Electronics Optical drive with AC adapter?

Hi guys.

I have an optical drive that I'd like running without the use of a PSU. Does it really need both 12v and 5v? Would it be possible to power it with a single AC adapter or something?

 

Use a laptop one and you can do it with 5v over usb

 

Not sure I will have access to USB, and I don't even have a laptop driver.

I'm going to intall OS on a bunch of thin mitx boards with external power supplies.

 

Sure you can use a 12v adapter, just split the 12v from the adapter into 2 leads, one for 12v and use a resistor to get the other lead to 5v

 

That's what I thought. Nice, thanks Meelobee!

 

I have a laptop drive that has 2 USB cables, one for data and another for power, I can also use a USB plug adapter for power

 

You should probably just buy a 12v and 5v power supply. Something like this perhaps...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-5V-AC...Accessories_PowerSupplies&hash=item5d410e56a8

If the power draw of the 5v was constant then you could use a resistor but if it varies from moment to moment then the resistor would drop a variable amount, and that wouldn't be good for the drive.