Converting a Slim Optical Drive to Internal USB 3.0

[DanSan]

I've done a little bit of research myself, but I can't seem to find enough information about whether or not it will be successful and to what degree. I imagine that it will be successful, although probably minimally.

Would a single 20 pin internal USB (which breaks out to 2 USB type-A female cables) be enough to fully power two slim optical drives converted from 7+6 (13 pins, data+power) Sata to USB 3.0?

For reference purposes:
[Slim SATA to USB 3.0 adapter]
http://www.ebay.com/itm/221285636957

and
[20 pin header to two USB type-A female]
http://www.ebay.com/itm/370760781201

and
[Panasonic Slim Internal Blu-ray Burner SATA (Slot Load) Drive]
http://www.digistor.com/Optical-Drives/Slot-Load-Drives/Panasonic-Slim-Blu-ray-Burner-Slimline-SATA-Slot-Load_UJ-265

Does anyone else suspect that this can be a working combination to convert two slim SATA optical drives into USB 3.0?

The main purpose of this would be to free two internal SATA ports.

I also tried using [This information] to get an idea.

But with having to cross reference data, I've become confused... and it didn't help that I recently became ill.

Gurus, lend me your knowledge!

 

[boosted1g]

You can just buy an external enclosure for $20 for the drive. I removed my DVD drive from my laptop and used a HDD so i could have an SSD and HDD in it. I then put the DVD drive in an enclosure and only need the usb 2.0 connection.
You will need to find out if your DVD drive is of the 9mm or 12mm height variety.

FYI, usb 3.0 is pointless for opticla media because they do not even get close to the transfer speed of usb 2.0.

You could also just get a SATA-USB converter that will come with its power supply.

 

[DanSan]

You can just buy an external enclosure for $20 for the drive. I removed my DVD drive from my laptop and used a HDD so i could have an SSD and HDD in it. I then put the DVD drive in an enclosure and only need the usb 2.0 connection.
You will need to find out if your DVD drive is of the 9mm or 12mm height variety.

FYI, usb 3.0 is pointless for opticla media because they do not even get close to the transfer speed of usb 2.0.

You could also just get a SATA-USB converter that will come with its power supply.

Thanks for telling me what you have done with your computer. But I do not believe that addresses my issue.

It's not purely a matter of DATA SPEED, but it's also a matter of electrical power being supplied.

 

[popatim]

yes what you want to do should work just be warned that some usb3 controllers are a bit 'flakey' and might not keep the connection alive all the time. You might want to research your motherbd for usb3 issues first.

 

[DanSan]

yes what you want to do should work just be warned that some usb3 controllers are a bit 'flakey' and might not keep the connection alive all the time. You might want to research your motherbd for usb3 issues first.

Thank you for your input, popatim. It is appreciated!

The motherboard I use is the AS ROCK Fata1ity 990FX AMD board. I haven't had any USB 3 issues with it. Alternatively, I do have a USB 3 pcie card from Orico that I am yet to try. It has a 20 pin header connection piece on the back. I got it just in case, and it will also replace an existing card.

Really, to this point, it's all an experiment. I posted the question in case anyone who would know for sure one way or the other could tell me so.

 

[popatim]

I beleive that still uses the etron usb3 chip which I have not had any issues with either.

edit - the only part I'm unsure about is the supply of power. I did almost the same thing before but used a sata power connector from my PSU.

 

[DanSan]

I beleive that still uses the etron usb3 chip which I have not had any issues with either.

edit - the only part I'm unsure about is the supply of power. I did almost the same thing before but used a sata power connector from my PSU.

Hmmm, that itself would be another option...

What parts can you reference via links which you have used? I haven't been able to find any slim sata independent adapters. The power and data adapters are usually clumped together [Like So].

 

[DanSan]

OK, after many hours of testing, it turns out that it is possible to convert two slim optical SATA drives into two Internal USB optical drives.

Beyond finding the right adapter to make things possible, it turns out that even with two USB 3 headers on the motherboard (two headers break out to a total of 4 USB 3.0 connectors) there seems to be a lack of power able to be drawn.

I even used two USB 2.0 to type-A female headers to use for the data line, and then the USB 3.0 headers for power. This didn't seem to make an impact either. (Must have something to do with the on-board headers drawing power).

What did I have to do to get around this? Well, I basically had to use a separate USB 3.0 PCIe X1 card that draws extra power from a molex input.

Here's the requirements I have come to find to be necessary:

2x [Panasonic Slim Internal Blu-ray Burner SATA (Slot Load) Drive]
http://www.digistor.com/Optical-Drives/Slot-Load-Drives/Panasonic-Slim-Blu-ray-Burner-Slimline-SATA-Slot-Load_UJ-265
(bear in mind, I'm using a Dual-Slimline Setup)

2x [2 Port USB 3.0 A Female to 20 Pin Header HUB Motherboard Extension Cable Adapter]
http://www.ebay.com/itm/370760781201

2x [USB 2.0 to 7+6 13 Slimline Slim SATA Laptop CD/DVD Optical Drive Adapter Cable]
http://www.ebay.com/itm/291024739711

1x [ORICO PVU3-5O2I Booster USB 3.0 7 Port PCI Express Card (5 Rear USB3.0 Ports and Internal USB3.0 20PIN Connector) with VL800 and VL812 Controller]
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008716XNM

By plugging the optical data line into the USB 3.0 header onboard and the optical power line into the USB 3.0 PCIe X1 card, it all seemed to come together.

Yes, this is A LOT of crap/money to go through just to convert two internal optical drives from SATA to USB to open up two extra on-board sata ports.

Was it worth it? I suppose... but now from my experiments, others can benefit and learn from. Perhaps someone else can share their experience in converting two internal SATA optical drives into two internal USB optical drives.

 

[popatim]

thanks for the update