[General] help needed with figuring out dvd drive pinouts

[David]

I have circuit board, dvd drive, flat flex 50 pin cable that connects 
the drive, a usb driven "logic analyzer," and some breakout boards.  
However, I don't really know how to use the analyzer and not sure how to 
determine the pinout functions.  Documentation says this drive is ide, 
but is has 50 pins and using a multimeter to trace which pins connect to 
which part of the "cpu" doesn't work at all.
My goal is to replace the faulty dvd drive with a solid state drive, or 
usb thumb drive, or maybe an sdhc memory card.

I need help here, PLEASE!  I'm pulling what remains of my hair out.

Thanks,
David Merchant