SATA to USB Adapter for Raspberry Pi Build

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
THRobinson

THRobinson

Distinguished
May 17, 2009
664
5
19,015
Was playing with an idea to make a media player with a RaspberryPi I bought... installed RetroPie on it and works great, but old games aren't as fun as I remembered, so it's basically just sitting there.

Problem is that the RaspPi has no SATA ports so from what I've read you need a SATA-to-USB adapter, which I can find on eBay and computer sites, but they either have 2 USB plugs (data/power) or need an AC adapter for power.

I'd like to find one that uses the SATA power plug from a standard Power Supply. So power from a PSU, and then the data is USB. Reason being, I have a small PSU, and 2x3TB drives for media, plus I want the PSU to power a few other things (will build a custom case from wood).

Does anyone know if one exists?

I'd take one with 2 USB plugs and simply cut off the extra USB for power, but the end that plugs into the SATA drive is the tricky part because all 1 piece... unless I just hacksaw that end off? Not sure what the insides are like, would need to grind in a bit to make space for a power cable, and can't recall if my are straight or 90 degree....
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
B

boosted1g

Titan
Jun 12, 2013
14,846
8
74,965
What you are looking for does not really exist.

Get a usb to sata adapter, extend the sata portion with a sata cable and then connect your PSU cable to the drive that way.

Make sure to securly mount the hard drives in this custom enclosure.


Frankly if you have a desktop the better option would be to put the drives in the desktop and then create a network share for the pi.
The pi's bus is quite limited but for movies even the 10MBps is more then enough for even unencrypted blu-ray.


Also, check out LibreElec for media play for pi. It is a Just Enough OS with Kodi on it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
THRobinson

THRobinson

Distinguished
May 17, 2009
664
5
19,015
I found this after I posted....

http://www.addonics.com/products/adsau3.php

Looks like what I need... I think.

Currently I have a SilverStone Grandia GD09 case with my old Core2Dual Q9450 system inside, 250GB drive for Win7/Kodi and the 2x3TB drives network shared. I have a 32GB SSD coming, got for $20, the 250GB is chattery given where it's mounted, and only need 20-25GB since will be trying Linux or was looking at LibreElec, though I posted a few pre-install questions since I have 0 experience with Linux stuff and the responses were relatively useless so, worried if I go that route I'd be dead in the water trying to sort it out.

System works fine, but case (owned for a month) echoes out every single bit of sound. Swapped the old GTC650TiBoost card for a fanless GTX710 which works great and sound decreased a bit, I have a new CPU fan coming as well since the old one is a stock Intel fan, 8yrs old and loud.

I also have that RaspPi3 on my shelf doing nothing, and again, friend sent me a few links of self-made media servers that were really nice and very quiet. Considering a side project, but rather than getting a mini/micro atx board with onboard HDMI and a very expensive fanless CPU heatsink, I'm wondering if a RaspberryPi3 might handle the load of being a small server and play video files that are around 8-10GB big, 8,000-10,000kbps 1080p. Not worried about 4K yet, not much available in 4K and no 4K TV. Plus... if built correctly... can upgrade to a RaspPi4, 5, 6... when they come out.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

boosted1g

Titan
Jun 12, 2013
14,846
8
74,965
That adapter will work but does not come with type b USB cable, also a unknown brand board.
My thoughts would be this:
https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Converter-2-5-inch-Supports-Included/dp/B014OSN2VW/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1490113439&sr=8-12&keywords=sata+usb+adapter
https://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-6-Inch-Serial-Extension-107634/dp/B005E2XRYK/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1490113362&sr=8-6&keywords=sata+extension+cable

In regards to the PI, the version 3 is very capabile for running Kodi but if you want to use it as a file server as well then the limited bus and 10/100 ethernet will be a factor.

If you have wired ethernet ports in home, I would just put the PC in a different location where the noise wont be a factor, and let it hold your media (and can also have download managing programs on it). Then setup the pi as your media player at TV and access shares over network.

What were you questions on LibreElec?
Might be able to answer them as I have multiple computers and pi's running it with more complicated setups.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
THRobinson

THRobinson

Distinguished
May 17, 2009
664
5
19,015
I'm not sure what you mean by the brand board... back of the card has a USB-B port, wouldn't I simply grab a 12" USB cable that goes from USB Type B - to - USB Type A, and plug it into the RaspPi's USB ports?

https://support.roli.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/USB-type-A-and-B.jpg

LibreElec wise, I had some questions about file sharing, which through this site I found out was SAMBA and a text based file that does it all, versus Win7 where it's all left/right mouse clicks and clicking allow, deny, etc...

LibreElec's site, first I had someone who kept responding annoyingly saying just give it a try and if you like it, great! Which, did not answer anything about file/drive sharing, access rights for different users or about the Flirc iR receiver I bought. Also, telling me that OpenELec is not a media player, despite that I mentioned numerous times that I'd be installing KODI.

Eventually someone replied back that wasn't him and said that LibreElec wasn't designed to do file/drive sharing setups, and for that I'd want the full Linux/Ubuntu. I posted that on this site, and reply back was that that response was bunk, I can use Samba on OpenElec same as Linux/Ubuntu. So... the pre-install questions were a fail on their forum to say the least. :D

I have a 32GB SSD drive coming, once it's here I'll start playing with Linux. My current motherboard was from when booting from USB was kinda new, so, it's very picky and a pain to get it to work so, not even going to bother. When the SSD arrives, I'll unplug the HDD I have with Win7 on it and not erase it. That way if I get annoyed at Linux, I can at least plug back the old drive and watch a movie. :D

I understand that OpenElec/LibreElec, are stripped down OS's with KODI in mind, but, is there an advantage? apart from drive space. I was going to get a 16GB SSD but off-chance I needed a full Linux Mint copy, for the extra $4 I got 32GB. But apart from that, does it start faster? run faster?

Current setup is in this thread...
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3361285/linux-ubuntu-htpc-server-kodi.html
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
B

boosted1g

Titan
Jun 12, 2013
14,846
8
74,965
I mean the board is not a known brand-name of board. While teh anker adapter is at least being backed by anker which is a brand I have trust/faith in.

I am amazed by the issues you had on their forum with getting such BS information.
Ideally you should edit autostart.sh in Config Files folder, and use devid to make sure LibreElec mounts that USB drive in the same spot every time.
Without this you run into the issue that drive 1 could be sda01 today and sda02 tomorrow.
Then you add it to Samba.config (also in Config Files folder)

Now this is likely not a great solution if you want to have a bunch of different permissions for different users but if you want a "public" network share or to set read for everyone and write for one account or something like that then this is more then adaquete for it.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
THRobinson

THRobinson

Distinguished
May 17, 2009
664
5
19,015
Oh well, the SATA/USB is for a future build idea/plan if I decide to go ahead with it.

I have the 32GB SSD coming as a new boot drive for my current HTPC so, no USB drives, all SATA.

But ya, took me a bit to figure out Windows sharing and get it running right, then documented it so can repeat it if I wipe the drive or something.

That said, I always wanted to try Linux/Ubuntu for an HTPC so, when the SSD comes (soon I hope) I'll be pulling my hair out to make it all work. :)

Share and getting the iR remote to work is what killed it for me a year or so ago. Tried with Ubuntu, and KODI was fine... but got no where help wise on the KODI site and after few days, installed Win7 again. I have a FLIRC iR receiver now, just came in the mail, plugs into the USB header on the motherboard and you flash/program it to know your iR signals so once flashed, can uninstall the software for it and should still work. Right now, I have an HP receiver and needs EventGhost to make it work... EventGhost wasn't available for Linux so remote didn't work.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom