Awesome New IDE Optical Drive Emulators for Retro PCs
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Date: 2026-03-07
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Comments and reviews: 20
gruzzob
These look awesome. If I had vintage computers I would definitely be looking in to getting one. or two: (
Something that could be really handy would be if they could emulate _two_ devices at once. ie being both drives (master and slave) on an ide cable, so you could have both hard drive and cd at the same time. Though that may have been what you were talking about with supporting both cd and hdd at the same time.
I think the pico has a better form factor, and I have a soft spot for disk bay devices that. arent just a face plate. Plus the connector layout on the back more resembles traditional devices. Would be cool if the enclosure had a top though. not because it needs it, but because it feels wrong to have a disc without a top: )
Alternatively, some kind of m. 2 or sata ssd hot swap slot in the front, but that would be a slightly different kind of product methinks. The current transfer speeds may be limited by your SD card as much as anything. Or the speed at which the pi can read them
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These look awesome. If I had vintage computers I would definitely be looking in to getting one. or two: (
Something that could be really handy would be if they could emulate _two_ devices at once. ie being both drives (master and slave) on an ide cable, so you could have both hard drive and cd at the same time. Though that may have been what you were talking about with supporting both cd and hdd at the same time.
I think the pico has a better form factor, and I have a soft spot for disk bay devices that. arent just a face plate. Plus the connector layout on the back more resembles traditional devices. Would be cool if the enclosure had a top though. not because it needs it, but because it feels wrong to have a disc without a top: )
Alternatively, some kind of m. 2 or sata ssd hot swap slot in the front, but that would be a slightly different kind of product methinks. The current transfer speeds may be limited by your SD card as much as anything. Or the speed at which the pi can read them
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SosumiInc
Boy did this video put me down a rabbit hole.
I wanted to know what kind of hardware would be required to output chd from this ODE.
If the lowest presets for compression (or no compression) are selected, CHD works at a level saturating a pre-SATA IDE bus on an rp2350. But if you want to use LZMA-2-compressed CHD's (like are common everywhere, you need a Cortex-M7 650Mhz, which ups the cost from $2-5 per chip to $15-20 per chip.
But considering how superior chd is for archiving (barring an export of libmirage objects, which pulls-in Prefetch and Caching hints and other cool stuff from. nrg/. mdf/. ccd, it should be in the consideration as the default image format for any future PicoIDE upgrades, in order to properly re-create discs without resorting to no-cd cracks and other nonsense.
So now I'm learning the libmirage gobject model so PicoIDE can interface with it. Thanks for the rabbit hole. :)
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Boy did this video put me down a rabbit hole.
I wanted to know what kind of hardware would be required to output chd from this ODE.
If the lowest presets for compression (or no compression) are selected, CHD works at a level saturating a pre-SATA IDE bus on an rp2350. But if you want to use LZMA-2-compressed CHD's (like are common everywhere, you need a Cortex-M7 650Mhz, which ups the cost from $2-5 per chip to $15-20 per chip.
But considering how superior chd is for archiving (barring an export of libmirage objects, which pulls-in Prefetch and Caching hints and other cool stuff from. nrg/. mdf/. ccd, it should be in the consideration as the default image format for any future PicoIDE upgrades, in order to properly re-create discs without resorting to no-cd cracks and other nonsense.
So now I'm learning the libmirage gobject model so PicoIDE can interface with it. Thanks for the rabbit hole. :)
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N06odySh0m3
That spooling sound. sounds like a Supra Building Boost LOL. Once circa 1998, I had a Comapq Presario 2200 desktop, the one that would crash when installing Win98SE from scratch. I was playing The need for speed SE. This particular Compaq had a known CDROM problem. The game would randomly freeze, then the CD would start spinning up. It sounded like a car engine/turbo reving. Well. let me tell you. this one time, I got so fed up waiting for the game to unfreeze. mid spooling I decided to press the eject button. When the tray opened, the disc was spinning so fast it looked like a turbo. the disc levitated right out of the tray. hit me across the forehead, and then flew into my closet. It was truly one of the moments in my life I wish I had a camera recording.
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That spooling sound. sounds like a Supra Building Boost LOL. Once circa 1998, I had a Comapq Presario 2200 desktop, the one that would crash when installing Win98SE from scratch. I was playing The need for speed SE. This particular Compaq had a known CDROM problem. The game would randomly freeze, then the CD would start spinning up. It sounded like a car engine/turbo reving. Well. let me tell you. this one time, I got so fed up waiting for the game to unfreeze. mid spooling I decided to press the eject button. When the tray opened, the disc was spinning so fast it looked like a turbo. the disc levitated right out of the tray. hit me across the forehead, and then flew into my closet. It was truly one of the moments in my life I wish I had a camera recording.
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user-dz2wi5uo4g
I’m sorry to be that guy as I always support tech preservation but this is the first thing I’ve seen that makes me scream WHY!
This was a great video and it’s a cool device but I don’t get why anyone is keeping this retro hardware alive.
I have several CRTs in my collection btw.
The 90s and 2000s had capacitor plague, the drives suffered from tons of mechanical failures, PSUs were faulty.
This is like trying to preserve VHS. I don’t get it.
If you have a CD collection back up the ISO and store it on a NAS and/or an archive online to keep these gems alive.
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I’m sorry to be that guy as I always support tech preservation but this is the first thing I’ve seen that makes me scream WHY!
This was a great video and it’s a cool device but I don’t get why anyone is keeping this retro hardware alive.
I have several CRTs in my collection btw.
The 90s and 2000s had capacitor plague, the drives suffered from tons of mechanical failures, PSUs were faulty.
This is like trying to preserve VHS. I don’t get it.
If you have a CD collection back up the ISO and store it on a NAS and/or an archive online to keep these gems alive.
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Caisstuff
Thank you for covering this. I wasn't aware of this solution.
Recently I've been having failing IDE drives, so the option of having a virtual IDE hard drive would be nice, and also it's hard for me to install old versions of windows, while I have a lot of CD software, I pretty much lack OS install cds, the burned cds I do have don't really work that great. So I've been thinking about possible solutions like this, and this video drops.
Ill save up for this in the future, this info is pretty valuable to me.
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Thank you for covering this. I wasn't aware of this solution.
Recently I've been having failing IDE drives, so the option of having a virtual IDE hard drive would be nice, and also it's hard for me to install old versions of windows, while I have a lot of CD software, I pretty much lack OS install cds, the burned cds I do have don't really work that great. So I've been thinking about possible solutions like this, and this video drops.
Ill save up for this in the future, this info is pretty valuable to me.
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jeremy__hopkins
It'd be interesting to see a comparison between all three - IDE Simulator, PicoIDE and ZuluIDE - after the PicoIDE release. Maybe Colin at tattiebogle/MICE would have a review board. While an injection molded cover is a plus for PicoIDE, even better would be a swappable drive bay option for those with multiple classic PCs. Anyway, it's nice to see so many ODE options with CDDA audio. Very curious if we'll get custom options to emulate unique hardware like FMTowns or FMVTowns CD drives with custom firmware.
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It'd be interesting to see a comparison between all three - IDE Simulator, PicoIDE and ZuluIDE - after the PicoIDE release. Maybe Colin at tattiebogle/MICE would have a review board. While an injection molded cover is a plus for PicoIDE, even better would be a swappable drive bay option for those with multiple classic PCs. Anyway, it's nice to see so many ODE options with CDDA audio. Very curious if we'll get custom options to emulate unique hardware like FMTowns or FMVTowns CD drives with custom firmware.
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MoffTigriss
I manage a pool of old PCs for an event, we use original discs, and optical drive failing by sheer age is a very real issue we have. I plan to equip our LAN specialized units with those emulators!
A revolution would be an IDE emulator using iSCSI (or NFS) network drives. No more cranky old HDD, no more CompactFlash (results were not optimal for our use, all the tools of snapshots and rollback you can expect from a ZFS server, etc. All the building blocks are here now.
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I manage a pool of old PCs for an event, we use original discs, and optical drive failing by sheer age is a very real issue we have. I plan to equip our LAN specialized units with those emulators!
A revolution would be an IDE emulator using iSCSI (or NFS) network drives. No more cranky old HDD, no more CompactFlash (results were not optimal for our use, all the tools of snapshots and rollback you can expect from a ZFS server, etc. All the building blocks are here now.
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GoldenTrumpet24
I really want this lol sadly I dont have room for my vintage PC at the moment, despite having piles of vintage software. There's a store in my area that has several big boxes full of movies, music, and pc games that you have to dig for. I've been finding a lot of goodies there for almost free. Obviously, I create images out of them. Some I've uploaded to the internet archive. One in particular I haven't found online that I uploaded was the DVD version of encarta 99.
