What do you really want to do ?

If you want to check that your hardware then you could do what I did when developing my interface and s/w. I build a small board with DL1414 displays and dip switches that are mapped the same as the IDE drive registers. BTW I got the DL1414 displays for free from some scrap units otherwise they are a tad expensive.

Still if it saves time (and your sanity) what's a little extra expenditure.

Other than that use a real drive, be careful though that you are in the correct mode CHS or LBA otherwise you will get messed up.