USB/SATA adapter?

I have a couple of 2.5 inch laptop harddrives and 3.5 inch harddrives that I'm looking to get data off and was wondering what to use? I thought they would all have the same connectors but when looking on Amazon I saw 40-pin and 44-pin connectors mentioned. Also I've come across some reviews complaining about the 3.5 inch harddrives not being able to get power so was wondering if anyone has experience of a decent caddy or whatever that should work for me.

ressem

40 pin hard drive connectors are for IDE 3.5" drives, 44 pin for IDE 2.5" drives.

i.e. older drives than SATA.
IDE drives have a double row of pins (http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confSig-c.html)

(SATA look like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA)

For 3.5" SATA drives, you will usually require a separate power adapter which plugs from the mains supply to a 12V DC connector.

For 2.5" SATA drives, usually you can do with the 5V supplied from a double USB connector. (It uses 2 usb ports on your computer, 1 of which supplies only power).

Peats are selling a SATA dock if you want to swap drives a lot.
http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/catalog_v2.cgi?type=product&id=27154

riclad

you can buy a 2.5 inch caddy ,does sata or ide 2.5inch drives,
around 30euro,theres one that does 3.5inch ide, sata drives 50euro approx.Look in pc world,maplins ,peats.
i dont know if this is sold in irish shops,
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-HDD-Dock-3-5-2-5-SATA-IDE-Caddy-Enclosure-Case-eSATA-/300519920120

see http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/catalog_v2.cgi?id=29265&type=product

you might be able to use 1 above for a 2.5 inch sata drives too.
for ide its just 3.5inch drives only,in the link above.
ie i think ALL sata interface are the same size,get one where case cover
is easy to remove .

3.5inch IDE drives need an external mains supply .
SO A 2.5inch caddy ,should work on a sata 3.5inch drive,
as long as the case does not block drive,docking,physical acess.

theres caddys that fit 2.5 ide,or sata, with power 2 usb cable for
use when ide is connected,
ide drives need more power.

Dey were Sooted

i have one of these and think it's great http://www.amazon.co.uk/SHARKOON-QuickPort-Combo-SATA-Device/dp/B00327HTD4/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1336429872&sr=8-

works on 2.5/3.5 inch sata and ide drives

there is also a cheaper model that works for sata drives only ....

riclad

does it work on 2.5 inch ide drives.?

Nothingbetter2d

just buy an IT techie's cable

Tallon

Nothingbetter2d wrote: »

just buy an IT techie's cable

I have one of them and it's awesome!

Highly recommend it

Is there any benefit to that over this that was posted earlier in the thread? http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/catalog_v2.cgi?type=product&id=27154

Tallon

Zero difference, just that has a housing and the others are just cables!

I prefer the one I have as you can just pop them in a laptop bag, where as that one from peats, wouldn't

Coo, thanks all!

vibe666

Nothingbetter2d wrote: »

just buy an IT techie's cable

yep, just don't go and pay nearly 40 quid for one when you can get them for peanuts off ebay.

http://www.ebay.ie/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=m570&_nkw=usb+2.5%22+3.5%22+sata+ide

ressem

Deleted User wrote: »

Is there any benefit to that over this that was posted earlier in the thread? http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/catalog_v2.cgi?type=product&id=27154

Actually there is a benefit to the cable version. It'll work with old IDE drives also.

The only benefit of the Peats one is that you don't have to be wary of accidentally leaving the drive powered up on a desk surface that might have something electrically conductive, or prone to static electricity buildup. I.e. you should keep the drives with their circuit board facing up and don't put anything on top.

Tallon

ressem wrote: »

Actually there is a benefit to the cable version. It'll work with old IDE drives also.

The only benefit of the Peats one is that you don't have to be wary of accidentally leaving the drive powered up on a desk surface that might have something electrically conductive, or prone to static electricity buildup. I.e. you should keep the drives with their circuit board facing up and don't put anything on top.

Eh, wrong. Circuit board should always be facing down.

