This is for @retrocomputing@lemmy.sdf.org . You install this in a retro PC where a physical drive would go. Your retro PC thinks your disk images are actual disks, and everything else works like it used to. It’s a nice quality-of-life improvement.
Retro game consoles have been doing this for a while. The Sega Dreamcast’s GD-ROM drive is prone to failure, so modders replace it with hardware that loads disk images. I haven’t heard of this for retro PCs before, but it makes sense.
Peffse@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Because you have it reversed. This is new tech trying to interface with old tech. For when your Pentium 2 CD-ROM drive dies because a belt went bad. Or the laser is rotten. That kind of situation. Sourcing an IDE drive for old hardware is getting harder every day. (honestly, finding anything beige is getting harder)