Ive been researching possible methods todo this. I come up with a master pin switching method but i was wondering if anyone has done it with a power switch instead of switching the master pins?
Why don't you take the +5V and +12V supply rails of two seperate hard drives to a DPDT switch, so that only one is connected to the PSU at once? Set them both to master, if they're on the same PATA channel. That'll work, but certainly won't be hot-swappable.
you could try this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSvRlJXoT_g or is this what you mean by switching the master pins?
I think it needs a DPDT switch so it changes the rails from one drive to the other, not just turning one drive off. That could work but you'd need two switches.
You should get a DPDT knife switch and put a picture of the one OS logo at the top and the other at the bottom, so you know which your flipping to, and make it dramatic with the knife switch.
Correct, but that would be a lot more work than just simply popping in two switches. If he had a relay circuit lying around then it could be a viable solution for him though.
Ive had a DPDT switch running on my server for years. Works great. Even added some leds to let me know which drive im using.