USB as a hard drive

Stoke

50Twuncle wrote: »

So do Transcend :
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Transcend-PSD330-2-5-inch-Internal-Solid/dp/B00AQT2LCU/ref=sr_1_1/254-0928117-7104854?s=computers&ie=UTF8&qid=1481896383&sr=1-1&keywords=ide+ssd+25
So, in theory, you could have a 25Mhz 386 running an IDE SSD ...!!
That would be an interesting project for someone with time on their hands
What OS would be suitable ?
Windows 3.0 or perhaps DOS 5.0

I do know someone who run Windows 95 on a CF card via an adapter and it was lightning fast to be fair. My concern is that CF cards tire very quickly due to the limited read write cycles.

But an SSD might be different, if they can implement some decent firmware to spread the wear across the drive.

Stoke

Nilrem wrote: »

Probably cheaper than an IDE SSD is to buy one of the IDE to compact Flash adaptors (it's a basic mechanical adaptor*), from memory CF cards used the same electrical interface and command set as later generations of the IDE/ATAPI specification, so it was possible to use a compact flash device as a drive on them Then buy a compact flash card, IIRC the adaptors are about a fiver.
They used to be used in things like ruggisied laptops or devices where you needed the storage in a format that could be connected to a normal PC/laptop but could also be used in conditions that would have killed a mechanical drive (or where you needed lower power consumption).
I think they were used a lot in early digital cameras for that reasons.

[edit]
Just checked the adaptors are about £6, and a 32gb compact flash card is about £20 (sold by amazon), so if the op has a spare card it'll be a cheap way to test.


*In the same way that the adaptor to let you connect a laptop IDE drive to a desktop was (it basically gives the correct sized and spaced connection).

Read my post above

Cisco001

Don't see how it can work with difference motherboard as they require different driver?

There already computer stick in the market...

Nilrem

Cisco001 wrote: »

Don't see how it can work with difference motherboard as they require different driver?

There already computer stick in the market...

Most motherboards use a relatively limited number of chipsets with a limited number of drivers.

If it's a barebones driver (no fancy gui or extras) it can be pretty small for most things, for example a generic network card driver that will work with a huge number of models of network card might only be 2-3mb, the one bundled with the network card or motherboard can be 100mb+ by the time it's included with a nice installer and a couple of utilities that will never be used by most people.

Even Windows (from about Vista on I think) now carries default drivers for most common subsystems which it can choose from and use during the install, which is why you're no longer asked to insert the disc with things like the Raid controller's driver or the network card driver.



I used to carry a CDR in my computer tool kit (going back many moons to XP being new) that had about a dozen different network card drivers, those drivers worked with the bulk of the different network cards commonly found in most PC's at the time (IIRC the most common ones were variants of the Realtek 10 and 10/100 chips, so a generic RTL8139* driver worked with most cheap 10/100 cards including many from SMC and Belkin and pretty much all the unbranded ones).
The same disc also had things like the standard AMD/Intel motherboard drivers.



*I think it was.

darich

My thinking was that it might be a cheaper way of getting SSD drive.

I'm fully aware that laptops can be booted from USB sticks. Unfortunately many laptops are so restricted and locked down that many options are not available.

I also thought about a similar set up for the PS4....which cannot boot from a USB socket. So the pen drive would require to be connected to the motherboard - like the hard drive.
Particularly with the PS4 it would allow many downloaded games to be stored on one pen drive, while other games which use the disc, could be on another drive/stick.

It was simply an idea and a thought with no idea if it was feasible or possible.

So it wasn't a weird weird question to me.

50Twuncle

Nilrem wrote: »

Probably cheaper than an IDE SSD is to buy one of the IDE to compact Flash adaptors (it's a basic mechanical adaptor*), from memory CF cards used the same electrical interface and command set as later generations of the IDE/ATAPI specification, so it was possible to use a compact flash device as a drive on them Then buy a compact flash card, IIRC the adaptors are about a fiver.
They used to be used in things like ruggisied laptops or devices where you needed the storage in a format that could be connected to a normal PC/laptop but could also be used in conditions that would have killed a mechanical drive (or where you needed lower power consumption).
I think they were used a lot in early digital cameras for that reasons.

[edit]
Just checked the adaptors are about £6, and a 32gb compact flash card is about £20 (sold by amazon), so if the op has a spare card it'll be a cheap way to test.


*In the same way that the adaptor to let you connect a laptop IDE drive to a desktop was (it basically gives the correct sized and spaced connection).

You can get a 32Gb SSD for £15 from Ebay
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kingspec-SSD-2-5-SATA-II-SSD-32GB-/252681926535?hash=item3ad5043787:g:lAIAAOSwtnpXnyAh