Ide, pata, sata, sata2, ...

defenderBG · l33t Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 817

I have an Acer Aspire 5020 and I have to buy a new hdd for it.
The problem is which interface. ATA/10, SATA, SATA2,.. . Even after hours of googling I couldn't find an answer.Here is a pic of the motherbord's hdd bay.

Any recommendation wich hdd to take? 80GB is enough and it should be compatible to Gentoo.

Thanks in advance

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 7:31 pm Post subject:

defenderBG,

Thats a 44 pin PATA/IDE interface, which is standard on laptops
A desktop drive has a 40 pin interface an separate power. The extra pins in the laptop interface are for the power.

Whats the small white think next to the long black connector ?
It looks like it might be a connector too.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

defenderBG · l33t Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 817

I am hoping that it is some kind of a sata connector, because I want to buy a new hdd. the difference between sata and pata in price is neglectable, yet I hope I will get a good performance boast from using sata.

I read the specifications of my laptop, all that they say is that I can have a hdd, which is atleast 40 GB...
Is there a way to see if my motherboard supports sata (beside buying one and trying it?)

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 11:54 pm Post subject:

defenderBG,

You will get a very small performace boost from SATA.
The drives are mechanically identical and its the head/platter data rate thats the limiting factor.

SATA can transfer data to/from drive cache a little faster and provides NCQ, which only makes a difference when you have a lot of I/O spread out over the platter as it minimises head movement.

Post your lspci output. That will tell if your hardware supports SATA or not.
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

defenderBG · l33t Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 817

I know that SATA does not give a big boast compared to PATA, yet it is hard (and more expencive) to find PATA with 7200rpm.

00:00.0 Host bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 Host Bridge (rev 01)
00:02.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI-X Root Port
00:06.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI Bridge
00:07.0 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc RS480 PCI Bridge
00:13.0 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB Host Controller
00:13.1 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB Host Controller
00:13.2 USB Controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 USB2 Host Controller
00:14.0 SMBus: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 SMBus Controller (rev 11)
00:14.1 IDE interface: ATI Technologies Inc Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller
00:14.3 ISA bridge: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 PCI-ISA Bridge
00:14.4 PCI bridge: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 PCI-PCI Bridge
00:14.5 Multimedia audio controller: ATI Technologies Inc IXP SB400 AC'97 Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:14.6 Modem: ATI Technologies Inc SB400 AC'97 Modem Controller (rev 02)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: ATI Technologies Inc M24 1P [Radeon Mobility X600]
06:05.0 Network controller: Broadcom Corporation BCM4318 [AirForce One 54g] 802.11g Wireless LAN Controller (rev 02)
06:06.0 CardBus bridge: Texas Instruments PCIxx21/x515 Cardbus Controller
06:06.2 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
06:06.3 Mass storage controller: Texas Instruments PCIxx21 Integrated FlashMedia Controller
06:06.4 SD Host controller: Texas Instruments PCI6411/6421/6611/6621/7411/7421/7611/7621 Secure Digital Controller
06:07.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL-8169 Gigabit Ethernet (rev 10)

Thanks for the help

Monkeh · Veteran Joined: 06 Aug 2005 Posts: 1656 Location: England

No SATA (as can be clearly seen from the picture). Sorry.

defenderBG · l33t Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 817

if you look at the small port on the right it looks as if it can be a sata port. this is why I am asking. it was not originaly connected to the pata driver that I have and thus I am not sure if it is so.

Monkeh · Veteran Joined: 06 Aug 2005 Posts: 1656 Location: England

You have no SATA controller. And no, that is not an SATA port. Not even close.

NeddySeagoon · Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 9:37 pm Post subject:

defenderBG,

Your lspci does not list any SATA hardware, so you don't have SATA
_________________
Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

mattmatteh · Guru Joined: 10 Mar 2004 Posts: 449 Location: near chicago

are you sure you want a 7200 rpm drive in a laptop ? sure it would be faster, but also hotter.

matt

Monkeh · Veteran Joined: 06 Aug 2005 Posts: 1656 Location: England

defenderBG · l33t Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 817

Thanks Monkeh, NeddySeagoon - I just wanted to be sure of what I have before buying a hdd.

and yes, I would preffer 7200rmp. Even though I use a laptop, I need it because of the mobility and I almoast never use it on battery (my battery is even removed), so I dont care too much about battery life and heat issues.