MikeSty

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=rvi:1:3v_home

How does such an item work? Does it have a unique controller chip for the IDE or something? I always thought two optical drives on one IDE cable was a no-no.

Speaking of that, lately, i've gotten big time into CD burning ... as in making several hundred copies for local bands. I just made 300 CD's on monday/tuesday and my friend suggested I attempt charging for it.

I considered it, but my issue is that I need to have more drives running. Here's my current set-up:

My PC with 48X (okay, really runs at 32X) super-cool IDE combo drive (does everything except lightscribe :/)

Family PC with 40X (real output is just under 32X) IDE CD-R/W drive

Server with 12X ( Yuck!) CD-RW drive.

Right now I have at LEAST one more CD-R/W drive (24xish) and maybe another. The problem is, on MY PC, the mobo has one IDE slot, thus I can only have one IDE cable. No matter what the jumper config is, two optical drives on one cable is nothing but trouble.

Suggestions appreciated. Comments welcomed.

Lasereth

Why don't you get a PCI IDE controller card? It's a PCI-slot card that has like 4 IDE ports on it. You can then add 4 or more IDE devices to your PC through the use of the card in your PCI slot. They're cheap and work great!

-Lasereth

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cyrnel

I've had good luck with two opticals on a single IDE channel, but some drives have been problematic. If you're going to get serious about this then IDE->FW or IDE->USB adapters might be the way to go.

The case you pointed to includes two FireWire (1394) adapters each of which can handle two IDE devices. The case to computer connection would be FireWire so you'd need that on your computer. ($10-20 for a card if yours doesn't already have it.)

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Coppertop

If you're going to continue making them in those quantities you might want to look into a CD Duplicator. I've used one here at work and it's much, much easier than doing it on a PC manually.

MikeSty

I don't think I'm that serious yet ... that seems like a bit of an investment at this point.

I never thought of a controller card (great thinking; i was unaware they made IDE controller cards), but I've been toying with the idea of an external drive for some time now. I've been on the lookout for some inexpensive 5.25" enclosures and a 3.5" or two and this would be a great use.

The controller card would work all right though. I suppose I could put together a rig and get a few IDE controllers and just put in a bunch of drives ... I'd have to rig up my own case though and I guess i'd need a decent PSU.

cyrnel

Cable length is a factor. Normal maximum IDE cable length is 18 inches. You can often stretch that, but errors will creep in and cause you grief relative to the extra length. Probably not something you want when burning CD's. That's why you see enclosures using adapters to other interface types that allow extended lengths.

Your idea about a custom enclosure with more bays and a better P/S could work. Just keep the drives as close as possible to their respective controllers to minimize the effects of noise & signal loss.

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There are a vast number of people who are uninformed and heavily propagandized, but fundamentally decent. The propaganda that inundates them is effective when unchallenged, but much of it goes only skin deep. If they can be brought to raise questions and apply their decent instincts and basic intelligence, many people quickly escape the confines of the doctrinal system and are willing to do something to help others who are really suffering and oppressed." -Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, p. 195

MikeSty

I have a ton of 9-18in IDE cables lying around so all is good.

Speaking of signal loss, if I have the drives and their respective cables too close together , will I get interference and lose data???

In addition, anyone have an estimate as to how much wattage a drive might use? I'll be on the hunt for a decent PSU then

skaven

CD burners don't draw all that much power, at least relative to a hard drive. I doubt you'll have to worry too much about your PSU.

One thing you *will* have to worry about is PCI bandwidth. I'm sure you've seen how fast you can lose your FIFO buffer when burning a CD, especially at something like 32x. Imagine how hard the system will have to work to steadily stream data into four drives. Not to mention that each pair of drives will be sharing one IDE connection, which means you'll be on borderline performance anyway.

I'm not saying it can't be done, and certainly for the money it's the way to go...just be sure to take all these things into account before you start hacking up a chassis and going to town.

MikeSty

Thanks for that warning .. i hadn't thought about that. God damned PCI bus.

I don't plan on putting more than one drive on a cable as I've had nothing but trouble with that.