making a circuit board for IDE to USB converter

Question

Hi 
 I am trying to make an external hard drive casing for an IDE HDD. The hard drive should connect to the laptop using a USB cable. The power comes from a molex connector in the IDE drive which is interfaced with a serial port for the power supply adapter. I need the schematic for this and step by step process on how to build it on a perf board, for example. I have an existing converter but it seems to have a short circuit and I cannot trace the problem. The market has a number of converters, but I would prefer to build one to learn how the circuit works. Please kindly guide me on the best way to connect the hard disk.

vmate · Answer

You won't be able to make this on a perfboard, there's simply no way to properly route 20+ signals. The bare minimum you'd need is a 2 layer PCB, but 4 would almost certainly be preferred. This is not a good project to learn at all, you will spend a lot of money and never get it working, or end up frustrated.

Some ICs which have good documentation are the TI TUSB6250 and CY7C68300B. However, they are both obsolete, so obtaining them will be a challenge. Still, you should look at the datasheets, to see what you're up against.

Also, I don't quite understand your power supply setup and serial ports part. You'll need an external 12V power supply to power the drive, and ideally create 5V from that as well, instead of trying to draw 1-2A from USB.

making a circuit board for IDE to USB converter

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