Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Sinphaltimus · Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 21 Location: Pocono, PA

I have sen many posts about USB thumb drives - which I too am using to boot puppy.

I found a post somewhere that pointed to an HP utility to format USB thumbdrives to make them bootable.

I have a USB to IDE converter kit I purchased for 20 bux from an online store.

I was able to format an old 850 MB 2.5" IDE HDD connected via the USB to IDE conversion kit using the HP USB Flash Drive format utility and I was able to install Puppy and get it working properly without effort using the Pupppy USB thumbdrive install option from the live CD.

Why is this a big deal?

Because I have my portable Puppy OS on a bootable USB HDD - Does not have the 1 Million writes limitation of USB flash/thumb whatever drives.

So Puppy can be installed to USB HDDs if anyone cares..

BarryK · Posted: Wed 01 Feb 2006, 21:17 Post subject:

Sinphaltimus,
Does that ide-usb adaptor have a separate power supply?
I presume the power drain would be too high to run off the usb connector.

Sinphaltimus · Joined: 30 Jan 2006 Posts: 21 Location: Pocono, PA

Yes, it does. However, it only cost 20 bux and it comes designed for 3.5" IDE HDDs, internal IDE CD-Rom/-R/-RW as well as DVD drives.

Basicvally, if it's an internal IDE device, this kit makes it USB 2.0 (1.1 compat.) and it comes with a 3.5 to 2.5 converter as well.

I didn't want to do a sales pitch here but if you hit tigerdirect.com and search usb to ide, you'll see a few. I got the $20 one from Sabrient(Majestron).

John_C · Posted: Fri 03 Feb 2006, 13:24 Post subject:

I've used these IDE to USB adapters for about a year and a half... wouldn't be without them.
Formatted with Fat32, it makes a great way to have an IDE harddrive completely portable between many computers -- it is such a pain to have to open cases to install. Small 2.5" HDs don't even really need the external power supply. They can be powered by USB 2.0.

For testing any IDE device, formatting HDs, CD/DVD use, and just about anything else, I wonder how I would get along without these adapters. You can find them regularly for a sale price of about $20. The only thing you have to remember is to make sure your device is pinned as "master", or you will have problems. They can be used as USB 1.1, but it is USB 2.0 that has made them so useful...... and what a super easy backup medium.