Slaving an Old Hard Drive to Dell Inspiron530

[Jeeners]

I have a hard drive that came from a Dell Dimension 4300 (old unused computer), and I want to connect it to my Dell Inspiron 530 as a slave drive so I can 1) access the drive to acquire old data, and 2) keep it installed on the newer computer indefinitely as a second drive (for storage/use).

Details: The old hard drive from the 4300 is: Seagate Barracude ATA IV (40GB), model# ST340016A.

The old hard drive uses IDE and Molex plugs whereas the Inspiron uses SATA. My question: by soldering, can I connect a Molex to the Inspiron's wires without having to get an IDE-to-SATA adapter? The Inspiron's wires are just like the Molex but with an additional orange 5th wire. I read that they are the same as the Molex (except for the orange one). So can I just cut my Molex, solder it to the Inspiron's wires, and plug it into the old hard drive?

Also, where inside the Inspiron do I plug in the ribbon-like cable?

Thanks in advance.

 

[OldSchoolPC]

Honestly, just shell out 15 bucks for the adapter. Soldering work is not a viable alternative. Here is a link to an adapter. Newegg.com - Vantec IDE to SATA Converter - Model CB-IS100

Note: not an affiliate link

 

[Jeeners]

Thanks for the reply. I don't mind at all paying 15 for that. I was under the impression they were more expensive.

The only part I don't get is how does the Molex fit into this? I don't see any Molex to SATA cables in the link's pictures. The old slave drive has a 4-pin Molex plug on it.

Can you explain every connection that needs made... what kind of cables I'll need, and where they have to be plugged in at?

Thanks again.

 

[lhuser]

For the molex, you'll need this:
Newegg.com - BYTECC SATA-3LP4 SATA Power Input 15pin to MOLEX 4pin Power Adapter Cable

Simple SATA power connector to the 4-pin molex. $6.

You'd be looking at around 20 bucks around to make it work.

 

[Jeeners]

lhuser, can I just solder an extra molex y-splitter into the inspiron instead?

 

[Rackmountsales]

Just cut the sata cable off with the soldering iron, and find a POS old PSU, cut the cable off that and solder it onto the cable that used to be sata on the new one. You won't have to worry about loads because there won't be any "extra" connections.

 

[Jeeners]

Can I still solder the Molex onto the same-colored wires inside the inspiron though (ignoring the orange obviously)?

 

[jmacavali]

20 bucks and you won't have to worry about messing around with the connections and won't have to worry about doing something wrong and causing the hard drive or the computer to have power issues and/or failures.

 

[Jeeners]

Its not really about the money. Its more about the sake of pure knowledge. I'm basically asking this: assuming I solder the correct wires to the correct wires, and assuming I do the soldering itself correctly (no shorts, etc) and disconnect power during the job, then the red, black, black, and yellow wires on the Molex are functionally equivalent to the red, black, black, and yellow wires inside the Inspiron. Is this true? In other wires, its all the same except for the added orange wire, right?

Given that, I'll still very likely take your advice and just get both parts recommended.

Anyway, I appreciate your help. Furthermore, I might be checking back in later just to ensure I get the connections right once I obtain the parts.

Here is a second (2nd-priority) question: while I have the Inspiron open, I would like to wire a few 5mm LEDs (20mA If) to the Insprion's power supply (use red for + and one of the blacks for gnd). I would like to drill a switch into the case as well. This way, I'll have light down by my feet if needed. Its pretty much the same as what people call a "case mod." Assuming I do this correctly, is there any reason this would not be a good idea? I'm not worried about efficiency with 2-3 little LEDs (I know 12V isn't great for LEDs- I'll just use a resistor).

Thanks for your help guys...


edit: by the way jmacavali, I like the FFII characters as your avatar. I used to play that game when I was little.

 

[Jeeners]

I got the parts today...

Can someone tell me where everything gets plugged into? The directions included are kind of vague.

Thanks