cd/dvd drive How to build an external CD/DVD drive for pc

[porobkar]

I recently bought NZTX s340 but i forgot that case doesnt have slot for CD/DVD slot. How should i build an external CD/DVD drive for PC

[spartaman64]

usb to sata connector? so you already have the dvd drive right?

https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Drive-Adapter-Optional/dp/B00U6JEKVA?ie=UTF8&gclid=CMvFpN6Tzs0CFYkCaQodpvQNpQ&redirect=true

[Sors]

Why not just get a USB DVD drive?  is probably going to cost the same than buying a standard DVD drive and the adapters to make it work through USB.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136261

[GDRRiley]

7 minutes ago, porobkar said:

I recently bought NZTX s340 but i forgot that case doesnt have slot for CD/DVD slot. How should i build an external CD/DVD drive for PC

build a box out of wood and then sata to usb.

[porobkar]

4 minutes ago, Sors said:

Why not just get a USB DVD drive?  is probably going to cost the same than buying a standard DVD drive and the adapters to make it work through USB.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136261

well i already have a normal LG optical drive (sata)

[porobkar]

4 minutes ago, GDRRiley said:

build a box out of wood and then sata to usb.

can you explain in more detailed way what to do about dvd, sata

[Sors]

2 minutes ago, porobkar said:

well i already have a normal LG optical drive (sata)

 

In that case, they do sell external enclosures for DVD drives to plug in the USB port.   But I think they cost more than the $25 the slim drive costs. 

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827993013

 

The other option would be to buy a SATA to USB adapter, and a power cable extension long enough so you can get it out of the case to plug the drive.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812400542

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812400144

[mariushm]

The easiest method would be to buy an external DVD driver/writer which will only need a USB cable to work.

 

The next easy method would be to buy an adapter cable, which converts a SATA data and power pair to USB, like the ones linked above by Sors . Note though that some of those adapter cables are designed to work with SSD drives, which only need 5v to function (and it so happens the USB connector has 5v by default, so it's just an issue of placing a wire in the right location in the SATA power connector which goes into the SATA drive). As these types of adapter cables don't create the 12v required by these DVD drives, you may find that the DVD drive won't work with such adapter cable. 

 

The more complicated method would be to build your own cables.

Buy a bracket with eSATA connector(s) and cables to connect these eSATA connectors to SATA ports on your motherboard. Here's a search example for such item .

There's even special brackets that also have an old molex style power connector on them, besides eSATA connectors, for example see this one.

Then, you can use a eSATA to SATA data cable to create the data connection between your external SATA drive, just search for "esata to sata data cable" and you'll find plenty.

 

If you buy one of those brackets that also has a molex connector on it, you can simply buy a molex to sata adapter and cut the wires at the middle and simply extend them with decent thickness wires, to 1-2 meters or as much as you need.

 

Otherwise, you need to create the two voltages required for the drive to work, 5v and 12v. 5v is readily available from USB but 12v isn't.. you can create it by "boosting" (raising the voltage) from 5v to 12v using a dc-dc voltage converter. Search eBay for "boost regulator" and you'll find plenty. Here's an example - you just connect ground and +5v to the input and adjust the output using the potentiometer until it's 12v

You can take two regular USB cables (you'll need two cables connected to your PC because most likely your DVD drive uses more power than what a single USB connector can provide) and cut the end and you have four wires in each cable, you only care about the black ones (ground) and the red ones (5v).

You can also buy a molex to sata adapter cable, cut the molex connector and connect the black wires to the black wires in the molex->sata adapter , the red wires to the 5v wire (red wire) , and the output of the DC-DC converter to the yellow wire (12v of the sata connector) .. and the OUT- / Ground on the dc-dc converter goes to ground wires (black) as well.
 

 

[Sors]

@porobkar

 

 

Damn I made a mistake, you'll need one of these adapters.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812270267

 

The first adapter I show you won't let you connect the power cable, but this one have the pass-through for the power voltages.