IDE Docking Station

[facecard]

I have a mixed bag of 3.5 ide drives of various size ranging from 20gig to 500gig. Some are Western Digital and Seagate and Hitachi. I have tried the typical USB 2 to IDE serial adapter and I don't like that type. I would prefer a docking station type over the adapter style. I want to see what is on each of those drives and possibly perform a recovery if needed.

Most of the IDE docking stations come with a built-in card reader which I don't need but I guess I would use it.

I am looking for a good reliable IDE docking station. I am not looking for an IDE/SATA combo, I just need IDE.

Any suggestions?

[pclab]

How to you want to recover the data?
Do you have any tool? If you have, it should also have the IDE interface that allows you to connect them.

[LarrySabo]

Here's one that handles both IDE and SATA, 2.5" and 3.5". Only 2 reviews but both are very positive. Since it outputs to USB 3.0, it won't be great for data recover hardware.

Last edited by LarrySabo on August 27th, 2017, 9:09, edited 1 time in total.

[HaQue]

I am not sure what the big drama is here, just get one, any.. copy all your drives to a single SATA disk. done, put them away just in case. If the plan is to keep using IDE disks as you require the data on them, IMHO it is a poor plan. I've had $25 IDE?SATA-USB cables that work fine. The station has the same or similar electronics inside anyway.

[facecard]

Go see a female if you want drama. I am looking for an IDE docking station.

[lcoughey]

Go see a female if you want drama. I am looking for an IDE docking station.

Startech has an IDE to SATA adapter which you'd connect to the IDE drive before plugging down into the SATA to USB dock. I used to use them many years ago when they came out, but I'm sure that they are buried in a bin of "what do we do with this crap?" somewhere in the back.

[data-medics]

Go see a female if you want drama. I am looking for an IDE docking station.

Startech has an IDE to SATA adapter which you'd connect to the IDE drive before plugging down into the SATA to USB dock. I used to use them many years ago when they came out, but I'm sure that they are buried in a bin of "what do we do with this crap?" somewhere in the back.

I've found those adapters to be problematic. I think most hardware intended for SATA drives is too impatient for older IDE hardware. By the time the drive actually comes ready, the USB bridge is already in an error state. I tried using them for awhile on a little drive copier I have, and it only worked on newer IDE drives. In certain docks it worked most the time, in other docks, it almost never worked. I think it's best to stick with a dock or adapter actually built for PATA.