Do I need another adapter to connect the eSATA to my old hard drive?

[musiccity]

I have never done this before, so I am working from a place of ignorance.

Recently the motherboard in my HP dv9000 went out. (Or so I was told by tech support.)

Someone gave me a Toshiba Satellite A305D. I want to retrieve my data from the HP hard drive and access it on the Toshiba. I have removed the hard drive. I bought an eSATA cable, and I can see the port where it docks into the Toshiba. But do I need another adapter to hook it up to the hard drive?

Thank you.

 

[nforce4max]

Normally most people buy an external enclosure that provides power and for data uses an sata to usb converter that takes care of all the work.

 

[musiccity]

Thank you for the response.
A couple of more basic questions.

Was my eSATA cable purchase in vain?
When I look for an enclosure, how do I know which one is the right one? Are they pretty universal? Or are there specs I need to look for?

Thanks again.

 

[nforce4max]

If you have the means to power the drive then no it wasn't. The cable doesn't provide power just data and will perform the same as if it were in the laptop or pc.

 

[hang-the-9]

If you did not open the cable, return it. If you buy an external case, it will come with a cable.

 

[Paperdoc]

In choosing your enclosure in which to mount the old internal HDD, you need to look for three details:

1. Interface between HDD unit and enclosure. What is the HDD type - IDE or SATA - of the old drive from the HP laptop? Whichever it is, that is what you need inside the enclosure to plug in the drive. "Interface" here means the electrical AND mechanical layout of the connectors in the enclosure must match the connectors on the HDD so it can just plug in. Now in your case the old drive came from an HP laptop, and laptop IDE drives certainly are not the same as desktop IDE drives. I am not sure whether the connections on laptop SATA drives are the same as desktop SATA drives. So be sure whether the enclosure is really suited to the LAPTOP version of the drive you have. This MAY also impact the physical layout for how the HDD is mounted securely inside the enclosure.

2. The interface from enclosure to computer. For this you need to know what ports / connectors your new Toshiba unit has available. Almost all machines have USB2 ports, some have USB3. Some have eSATA, and a few have IEEE 1394a (aka Firewire 400). Of these, USB2 is slower than the others, but is almost universal. So pick an enclosure that has a port matching what the Toshiba has available. Some enclosures will offer a combination of two (sometimes three) external interfaces in one case, to be used one at a time.

3. Power. I prefer that power to the HDD in the enclosure be supplied by a separate power supply "brick" that comes with the enclosure; that way there is none drawn from the computer. However, there are many external drives, and enclosures to make them, designed specifically for laptop machines that try to adhere to the small-and-simple design concept. So there are lots that use small low-power HDD's inside and then use the USB2 port to supply all the power it needs, with NO extra power supply. In some cases the power available on a USB port (which is limited) is not quite enough, and the external drive unit comes with a cable that has TWO USB connectors on the end. Both must be plugged in to get enough power to run the drive. So you can decide what sort of arrangement appeals to you for enclosing a small portable HDD.

 

[musiccity]

Wow. Thanks. I don't know if the HD is IDE or Sata. May just take it in when I try to find an enclosure. Would rather buy it in person than online so I know I get the right thing because I have apparently already bought something I don't need in the eSATA cable. Grrr... But I am learning. I did get a lot of what you said. I will work off of that. Thank you again.

 

[nforce4max]

If you can see a bunch of pins (44 total) then its ide but if it is any thing else its sata.

 

[Paperdoc]

nforce4max has pointed you in the right direction for identifying your HDD. A laptop's version of IDE has a single 44-pin connector that has the 40 (or 39) pins for a desktop drive pus 4 more for power. A laptop SATA drive has connectors like a desktop SATA drive - 2 connectors, one 7-pin, one 15-pin.

At least, those are the common "standard" ways. I can't tell you whether the HP unit you have is one of those two possibilities, or something else.

 

[mikeanthony827]

Paperdoc and NForce, you two Rock!!! My HP dv9000 went down just under a year a go. I have since tried (to no avail) to work it out directly with HP. They were only willing to offer me a discount on a new mother board. Even though it is common knowledge that their entire line of "dv" models are all flawed! I for one will never buy a HP product again. Now I am getting myself involved in class action lawsuits against HP for these very issues. But for what its worth I wanted to say thanks for all the information you posted for the original person who asked. Not only did you both help him, your info helped me a great deal. I have most recently accepted that my HP will not be fixed, not any time soon anyway, so my next move was to get the info from my HDD. I bought an enclosure unit but nothing lined up. Now thanks to you guys I understand more about the difference between SATA and IDE. Apparently I bought a SATA and I clearly needed an IDE adapter. Beyond that I know now to look for a unit with multiple access points, power availability, etc. Thank you both so very much!!! Happy Holidays

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey