I’ve been trying a few different methods of connecting modern hard drives to my E-MU sampler. My aim, to reduce the noise to an absolute minimum with the side benefit of possible requiring less power from the ageing PSU.
Power
One of the quirks of the e-mu e5000 ultra and other samplers in the range, is that the power output header on the motherboard for internal hard disks has had it’s pins reversed in order of a standard PC. Plugging in a hard drive to the sampler and turning it on without modifying the power cable will result in +12v being where your hard drive expected +5v and a puff of magic smoke will signal the death of your hard drive.
SATA to IDE coverters
I tried several different converters without success until I came across the WinTech 93205-GB which worked great with standard 2.5″ spinning SATA disks but although SATA SSD drives were detected by the sampler they were not able to be formatted or accessed when pre-formatted as FAT.
The WinTech has a slide switch to select between host and device. Device was selected.
The fix for the reverse power connection was simple, clip through all the cables and connect the red to the yellow and the yellow to the red, swap the ground cables and test with a multimeter to make sure I hadn’t made any mistakes. I took this opportunity to also solder in the tiny 5v power connector for the WinTech in series from the 5v power cable and ground.
To connect the hard drive to the case I used a 2.5″ to 3.5″ mounting bracket with rubber washer to reduce vibration noise and fixed to the top mounting holes for a 3.5″ disk.
Lovely, barely a sound and worked flawlessly.
I wanted more though.
PATA SSD
I took to google in a quest to find myself a IDE/PATA SSD hoping that it just might work.
I was in luck. I found myself a 32GB IDE SSD on Amazon (32GB KingSpec 2.5-inch PATA/IDE SSD Solid State Disk (MLC Flash) SM2236 Controller) and a cheap 2.5″ to 3.5″ IDE converter and after a two week amble from Hong Kong I had it in my hand and ready to go.
Of course the power cable needed adjustment first.
But I’m pleased to say it worked first time.
Along with the silent fan mod I did to replace the PSU fan this thing is now absolutely silent except for the initial floppy noise on boot. Excellent.
Hello.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I plan to to the same in my E4 Platinum to reduce the noise and replace the drive. I have found this IDE to SD Card on Amazon. Do you think it would work ? THX
https://www.amazon.fr/SDHC-SDXC-Memory-Adapter-Converter/dp/B01C86K04Y/ref=pd_sim_sbs_147_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=51ChgxI6tkL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=DMG6W9XTTKG79Y8ADS1P
Honestly I couldn’t comment as I experienced hit and miss results with different combinations of things.
For 10 euro’s it’s got to be worth a try though I would say.
Hi!
Thanks for the answer.
I have ordered the SD card adapter. I will tell you if it works.
I already have a KingSpec SSD 32Gb. I also have order an IDE 2.5″ to 3.5″ adapter. Do you confirm that I have to cross the red and black wires ?
https://www.amazon.fr/gp/offer-listing/B00HCT0ER6/ref=dp_olp_new_mbc?ie=UTF8&condition=new
Best regards.
Certainly in my case I had to but I would advise you to test with a multimeter if you can to determine which header pin on the motherboard is 12v and which is 5v and ensuring you wire the correct one to the corresponding pin on the ssd.
Good luck with the SD card and please do let me know if it works.
John
Hi – any new news on SSD on an ULTRA EMU?
Thanks
Hi
Where did you get the converter to connect the EMU Ultra IDE cables (power and IDE) to the KINGSPEC SSD ?
I have bought the SSD but cannot connect.
Hey.
I think any 2.5″ to 3.5″ IDE converter should work.
I’ve just had a search through my Amazon orders though and this is the one I used. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00006B8C2
Hi
Finally tried to install with the correct cable and voltage to the correct pins etc. Can you tell me what OS you are using ? My E4XT on os 4.61 is not seeing the pata SSD ( exactly the same as your one). I have checked the drive and it is working so all i can presume is that my OS may not like the drive.
Thanks
Hey, I’m sorry for the slow reply.
I’ve been a bit lax on the blog recently.
I’ve been using OS 4.7.
Thanks got it working now – the connector was on the wrong way.