Connect old EIDE drive to iMac?

wicky

wicky

play thing
I've got an old external HD that's died and I want to get the data. I think the HD is OK but the circuit board has broken.

The problem...

The drive is a bit old (Firewire 400, EIDE drive), so not sure how to connect it to my iMac. Maplins do an HD dock (like this) but I think these only work with modern SATA drives?

So, assuming the drive is still functional, how do I connect to it?
 
You could take the drive out of its existing case and put it into an enclosure that provides a USB or firewire interface. Other World Computer has enclosures for as low as $20 USD.
 
Or you could by NewerTech's USB adapter for IDE and SATA hard disks and skip the enclosure altogether. This way, you wouldn't have to worry about having an extra IDE enclosure that you may never use again.
 
Thanks for your help guys.

The USB adapter looks very interesting. I never knew that such a thing existed. Seems pretty useful in the longer term too. I wasn't keen on the enclosure option because when I've bought them in the past they've been pretty unreliable some of the time.... very PC, cobbled together untested bits, etc.

Much appreciated
 
OWC's enclosures certainly aren't like the ones you describe, however I think the adapter will be the longer lasting choice, as you said.
 
I got a USB adapter.... it worked like a charm. Definitely recommended to anybody in a similar position.

Thanks for the help.
 
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