small ide HD

[waynestewart]

I’ve seen pics of these small hard drives on focus cards a few times. I’m interested in finding out which hard drive it is but I’ve had no luck searching

 

[NJRoadfan]

Looks like a HP KittyHawk. A 1.3in form factor that didn't catch on.

HP Kittyhawk - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

HP KittyHawk 1.3" Microdrive

 

[chelseayr]

interesting choice of drive brandname, wonder how many 1.3" hdds you could possibly find these days compared ratio-wise to finding an ibm mini drive which I think had actually end up in the early ipod too etc

 

[waynestewart]

Looks like a HP KittyHawk. A 1.3in form factor that didn't catch on.

HP Kittyhawk - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

HP KittyHawk 1.3" Microdrive

Thanks, I think finding a Kittyhawk may be a little difficult but I'll keep an eye out now that I know what to look for

 

[Unknown_K]

I have a couple USB drives that have that HD inside. Think they are in the basement will look later.

 

[NJRoadfan]

This drive predates USB by quite a bit. Your devices likely used the 1.8in drive standard that iPods also used.

 

[Byrd]

A compact flash micro drive would be more easily sourced if you’re into that spinning stuff.

 

[Unknown_K]

I think my old Dauphin DTR1's have kittyhawks.

The USB device I was thinking about was probably a microdrive from IBM/Hitachi.

 

[Phipli]

Have you considered trying an IDE DOM?

 

[waynestewart]

I’ve used 2.5” ide drives and CF adapters, which work quite well.

Those IDE DOM aren’t too practical as the ide device has to fit on the end of the card so the connector needs to be inline. Also the card has a female connector so the ide device needs a male connector.
I looked up the Kittyhawk and all the pics show the pins at right angles to the drive which would be a pain to change. I guess the ones on the Focus were either special ordered or modified.

 

[NJRoadfan]

Given the timeframe of the Focus card's release, Alltech likely got a whole bunch of those drives surplus for cheap. The header looks like it was modified or replaced. A pin header/gender changer for the DOMs is doable, just cut some of these down to size: https://www.ebay.com/itm/141182458139

 

[Phipli]

Given the timeframe of the Focus card's release, Alltech likely got a whole bunch of those drives surplus for cheap. The header looks like it was modified or replaced. A pin header/gender changer for the DOMs is doable, just cut some of these down to size: https://www.ebay.com/itm/141182458139

Gender changers are readily available, but they're not straight through, you need to cross the traces over.

 

[Snial]

Until a few hours ago I'd never heard of a DOM and now they're all the rage!

 

[Phipli]

Until a few hours ago I'd never heard of a DOM and now they're all the rage!

If you buy one from abroad, is it a Non-dom DOM?

 

[Snial]

If you buy one from abroad, is it a Non-dom DOM?

Brilliant! I was trying to think of a good DOM joke, but this one is inDOMitable ;-) !

 

[waynestewart]

I’ve used headers like that and some wire to make an adapter like that but not for a drive that mounts on a card.
The IDE DOM with the gender changer adapter is likely going to be as long or longer than a 2.5” SSD and I have those on hand

 

[Phipli]

The IDE DOM with the gender changer adapter is likely going to be as long or longer than a 2.5” SSD and I have those on hand

I think you're misjudging the size of a DOM - they are about 25mm long. Combined with an adapter, about 40mm long total.

 

[-Micky]

Why should you use a DOM module when a CF card also works?

Dom's are very interesting. I've never heard of it before.


Micky

 

[Snial]

Why should you use a DOM module when a CF card also works?

Good point. You'd need an adapter, I can see they can cost as little as £4 on eBay (+P&P); and small CF cards can be bought for about £5-£6; whereas a 512MB DOM from eBay would be about the same (£10 inc P&P).

 

[Phipli]

Why should you use a DOM module when a CF card also works?

Dom's are very interesting. I've never heard of it before.


Micky

On a motherboard, they plug straight into the IDE connector. No cable, no adapter board.

They're also meant to be more compatible than a compact flash, although with Macs you have mixed luck.

Their original purpose was generally embedded industrial computers, so they were meant to be high quality, but at this point, second hand ones have often seen a lot of use.