replacement scsi hdd - noobie question

[corris]

Hi

I have "inherited" a 1999 compaq ap400 workstation.

This has a single compaq 68pin 4.3Gb wide-ultra scsi-3 internal hdd also circa 1999 (model number HB00441AA2).

No enough -- can I replace this with any 68 pin scsi hdd from anywhere (say Scan for instance as they have some)?


Due to the high cost of scsi drives I don't want to just jump in and buy one to suck it and see as it where without consultation and advice from my far more knowledgeable peers here.


Many Thanks
Corris

[IAmATeaf]

Yes you should be able to, the current drive has a 68 pin micro-d connector and a standard 4 pin molex power connector yes?

TBH you'd be better off getting a PCI sata card and a sata drive to run in the machine then spending a fortune on a SCSI drive. I used to run SCSI in my system exclusively a few years ago, had an adaptec 29160 card and 2 73gb 10k quantum drives but I ended up selling the drives and with the funds got 2 sata drives with 2x plus the capacity and I never really noticed any speed diffs in the system.

[corris]

Yes you should be able to, the current drive has a 68 pin micro-d connector and a standard 4 pin molex power connector yes?

Yep on both counts - scsi controller on mobo



But, should still be able to install sata card + drive as replacement?


Hows about:-
1)XFX REVO 64 SPU 3 Port SATA Raid Card
2)200 Gb Seagate ST3200820AS Barracuda 7200.10, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 8MB Cache, NCQ


Would these go together (and do all they come with all cables, usually, as you wouldn't know specifically I guess)?


All my machines ide or scsi (olde worlde that I am) so never met sata yet.


Thanks

[aidanjt]

Yes, that'd be more than enough, though you'll have to do a bit of fiddling around with SATA drivers, you could also save a few bob by going for a lower spec SATA controller.

[corris]

Yes, that'd be more than enough, though you'll have to do a bit of fiddling around with SATA drivers, you could also save a few bob by going for a lower spec SATA controller.

Sata controller £35.24 Inc VAT from Scan

Sata drive is £46.17 Inc VAT also from Scan - struggled to find a cheaper combination with a reasonably sized hdd




Is there much fiddling? Noobie to sata and things like that (wont need raid, yet, but it's there in case)

If I can get this to work (and still a cheaper option than replacement scsi (Thanks IAmATeaf for a great tip here)) might go on and do the others as they need updating


Thanks

[aidanjt]

That's good enough value I suppose, although you're already saving a lot by not going for a SCSI disk, you could bump the space up a bit

Driver stuff isn't really difficult, plop the drivers on a floppy, hit F6 when windows setup asks for drivers, stick the disk in, hit enter, you might have had to do this in the past when reinstalling windows with your SCSI controller.

[corris]

Yer not going to beleive this, but all my Win2k/scsi machines have drivers already present in the o/s!
Ha, I should have learned this stuff long ago but I've been spoilt!!


I see what you say about F6 during build - now's the time for me to learn, and about time I hear you rightly say.


Showing additional ignorance, will sata drives fit into internal ide/scsi caddies? Hope so, else more cost I could do without

[aidanjt]

Hmm, depends, if the pre-existing caddie has it's own interface with the disk, it's not gonna work, SATA doesn't even use traditional ribbon cables anymore.

[corris]

No, all disks are wired independantly (scsi 68pin micro-d connectors)

Caddy merely holds disk in place.


Do pci controller / hard drives come will all cables as standard?

[aidanjt]

In that case the disk will fit fine, all the dimensions are still standard.

Retail controllers yes, OEM disks never, retail disks sometimes. But they're cheap anyway.

[alsenior]

just so you know the revo does not need drivers. it looks like one big fast eide drive to windows

[corris]

Just got revo and maxtor drive in post from Scan.

Plugged in and revo config comes up straight after bios - thanks alsenior, put me grey cells to rest!


But drive came without power cable (shame that from maxtor) so still no good


Can I get a power that converts from standard 4-pin molex at one end to sata hard drive flat connector at the other?

[Funkstar]

Unless you get a retail box drive, none of them come with power or data cables. Sometimes you get four little screws, but that is all if you are lucky.

What you are looking for is a "molex to SATA" cable, should only be a couple of £. Just about everywhere has them. There is a good chance postage will be more than the actual cable, so if you are near a Maplins or something similar, check there.