Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Ben on October 15, 2021, 10:56:25 AM
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Man, I used to be one of the guys here answering these questions, but I have been away from nerd stuff way too long I guess.
I found this old hard drive in a box. It's from a laptop I owned probably circa 1992. Just out of curiosity, I wanted to see if I could access it. While likely nothing important, there are probably old txt, dbf, and similar files on it that I could probably read.
Problem is, I have no idea what this connector is. It looks kinda like scsi, but I don't think so and don't know my old timey connections anymore. Any ideas?
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51592181538_f998d4a6c0_c.jpg)
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I think that is a SCSI cable
https://www.amazon.com/SCSI-Cables/b?ie=UTF8&node=573446
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Hmm. I was thinking scsi was wider. This one is like 1.25", and I thought scsi was closer to 2-2.5". I may have some old scsi cables in some other stored box somewhere here. I'll have to try and dig them up.
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That looks almost like a serial SCSI connector. Heavy on the "almost" because I don't think that's what it is.
See this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCSI_connector#Internal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCSI_connector#Internal)
Most typical SCSI connectors are 'D' shaped. The one in your image is clearly not that shape, either. Looking at it further, is that connector an adapter of some type? Can you gently try to pull it off? There may be an old 40 pin IDE connector under it. I ran into a few of those years back.
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MillCreek is right but it isn't the most common SCSI type cable. I'm pretty sure it's a CE50 or 50 pin card edge female connector.
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It might have an adapter. The stupid thing seems to be "permanently" installed in it's enclosure, but I might be able to pry the enclosure off without damaging the HD. It almost looks like there is a ribbon cable squished in there, which might go to an IDE or other connection.
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Looks like a Telco trunk connector, but I'd need to do some verifying before hanging my hat on that.
Brad
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It might have an adapter. The stupid thing seems to be "permanently" installed in it's enclosure, but I might be able to pry the enclosure off without damaging the HD. It almost looks like there is a ribbon cable squished in there, which might go to an IDE or other connection.
Those two screws to either side might be all you need to remove. Can you take a more angled picture showing the underside of the connector?
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Looks like a type of IDE PATA pin adapter many laptops used. Bet if you pull it off you'll find IDE pins underneath. Sometimes they just pull off, sometimes there's a frame to unscrew first. Toshiba was especially fond of them. Bet I have few in a box somewhere.
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(https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ebayimg.com%2Fimages%2Fg%2FZxQAAOxyD9JSCk6b%2Fs-l640.jpg&f=1&nofb=1)
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https://taplaptop.com/ywz1
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MillCreek is right but it isn't the most common SCSI type cable. I'm pretty sure it's a CE50 or 50 pin card edge female connector.
My first thought was that it was a mother board connector to a drive controller card, and IIRC, the drive connected to the controller inside the box. I too am rusty on this stuff.
I have a buttload of old 5" flloppies and 3" "hard" floppies which contain information I'd like to recover (some from Apple machines, some from IBM machines). I too failed to realize that storage advances would seal up those old discs forever.
Same thing (tech advancements) just blocked my beloved Internet Explorer 11 (heart icon) from accessing APS and I had to go to Brave to get on for this post.
<snif>
Terry, 230RN
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WLJ, that's the 44 pin PATA variant, not the 50 pin card edge SCSI.
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Ah, Miscounted the pins.
Oh wait, you were referring to the photo. Just posted that as an example, there are variations.
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I have a buttload of old 5" flloppies and 3" "hard" floppies which contain information I'd like to recover (some from Apple machines, some from IBM machines). I too failed to realize that storage advances would seal up those old discs forever.
You can buy USB external 3-1/2" floppy drives, and you can buy adapters to run old 3-1/2" drives from a USB port. For some reason, though, there are no USB 5-1/4" drives. Like you, I have a bunch of old floppies with data that I'd like to recover, and I can't find any way to do it.
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USB 5.25 floppy drive controller
http://www.deviceside.com/fc5025.html
http://shop.deviceside.com/prod/FC5025
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I actually was able to get it all the way out of the enclosure without busting anything. Looks like IDE to me. Now I just gotta find a decent USB adapter on Amazon.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51592634848_7c9ceef09c_c.jpg)
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Yup, 44-pin IDE. Should be easy to find a cable or adapter.
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Man, I used to be one of the guys here answering these questions, but I have been away from nerd stuff way too long I guess.
I found this old hard drive in a box. It's from a laptop I owned probably circa 1992. Just out of curiosity, I wanted to see if I could access it. While likely nothing important, there are probably old txt, dbf, and similar files on it that I could probably read.
Problem is, I have no idea what this connector is. It looks kinda like scsi, but I don't think so and don't know my old timey connections anymore. Any ideas?
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51592181538_f998d4a6c0_c.jpg)
1992 Probably ATA. I remember some oddball stuff from the time, but probably ATA. I bet you'll see a more familiar double row of pins if you remove the connector you see in the picture.
I have a USB to ATA adapter that could be used with a laptop ATA drive.
What does the label on the drive say? make and model?
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That looks almost like a serial SCSI connector. Heavy on the "almost" because I don't think that's what it is.
See this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCSI_connector#Internal (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SCSI_connector#Internal)
Most typical SCSI connectors are 'D' shaped. The one in your image is clearly not that shape, either. Looking at it further, is that connector an adapter of some type? Can you gently try to pull it off? There may be an old 40 pin IDE connector under it. I ran into a few of those years back.
From that time, the typical SCSI drive connector would have been a 50 pin ribbon cable.
