justin1985 wrote on 2023-05-21, 11:48:

I've been tinkering around with micro-ITX systems for retro games (VIA EPIA, S775 Intel) and I've got some slim optical drives f […]
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I've been tinkering around with micro-ITX systems for retro games (VIA EPIA, S775 Intel) and I've got some slim optical drives for them to run original games from CD.

I understand more modern versions of Windows (XP etc) will work with a SATA drive to play CD audio without needing a CD audio cable.

But I'd like to use the EPIA-M with a parallel IDE slim DVD drive in native DOS, 3.1, Win95 etc. I think quite a few games from the era I'm most interested in (mid -late 90s) rely on CD audio for music? Would there be any way to make this work?

All the slim optical to 40-pin IDE adapters I've seen look basically identical, and I've never seen any with an audio header...

Are you sure? i never see a slim to 40pin ide without audiocd

On ebay, aliexpress are cheap

I think that this is solely an OS thing and not related to the type of drive (well except of course that some drives don't offer the option for S/PDIF)
Since Windows ME the default is digital audio going through the bus. In Windows 98, the turning point, the default was S/PDIF but there is the option for digital audio at Control Panel->Multimedia->CD Music-> check "Enable digital CD audio...".
I don't know what happens for earlier versions though and if there is a choice for digital audio at all.

theelf wrote on 2023-05-21, 13:23:

Are you sure? i never see a slim to 40pin ide without audiocd

On ebay, aliexpress are cheap

OK, it looks like there are some different designs if I broaden eBay search to US and Germany as well as UK.

The only one listed in the UK on eBay seems ambiguous - one photo shows empty solder pads for the audio, other photo shows socket in place: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264372464167?mkcid … emis&media=COPY

The one I ordered (different seller but similar looking listing) turned up with Supermicro branding and not so much as solder pads for audio. I guess it was intended for servers?

I'll try asking the seller to confirm ...

justin1985 wrote on 2023-05-21, 14:21:

OK, it looks like there are some different designs if I broaden eBay search to US and Germany as well as UK. […]
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theelf wrote on 2023-05-21, 13:23:

Are you sure? i never see a slim to 40pin ide without audiocd

On ebay, aliexpress are cheap

OK, it looks like there are some different designs if I broaden eBay search to US and Germany as well as UK.

The only one listed in the UK on eBay seems ambiguous - one photo shows empty solder pads for the audio, other photo shows socket in place: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/264372464167?mkcid … emis&media=COPY

The one I ordered (different seller but similar looking listing) turned up with Supermicro branding and not so much as solder pads for audio. I guess it was intended for servers?

I'll try asking the seller to confirm ...

I dont understand your question, but all the ones in your link have a connector to audio cd