Hi all,
Is it possible to convert the laptop's optical drive connector (sata) to USB?
If yes, will the laptop recognize flash drives as if they were connected to a normal USB port?

Also, is it possible to disable a USB dongle (or course without physically removing it)?
I know that it can be disabled from the device settings, but if I do so, I am asked to turn the laptop off. Is there another way without turning the laptop off.

Thanks in advance and sorry for my poor English.
.

 

Hello,

How about this interface?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232002
Or this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4034&cm_re=usb_to_sata-_-12-224-034-_-Product

Bertus

 

A direct conversion from SATA to USB is dubious. With a suitable processor you could build both a SATA interface and a USB interface. Then you would have to program the processor as a gateway. That's a great deal of effort for a very modest payoff.

EDIT:Especially if you can buy one already made.

It should be possible to disable a USB device if you can hack into the OS. How much trouble do you want to go to to accomplish this feat of legerdemain?

 

Hello,

How about this interface?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232002
Or this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4034&cm_re=usb_to_sata-_-12-224-034-_-Product

Bertus

Correct me if I'm wrong but those devices allow you to connect a SATA drive to a laptop through USB. I understood the original question to be a bit different.

 

Thanks for the replies.

@bertus I think those are USB to sata (at least for the second link). I was looking for a simple sata to USB convertor, which apparently does not exist.

@Papabravo No actually I'm not ready to temper with the OS. I thought there was an easy way out

 

Not sure what exactly you wish to do?

If you want to connect an optical drive to your laptop via USB port, they make external optical drives for that purpose . . . not sure what you mean by "flash drives" in that paragraph. I consider "optical drives" to be DVD/CD drives. An external optical drive connected by USB will be seen by the computer as a regular optical drive.

If you wish to connect a SATA laptop hard drive to a USB port, you can get an external SATA enclosure for the drive and it will connect via USB. It will also be seen by the computer as a regular, internal Harddrive.

 

Thanks for the reply. Actually what I want to do is to remove the optical drive (which make use of sata) and replace it with a USB hub (i.e. instead of having the optical drive drawer, I will have a USB hub).
This way, instead of having an optical drive (which I never use), I will have extra USB ports.
Now I have 2 options.

Option 1: is to open the laptop and solder the USB hub with an existing USB port.
Option 2: is to convert the sata connector (which is currently being used for the optical drive) to USB. I will then be able to connect the USB hub with this SATA to USB convertor.

I prefer option 2, but I'm not sure if it is possible to convert SATA to USB this way.

 

Thanks for the reply. Actually what I want to do is to remove the optical drive (which make use of sata) and replace it with a USB hub (i.e. instead of having the optical drive drawer, I will have a USB hub).
This way, instead of having an optical drive (which I never use), I will have extra USB ports.
Now I have 2 options.

Option 1: is to open the laptop and solder the USB hub with an existing USB port.
Option 2: is to convert the sata connector (which is currently being used for the optical drive) to USB. I will then be able to connect the USB hub with this SATA to USB convertor.

I prefer option 2, but I'm not sure if it is possible to convert SATA to USB this way.

Hmmm . . . interesting project. Not heard of it being done. Like someone else here said, seems like a lot of effort for little return. I mean, you can buy a USB hub that would plug into a USB port on your laptop. Granted, that would give you another piece of equipment to tote about. Good luck with the project. I have no idea how to go about such a thing. They do make a device that will allow you to install a second hard drive in the optical drive bay, but I have not seen, nor could find any hardware that dealt with turning it into a USB hub.

 

with a SATA to USB adapter, they run ~$15USD. It will include the SATA->USB cable (and often has IDE connectors as well), and will also have the power brick you will need to turn the drive on.
www . newegg . com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA07R07A6358
Or you can buy a drive enclosure if this is something more long term.

 

with a SATA to USB adapter, they run ~$15USD. It will include the SATA->USB cable (and often has IDE connectors as well), and will also have the power brick you will need to turn the drive on.
www . newegg . com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA07R07A6358
Or you can buy a drive enclosure if this is something more long term.

Actually he wants the conversion the other way around, which I doubt will be as simple.

 

Also, is it possible to disable a USB dongle (or course without physically removing it)?

Don't know which OS you're running, but in WinXP I have a System Tray icon for the 'Safely Remove Hardware' service. That pops up a box with a list of attached USB devices/dongles which can be individually stopped (but can't be restarted without re-attaching them).

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SATA-7-15-2...856?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cf563f2a0

Would this work, if you had male to female (Jenner Swappers)? Or was that Gender Swappers?

 

not a chance.