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I really want this lol sadly I dont have room for my vintage PC at the moment, despite having piles of vintage software. There's a store in my area that has several big boxes full of movies, music, and pc games that you have to dig for. I've been finding a lot of goodies there for almost free. Obviously, I create images out of them. Some I've uploaded to the internet archive. One in particular I haven't found online that I uploaded was the DVD version of encarta 99.
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barrierite
Awesome review! Am looking into getting a PicoIDE for at least one system that is PCI only but in the meantime have setup a couple of ISA based compact industrial machines with a Picogus for CD-ROM emulation & these work a treat. Have setup batch files in dos and added them to the menu to choose the right CD then launch the game but can see from your review that this feature has been carried on over to the PicoIDE so that is the 'game changer' so to speak!
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Awesome review! Am looking into getting a PicoIDE for at least one system that is PCI only but in the meantime have setup a couple of ISA based compact industrial machines with a Picogus for CD-ROM emulation & these work a treat. Have setup batch files in dos and added them to the menu to choose the right CD then launch the game but can see from your review that this feature has been carried on over to the PicoIDE so that is the 'game changer' so to speak!
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Matsilagi
At first i thought those were more of a gimmick and a What if all hell lets loose kind of deal, but after seeing them, i dont even have a PC which would be able to use those, but i want one!
One thing gets me curious tho, since those emulate CD-ROMs, and the OG Xbox uses a disc reader, i wonder if those would work as a ODE for XBox games, seeing it emulates most functions of the original CD readers. Would be interesting to try out on a modded console.
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At first i thought those were more of a gimmick and a What if all hell lets loose kind of deal, but after seeing them, i dont even have a PC which would be able to use those, but i want one!
One thing gets me curious tho, since those emulate CD-ROMs, and the OG Xbox uses a disc reader, i wonder if those would work as a ODE for XBox games, seeing it emulates most functions of the original CD readers. Would be interesting to try out on a modded console.
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mwinn23
I have a PicoIDE on pre-order, but I have to say it is a bit of a baffling decision to ship with a 3. 5 case, seeing as most people when using on PC will be swapping out a CD unit and they are 5. 25. Don't really understand that, I feel at least there should have been an option for 3. 5 or 5. 25 not the end of the world but it is a shame. The PC case I'd like to use only has one floppy opening and I want to use that for a floppy not the Pico.
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I have a PicoIDE on pre-order, but I have to say it is a bit of a baffling decision to ship with a 3. 5 case, seeing as most people when using on PC will be swapping out a CD unit and they are 5. 25. Don't really understand that, I feel at least there should have been an option for 3. 5 or 5. 25 not the end of the world but it is a shame. The PC case I'd like to use only has one floppy opening and I want to use that for a floppy not the Pico.
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moomah5929
Ordered a PicoIDE after Phil's video as I already tried the disc drive emulation of the PicoGUS but wanting a nice front panel option with graphical interface. Interesting that ZuluIDE now also got moving as I was looking into it already years ago but back then it was expensive and reportedly had issues no CDA.
PS: The iodd ST400 has a little program to create VHDs incl. fixed size ones. Never tried it for DOS ones though.
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Ordered a PicoIDE after Phil's video as I already tried the disc drive emulation of the PicoGUS but wanting a nice front panel option with graphical interface. Interesting that ZuluIDE now also got moving as I was looking into it already years ago but back then it was expensive and reportedly had issues no CDA.
PS: The iodd ST400 has a little program to create VHDs incl. fixed size ones. Never tried it for DOS ones though.
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spongedog0013
My only issue with the Pico being a CD-Rom emulated is that it seems to be Floppy drive bay sized. I'd rather them be CD-Rom bay size so I can use my Floppy Emulators as well since most my retro PC's only have 1 Floppy bay. Even still I like to keep it OG and will spend money on new old stock CD-rom drives and Floppy drives when I can but I know at some point we will run out of working IDE and need to be prepared.
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My only issue with the Pico being a CD-Rom emulated is that it seems to be Floppy drive bay sized. I'd rather them be CD-Rom bay size so I can use my Floppy Emulators as well since most my retro PC's only have 1 Floppy bay. Even still I like to keep it OG and will spend money on new old stock CD-rom drives and Floppy drives when I can but I know at some point we will run out of working IDE and need to be prepared.
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sir_anders
A big ZuluSCSI fan for my Amiga pleasures, sure GoTek is fine for a lot of stuff but when you want to get a ton of drivers, packages etc. IDE/SCSI is the thing even for things like the Amiga. MUI wont even fit on floppy nowadays and on top you have PPC etc. Back in the days when I struggled to have cd-rom/cd writers, DAT and ZIP drives on my SCSI chain I would never image that one day it would be this easy.
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A big ZuluSCSI fan for my Amiga pleasures, sure GoTek is fine for a lot of stuff but when you want to get a ton of drivers, packages etc. IDE/SCSI is the thing even for things like the Amiga. MUI wont even fit on floppy nowadays and on top you have PPC etc. Back in the days when I struggled to have cd-rom/cd writers, DAT and ZIP drives on my SCSI chain I would never image that one day it would be this easy.
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striderskorpion
Disc rot exists but is overblown. Most of the time, it's due to a bad pressing plant and usually affects DVD video. I'd be more worried about scratches, at least when buying second-hand. That's where most of my problems have come from. Generally, pressed discs have a long lifespan. The thing to watch for is recordable discs. They are more susceptible to failure, depending on their quality.
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Disc rot exists but is overblown. Most of the time, it's due to a bad pressing plant and usually affects DVD video. I'd be more worried about scratches, at least when buying second-hand. That's where most of my problems have come from. Generally, pressed discs have a long lifespan. The thing to watch for is recordable discs. They are more susceptible to failure, depending on their quality.
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Markimark151
I’m glad they finally made an optical drive emulator for retro computers that you don’t need to always insert a CD-Rom! Also I wish there’s IDE support for the other way around on modern computers like using internal optical and floppy drives connected to a USB port! Lot of old disk drives are still reliable, but I want to backup my old programs and play them on emulators.
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I’m glad they finally made an optical drive emulator for retro computers that you don’t need to always insert a CD-Rom! Also I wish there’s IDE support for the other way around on modern computers like using internal optical and floppy drives connected to a USB port! Lot of old disk drives are still reliable, but I want to backup my old programs and play them on emulators.
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Mhang1991
8: 10 that would be quite a god send
i've switch to using more portable apps, but having a stationary place for bootable images
would make it easier to install windows and trying linux
in a pinch, when you need windows install disc, you need it. maybe dedicate an m. 2 drive for that now that i think of it but
that would kinda be a waste of design
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8: 10 that would be quite a god send
i've switch to using more portable apps, but having a stationary place for bootable images
would make it easier to install windows and trying linux
in a pinch, when you need windows install disc, you need it. maybe dedicate an m. 2 drive for that now that i think of it but
that would kinda be a waste of design
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UncleAwesomeRetro
No, Clint, that CD-ROM noise is wonderful! I remember how cool it was when I got a fast CD-ROM and you could hear the speed But ok, playing games and it spins up to crazy speed gets old It looks like a great product. I am going to get the PicoIDE. Then get loads of old demo-cd's from magazines I had and explore them as I did as a kid.
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No, Clint, that CD-ROM noise is wonderful! I remember how cool it was when I got a fast CD-ROM and you could hear the speed But ok, playing games and it spins up to crazy speed gets old It looks like a great product. I am going to get the PicoIDE. Then get loads of old demo-cd's from magazines I had and explore them as I did as a kid.
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Cherijo78
My main complaint about PICO IDE is the 3. 5 form factor. Needs a 5. 25 version so it fits where cdroms usually live in old cases, as 3. 5 bays are scarcer and usually occupied with a floppy or gotek already. As it stands I'd have to use a non color matched adapter, usually in black, in my 2 PCs I'd like this for and that seems a shame.
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My main complaint about PICO IDE is the 3. 5 form factor. Needs a 5. 25 version so it fits where cdroms usually live in old cases, as 3. 5 bays are scarcer and usually occupied with a floppy or gotek already. As it stands I'd have to use a non color matched adapter, usually in black, in my 2 PCs I'd like this for and that seems a shame.
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MSThalamus-gj9oi
I hadn't heard of the Zulu, and I've already ordered a Pico. It's ironic, really, because I had just planned to mount the thing inside a 5. 25 drawer because I don't want to change the look of my machine so dramatically, so the chassis the Pico comes in isn't helpful to me. I may have to buy a Zulu as well to compare the two.
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I hadn't heard of the Zulu, and I've already ordered a Pico. It's ironic, really, because I had just planned to mount the thing inside a 5. 25 drawer because I don't want to change the look of my machine so dramatically, so the chassis the Pico comes in isn't helpful to me. I may have to buy a Zulu as well to compare the two.
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