--- On Tue, 11/8/11, william Bowles <[email protected]> wrote:

> the adapter in the cd rom is different to the ata/ide on
> the hdd or should i say everyone i have ever seen has been
> different,  why not get a usb to ide adapter then
> remove the hdd from the 1400 and hook it up via usb to the
> macbook connected to the adapter, works for me with my old
> powerbooks.

Some time in the very late 90's the industry standardized the IDE optical drive 
interface for laptops so they all use the same connector in exactly the same 
location.

Some laptops use that standard connector directly, some use an adapter board 
with a different connector and the drive partially or completely wrapped in a 
housing, usually for ones with the drive in a swappable bay, thus the connector 
needs more pins to handle non-IDE devices like floppy drives and second 
batteries.

If only they had all chosen to use the standard size, flat face on the drive 
tray. With some laptops it's impossible to use a drive that wasn't available as 
an OEM option - unless you happen to find a drive of the same make that the OEM 
face will snap onto* or you don't mind doing some plastic cutting.

*Which I've found to be very rare because the drive manufacturers will not 
simply develop one face to tray attachment design and stick with it for years. 
Seems like every new series of drive from each company has a different design 
for parts that there's no reason to change, except to be changing them.

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