Optical drives either have PATA or SATA connectors. You can easily distinguish them through the size of the cabling.
SATA cables are quite thin compare two the wide PATA cabling. Keep in mind though that there are "rounded" PATA cables for optimized air flow. The connectors and jacks however already indicate the size of the cabling. So you might wanna take a look at the interface side of the device.
If the main connector is wide (see
AT Attachment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) then it's PATA. If not it's probably SATA:
Serial ATA - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
If the computer is old then it won't have a SATA controller, you gonna have to use a PATA optical drive. If you really want to use a SATA device you still have the option to get a PCI SATA controller.
Most amazing jew boots
85242
35212
LiquidAcid