Semi-OT: IDE & SATA to USB "dongles"

Tony Duell wrote: So (to get it on-topic for classiccmp), people with machines that only support IDE drives are going to have problems in the future finding working replacements (I doubt very much if any of us could repair any reasonably-modern IDE drive, alas). I've seen adapters to use IDE drives on SATA hosts, but not the reverse. Oh well... Looks like designing an ST506 (host) to IDE (drive) interface is not going to be a particularly useful thing. Better to work out a way to keep the old ST506s/412s/etc working. -tony ------------------------------------------------------ I'm lost in your logic here. ST506 and 412 have been obsolete for 15 years. They will become harder and harder to find and keep working. If you are trying to keep the old systems running, you will eventually have to do a dongle of some sort with newer drives. Why not now? Keeping the old drives working is going to require parts and technology that don't exist commercially any more. You can still find the high volume circuitry in the surplus stores. But it's the heads and platters that wear out and ferrite heads and oxide media are gone. Occasional bits and pieces show up less and less often. Why not put the energy into adapting the latest drive technology? That buys you an extra decade or so. IDE drives are going to be around in far greater volumes long after the last ST506 is still working. I just had a report that last year was the biggest year ever for hard drives: 376 million units, the huge majority IDE. That gives a pool of drives to use that will outlast most of us on this list. And there are already IDE to SATA dongles to stretch out another generation. And there are the side issues to keeping the old systems going. How long will we be able to find 8" and 5.25" media? Printer ribbons? Rubber parts for teletypes and typewriters? When do you toss in the towel on trying to keep the old systems going? One of my other hobbies is amateur publishing. We used Gestener mimeograph machines. The machines are easy to keep running. But I haven't been able to buy any stencils in the last 5 years. A place in India made them until around 2000. Now it's just the odd cache that shows up on eBay every 4-6 months. The ink we've tried to make ourselves with a little success. And of course, the twiltone paper is long gone. Modern paper is too slick and non-absorbent. When we get a mimeo going, it still looks like crap because of the poor ink and paper. So I wonder again, when do we give up on keeping the old machines running? If my CDC 160-A memory goes, there's no more core memories. My Jetex engines don't have fuel any more. My old typewriters have platens that turn to powder if I try to type. Some time, we have to let go and upgrade as much as it is unaesthetic or displeasing. When? Billy