Syba Dual Compact Flash CF to 44 Pin IDE/PATA 2.5" Adapter Enclosure, Black SD-ADA45006

I bought this to revive and improve an Apple iBook clamshell model, the Firewire Special Edition Key Lime G3 466mhz/DVD iBook. The drive in it was noisy, small (10GB), and a power hog. The product specs say both that this is OS-independent, and that it is compatible with various Windows versions and Linux. No mention of Mac compatibility, System 9.x or OS X. I took a flyer on it. And it does work--it is compatible with Mac OSes. Its form factor meant that I didn't have to tape it down or jury-rig the installation; it fits perfectly in the iBook's hard drive bracket and space. The single hitch is that the iBook's HD connector has one connector pin hole blocked, so this didn't fit stock. I girded my loins and snapped the single pin off the adapter by bending it a few times, and hoped it would work. It does. I put a 16GB 400x card by Transcend in the Master position. Then I put the adapter in the drive space. Put the iBook back together. Put OS X 10.2 in the DVD drive. Booted up from the DVD drive. And installed the OS. There was one abortive installation; not sure why it happened. But the second try worked. I'll be updating the OS to 10.4 Tiger ASAP. (That's the last version of OS X that is PowerPC compatible.) So it works--it boots fairly fast, it makes the previously very noisy computer *completely* silent, is much cooler, performs much better than the hard drive, and extends battery life by (at my current estimate) another 50% (about two hours). Also, unlike some other IDE-CF adapters I've read about, with this one, the iBook can successfully wake from sleep. Note that there is a red LED on the drive that glows through the iBook's case and keyboard. But it is very subtle, unnoticeable in a lighted room and visible only in darkness. So I'm very happy with it. And if I ever want to, I can expand my storage space simply by adding another CF card (okay, the two-hour teardown and rebuild isn't that simple, but it's doable). I don't see why it wouldn't work elsewhere just as well, so, five stars.

I bought this to replace the IDE HDD drive in my G3 Lombard. So far it's been working well. Speeds are good, considering the IDE interface limitations. I haven't had any weird compatibility issues, like some more complicated SSD to IDE adapters have. The installation is easy; just plug and play. The dual card support mounts one drive as 'Master' and the other as 'Slave'. This is nice to provide additional space. I use the second drive as a paging/scratch drive to reduce reads and writes on the main drive when I can.

I bought this to replace the hard drive in a fit-PC Slim fit-PC Slim Linux so it would run in silent, no-moving part mode. Visually the adapter looks like right size, but when compared to the Fujitsu 60GB drive it replaced, it is both thicker (9.5mm vs 9.0 mm) and effectively longer. In my fit-pc the thickness prevented the adapter from sliding in to the space vacated by the hard drive - there is a slot on the right inside cover where the adapter would not fit in. (To make it fit, I had to remove the top black plastic cover.) Although the actual overall length is the same (100mm), when the cable connector is attached (and I had to bend all of the pins away from the circuit board to get the connector to 'seat'), the connector still sticks out to extend the length of the unit. This is the same connector that allowed to Fujitsu hard drive to fit perfectly. Doubtful another connector would work better as the connector did seat against the black angle pin block. Remember, the fit-pc is very small and its IDE connector is also, so I think Syba just didn't consider this in the size (pin length) and placement (relative to the circuit board) of the angle pin connector block. So I had to trim off the last 1.5mm of the bottom cover. I tried to just put the circuit board into the fit-pc without any of the black cover, but the circuit board was just a little too free to flop around from side-to-side without it. However, after all the modifications, the adapter did indeed work with 4GB Sandisk Ultra Compact Flash card SanDisk SDCFH-004G-A11 4GB 30MB/s ULTRA CF Card (US Retail Package) . I was able to boot Linux from a USB drive and install to the CF-adapter 'IDE hard drive' and the fit-pc works (quietly!) So, if you are planning to use this adapter in a space-limited (tight tolerance) location, I'd reconsider the purchase unless you don't mind modifying the adapter (likely voiding the warranty) and likely your connector cable. I have not tried installing a second CF into the slave slot, but I expect it to work. The slave card installs on the bottom and is flush with the bottom plastic cover (which I left on) so it should fit physically. Had the adapter fit both in thickness and length (or rather, had the connector fit properly and seated far enough in to not require modification, I would have rated this 5 stars.

I was rebuilding a vintage Compaq Contura Aero 3/44c. The original drive used a very unusual screw layout (both side and bottom holes towards the center of drive!)...this enclosure didn't comply with that...but no modern 44-pin IDE drive would have either...so I don't fault them! I ended up desoldering PIN 20 and removing the hole pin for a clean look (although I didn't need to as the system I was using had no blank for pin 20 anyway)...but this helps you retain orientation! Finding it was easy, pin 19 (on the bare PCB) solders into the center of a tiny X-looking track, right under that is the pin 20 track...which leads...nowhere..just a via for soldering. I installed two used Cisco 256MB Industrial CF cards. Now IDEDIAG registered BOTH cards, but the very old BIOS only knows what a master is...so DOS/Win3x will only sees the master. However (theoretically) Windows 9X and greater will directly probe the controller and SHOULD find the slave...but whatever I knew the risk. Worked great for DOS and such. Given the CHS values and the Diag partition there is really no way to correctly align the drive for optimal R/W...but I found the speed great for the speed of the machine anyway. Outside of desoldering the pin, it was plug & play!

Lo precisaba como disco interno y no es compatible con placas base antiguas, USB funciona bien pero he tenido problemas con el formateo de tarjetas con capacidad superior a 32Gb.

Good

Passt als Ersatzlaufwerk für die Festplatte im VS-880 V Expanded. Ersetzt die Festplatte durch eine eingesteckte CF-Card (hier 4GB). Diese Card ist jedoch dann "fest" verbaut. Will man Sie evtl. entnehmen, um mit den Daten am Computer was anzustellen (so das geht), so muß man das Laufwerk ausbauen. Ich erwähne dies, weil ich an und für sich der Meinung war, man könnte das ganze so installieren, daß man jederzeit, quasi "hotswapping" an den gesteckten Datenspeicher rankommt. Ist so nicht der Fall, aber was geil ist: Der Rekorder ist jetzt mangels mechanischer Harddisc, lautlos.

Llegó antes de lo esperado

ALlows me to boot off CF card for my old laptop. I bought a Sinloon one that was DOA. Honestly, this is still a low quality device but at least it works. You WILL require modificaiton of the extra pin. Triple check that you are cutting off the right pin and remove the board from the plastic case (held together by screws). Although double the price of the Sinloon adapter; the extra plastic /size of the board allows easier removal/insertion in a laptop. Now... I just hope it lasts.