make Solid State drives work on a classic comp?

[Edmond Dantes]

So I'm trying to resurrect an old computer. Everything else works, the problem is just the hard drive. You know how they are... over time they develop errors and stuff. Another problem is some of the old BIOSes only recognize drives up to 30gb, and since I don't know who made the BIOS, I can't find updates and flash them.

Well, lately I heard about something called a "Solid State" hard drive, which is supposed to have NO moving parts--so its basically like a flash drive permanently installed in a PC. So I thought "what a concept! Hey, if I could get one of these babies to work in this old computer, it would probably be as durable as my NES!"

So, put simply: has anyone ever seen or heard of adapters that would allow one of these Solid State drives to plug into an old desktop's ribbon cable and power supply plugs?

Super awesome thank you in advance if anyone replies.

[Jorpho]

There was some chatter about this over at VOGONS (http://vogons.zetafleet.com/viewtopic.php?t=30555), so sure, I guess it's possible. Ideally I think you would try to find a PCI controller card, but there are IDE-to-SATA adapters.
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/sata-ide-bilateral-converter-board-7533?item=4


Another problem is some of the old BIOSes only recognize drives up to 30gbYou can use a larger drive; you just won't be able to use its entire capacity.


and since I don't know who made the BIOS, I can't find updates and flash them.There's got to be some way to find out. Usually the ID string at the bottom of the screen during POST is helpful.

Also, while SSDs have no moving parts, they do have a limited number of writes before they stop functioning, in theory.

[Edmond Dantes]

Limited number of writes? How does that work?

[Soviet Conscript]

not sure if its what your looking for but i've used a compact flash as a hard drive in an old tandy SX. a CF is basicly a smaller solid state drive and works well for older pcs that dont really need huge hard drives. i used a IDE to CF adaptor and an XT-IDE card. i don't know why you couldnt use a SATA to IDE adaptor for an old PC. not sure how to get around the 30GB limit but i'm pretty sure theres various tricks and patches that fix that or you could make several partiotions of 30GB.

[Jorpho]

I was going to mention Compact Flash, but unless it's a really old computer, there might be a noticeable performance degradation. Then again, a newer computer wouldn't have the 30 GB limitation.


Limited number of writes? How does that work?SSDs, USB drives, SD cards, and everything else that uses flash memory has the same problem: the media can only be written to a finite number of times. That's why it's not a good idea to constantly defragment flash media.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_memory#Memory_wear

[Jaruff]

not sure if its what your looking for but i've used a compact flash as a hard drive in an old tandy SX. a CF is basicly a smaller solid state drive and works well for older pcs that dont really need huge hard drives. i used a IDE to CF adaptor and an XT-IDE card. i don't know why you couldnt use a SATA to IDE adaptor for an old PC. not sure how to get around the 30GB limit but i'm pretty sure theres various tricks and patches that fix that or you could make several partiotions of 30GB.

I was going to recommend that. I keep a couple of old PC for various purposes and all of the IDE HD's have been replaced with a CF setup using one of those adapters. Much cheaper than a SSD, at least when I set everything up.

[Edmond Dantes]

Compact Flash? Is that another word for a USB Drive? I wouldn't mind having an adapter that lets me use those in my old computer. Sounds like it would be convenient, actually (imagine backing up my Quest for Glory character by taking my hard drive out and plugging it into my laptop...)

the 30gb limit is in the BIOS. I tried partitioning a drive before and it didn't see it. I don't see a point in having (say) a 320gb drive if I can't use the majority of it.

As for the limited-writes thing, is that scientifically confirmed or is that still just "in theory?" Even if true, 100,000 writes sounds like it'll take at least a couple of years to ever accomplish it.

[Jorpho]

Compact Flash? Is that another word for a USB Drive?It is simply an older standard for flash media that predates SD cards. You can probably buy an SD-to-IDE adapter just as easily. (It is my understanding that internally, Compact Flash is very similar to IDE, which is why CF-to-IDE adapters are so prevalent.)


the 30gb limit is in the BIOS. I tried partitioning a drive before and it didn't see it. I don't see a point in having (say) a 320gb drive if I can't use the majority of it.Many old IDE hard drives specifically had a jumper on the back that could be used to limit their capacity for compatibility purposes.


As for the limited-writes thing, is that scientifically confirmed or is that still just "in theory?" Even if true, 100,000 writes sounds like it'll take at least a couple of years to ever accomplish it.Indeed, like the article says, the media will probably become obsolete one way or another before that limit is reached.

[thegardentool]

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9123140/Which_operating_system_is_best_for_solid_state_dri ves_

Windows 9x/ME and older is going to be a bad idea for an SSD because of the fast wearing of the blocks due to excessive writing to the same areas.

[LucidDefender]

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9123140/Which_operating_system_is_best_for_solid_state_dri ves_

Windows 9x/ME and older is going to be a bad idea for an SSD because of the fast wearing of the blocks due to excessive writing to the same areas.

The information presented in that article is either very dated or incorrect. Wear leveling is done in hardware by the SSD's controller. Also, you'll never wear out any modern SSD. Check some empirical data on SSD endurance here http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?271063-SSD-Write-Endurance-25nm-Vs-34nm