the amperage?

Accepted Answer

The adapter itself uses very little current. The current draw (amperage) is directly related to the device that is plugged into the adapter. i.e., if you connect a hard drive (the ratings are on the harddrive label) that is rated @ 740 milliamps (.74 amps) @ +5 volts and 1500 milliamps (1.5 amps) @ 12 volts that is what the amperage is. It can handle it. You should not have any problem.  A DVD drive should draw less.

Questions & Answers