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I actually was able to get it all the way out of the enclosure without busting anything. Looks like IDE to me. Now I just gotta find a decent USB adapter on Amazon.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51592634848_7c9ceef09c_c.jpg)
Yes, that is exactly what I was expecting to see.
I have a copy of a PC Reference pocket book right here, that dates from that time (copyright 1993), that I could probably look up the drive in the very unlikely chance "the Innernetz" can't tell you.
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What does the label on the drive say? make and model?
Quantum
Quantum Europa
540AT, P/N EU54A011
5v, 0.5a
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Quantum
Quantum Europa
540AT, P/N EU54A011
5v, 0.5a
540 MB. I bet its newer than 1992.
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From that time, the typical SCSI drive connector would have been a 50 pin ribbon cable.
Yep, that's why I said "almost".
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540 MB. I bet its newer than 1992.
Yeah, might be. Maybe late 90s? Though I know that around 1998 I went to Gateway instead of buying computer show no name laptops.
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Yeah, might be. Maybe late 90s? Though I know that around 1998 I went to Gateway instead of buying computer show no name laptops.
My recollection is, early 90s, 91, 92 the typical drive in a desktop PC was an 80MB, 120MB or 160MB, in there somewhere. Capacity mounted up rapidly. Mid decade sometime you started to see the first 1GB drives. Laptop drives lagged a bit.
Something like this (https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-USB-SATA-Adapter-USB2SATAIDE/dp/B000VS4HDM/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=pata+usb+adapter&qid=1634326466&sr=8-9) will let you try to read it.
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Something like this (https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-USB-SATA-Adapter-USB2SATAIDE/dp/B000VS4HDM/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=pata+usb+adapter&qid=1634326466&sr=8-9) will let you try to read it.
Thanks. I'll have to see if I have an old IDE cable here or can additionally order one on Amazon, because it looks from the picture that the IDE port is too fat. Or from the other side of the equation, the pins on this drive are right up almost against the drive housing. I'm gonna need a pretty skinny connector, I think, to hook things up.
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Thanks. I'll have to see if I have an old IDE cable here or can additionally order one on Amazon, because it looks from the picture that the IDE port is too fat. Or from the other side of the equation, the pins on this drive are right up almost against the drive housing. I'm gonna need a pretty skinny connector, I think, to hook things up.
Laptops used a smaller connector. Regular to laptop drive adapters are around, or were. Your problem will be finding a computer with an IDE interface to plug it into.
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Thanks. I'll have to see if I have an old IDE cable here or can additionally order one on Amazon, because it looks from the picture that the IDE port is too fat. Or from the other side of the equation, the pins on this drive are right up almost against the drive housing. I'm gonna need a pretty skinny connector, I think, to hook things up.
You'll need an adapter to get from the 2.5 inch laptop hard drive parallel connector to the 3.5 inch full size hard drive connector. Something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Kinamax-ADP-IDE23-2-5-Inch-3-5-Inch-Converter/dp/B000HJBEUY/ref=sr_1_41?dchild=1&keywords=ide+connector+adapter&qid=1634330655&sr=8-41 (https://www.amazon.com/Kinamax-ADP-IDE23-2-5-Inch-3-5-Inch-Converter/dp/B000HJBEUY/ref=sr_1_41?dchild=1&keywords=ide+connector+adapter&qid=1634330655&sr=8-41)
Or you could go laptop PATA to regular SATA like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Convert-Laptop-Drive-Serial/dp/B07Z5ZQNWP/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=2.5+pata+to+sata+adapter&qid=1634330916&s=electronics&sr=1-4 (https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Convert-Laptop-Drive-Serial/dp/B07Z5ZQNWP/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=2.5+pata+to+sata+adapter&qid=1634330916&s=electronics&sr=1-4)
A caveat is that I know nothing about this particular brand. There are Sabrent and Startech versions of this adapter out there. Those two are decent brands.
The best thing to do might be to get one of these as it works with both 2.5 inch laptop and 3.5 inch full size drives, whether they are PATA or SATA.
https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-USB-SATA-IDE-Adapter/dp/B00D76J1KO/ref=sr_1_9?crid=2QTBEW2HQJQIO&dchild=1&keywords=sata%2Fpata%2Fide+drive+to+usb+2.0+adapter&qid=1634331129&refinements=p_89%3ACable+Matters%7CSABRENT%7CStarTech&rnid=2528832011&s=electronics&sprefix=usb+pata+to+sata+adapter%2Celectronics%2C223&sr=1-9 (https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-USB-SATA-IDE-Adapter/dp/B00D76J1KO/ref=sr_1_9?crid=2QTBEW2HQJQIO&dchild=1&keywords=sata%2Fpata%2Fide+drive+to+usb+2.0+adapter&qid=1634331129&refinements=p_89%3ACable+Matters%7CSABRENT%7CStarTech&rnid=2528832011&s=electronics&sprefix=usb+pata+to+sata+adapter%2Celectronics%2C223&sr=1-9)
Lots of flexibility with one of these and they usually work pretty well. I have three or four of them around from my computer biz days.
(They are about ten bucks more since I last bought one. I wonder if that's due to supply chain issues or just inflation in general.)
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Do you really want to play that old Tetris game that bad?
I have it on 5 1/4 floppy if you need it.
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There are adapters that let you read a lot of the old stuff and they are CHEAP. I have a few.
https://www.amazon.com/Generic-Adapter-Converter-Optical-External/dp/B01J7MWD4M/
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A variation of Tetris called "Stacker Blocks 3D" is available here.
http://stacker-blocks.sourceforge.net/
Here's an online Tetris.
https://www.freetetris.org/game.php