Also if it's sitting face down on a counter, it's less likely to be damaged

ressem

Tallon wrote: »

Eh, wrong. Circuit board should always be facing down.

Also if it's sitting face down on a counter, it's less likely to be damaged

Oops. For cooling reasons I suppose, moreso than covering the 'breathing hole'?

I guess I'm too used to environments where the metal side is likely to be mistaken for a coffee coaster in an unguarded moment.

Dey were Sooted

riclad wrote: »

does it work on 2.5 inch ide drives.?

yes it does - the sata drives drop in the slot - the ide drives are connected by cable - it is a bit bulky so if you are looking for easy transport go for the cables - it is handy tho if you are using mainly sata drives as they just slot in .....

i do have one of these also http://www.amazon.co.uk/IOMAX-SATA-Adapter-Power-Drive/dp/B001A5SK56/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1336513756&sr=8-2 but the sata power supply connector broke - easily fixed as i got a four pin ide power supply to sata power supply converter cable .......

Rabidlamb

OP, have you a tower PC.
If so open it up & there should be at least one redundant SATA connection on your loom.
The PC will still boot off your original C: drive & recognise the additional drive, it may run a chkdsk utility on boot so allow sometime for that.

Cable thing arrived today. There's the USB adapter with the two IDE and one SATA bits at the end, a SATA-SATA cable and another cable that I don't know about. Can't see how to power a 3.5 inch harddrive through it.

Tallon

Did it not come with a power cable to Sata too?

If not, you will have to pick up one of them too

Tallon

Tallon wrote: »

Did it not come with a power cable to Sata too?

If not, you will have to pick up one of them too

Nothing that'll go into a wall anyway. :pac: Ah feck it, I'll just work away on the laptop HDs for now.

vibe666

they normally come with a mains adapter that goes from a wall outlet to a psu to a molex/sata power connector. did you get any kind of psu with it at all? they are usually powered by a standard pc power (kettle) lead.

Tallon

vibe666 wrote: »

they normally come with a mains adapter that goes from a wall outlet to a psu to a molex/sata power connector. did you get any kind of psu with it at all? they are usually powered by a standard pc power (kettle) lead.

Not a kettle lead, a figure of 8 lead!

The lead I don't know about is 4-pronged in a line.

Tallon

Should have got a kit like this
http://media.bestofmicro.com/G/E/220910/original/shuttle_x27d_xs29f_kit.jpg

vibe666

Tallon wrote: »

Not a kettle lead, a figure of 8 lead!

i've had 3 of them (although admittedly none all that recently) and they all came with kettle leads for the psu.

the 4 prongs in a line are most likely molex power for an IDE drive, like this:



they would also usually supply a converter from molex to SATA power like this as well:

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/180879781340?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 is the one I bought.

yoyo

Deleted User wrote: »

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/180879781340?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 is the one I bought.

Looks like that one didnt ship with an external psu, so you'll need to use a spare molex connector from your computers psu to power the drives. something like this would work

Nick

yoyo

yoyo wrote: »

Looks like that one didnt ship with an external psu, so you'll need to use a spare molex connector from your computers psu to power the drives. something like this would work

Nick

Goddamnit. If I were going to open up a computer to power the piece of **** I'd probably just connect it that way rather than through USB.

vibe666

just bad luck you picked one without it's own psu.

i actually think it's the first time i've seen one with no psu in the bundle.

riclad

http://www.coolerguys.com/powerext.html
get one of these ,then open the pc case,connect to one of the spare molex cables,or use one from the dvd drive,it should be possible to power the ide drive,without putting it inside the case.I presume you could buy 1 3euros approx,peats or maplins.Make sure ide drive is secure,not moving, when you are doing your backups.
BUT then it would be almost easier ,just setup ide drives as slave on ide cable two,
ie use ide ,power cable from dvdrom drive,until all the ide drives are backed up.
make sure pc is completely powered off ,power to pc is off,before connecting any cables.
when you knock off a pc theres still power going thru the motherboard,unless power from esb socket is off.