[Don Quichotte]

Hi, this is a copy of a question I put on another forum without getting any answer. Maybe I'll have more luck on the good old Head-Fi

Hello! I have a SATA dvd writer (Liteon iHAS524-32) that I would like to use as an external unit by connecting it to a SATA-USB adapter. Problem is that I keep reading that such adapters may give various errors when the optical drive is trying to write. Apparently, the JMicron chips inside these adapters is to blame, but it seems that in some cases it works OK and in some other it doesn't (?!) I couldn't find out more. Also, all the adaptors about whose chip I could find something use a JMicron, all of them.

The main candidates atm are (considering also the local availablilty):
1. Digitus DA 70-148-1 . Main positive argument: I have seen one working ok with my dvd writer (wrote 2 DVDs without problems). Cons: I know it uses a JMicron chip and some users have commented it worked OK as well but others complained about optical drive problems (see user reviews on amazon.de); only HDDs are mentioned in the manual and datasheet.
2. Manhattan 179195 . Main positive argument: the old version that you can see in the picture on the box in the above link as well as here was specified to work with optical drives as well. Maybe I could still find the old version on stock, but I kind of doubt it. Also, it has lifetime warranty.The new version, however, has any mention to optical drives removed and I'm very sure this is not without a reason.

I have also found this adaptor that uses a JMicron and still claims optical drives compatibility. I'd rather buy locally, though.

What do you think? Has any of you used a SATA adapter - perhaps one of the above ones - with a SATA optical drive? What would you do in my place?

Thanks a lot!

 

[Don Quichotte]

In case anyone is interested: I bought the Digitus and it works very well so far: I can read, write and test the written DVDs with appropriate software (CD-DVD Speed, KProbe) - and they look very well on tests.

Funny is that in the main time I got a reply from the Digitus manufacturer, stating that the adapter is not suitable for optical drives but only for HDDs because optical drives would require more functions (?).

 

[noxlord]

Would you care to explain why do you need such setup ?

 

[Don Quichotte]

I have an older motherboard with 2 SATA connectors, and my HDD is SATA. All was good until I bought this SATA DVDRW and discovered it doesn't work with my motherboard. Aparently it's about a VIA chipset that only works with HDDs but not with optical drives. So I needed an adapter. Also, this way I can use the drive with my older laptop (I'm not very much into spending my money on the latest computer gear, as you can see

) as it only has a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo.

An enclosure would have been another possibility, but it's even more expensive - most annoyingly, I paid for the adapter as much as for the drive itself, this seems stupid to me - and I have the impression that the offer is more limited (and they might have compatibility problems too, I read).