SATA Hard Drive

[larrydonline]

I'm trying to hook up my WD 3.0 TB SATA hard drive to a SATA adaptor. It's also a 3.0 USB drive and the connectors look like those on Western Digital's page here http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5389/~/physical-description-of-data-cables,-data-ports,-and-data-connection-types-for They are the first pictures seen under Internal Connections labeled Port. However none of the SATA cables I've seen fit that port connection. Even the plug they show beside that port with the red cable on it doesn't look from the picture like it would fit. I have that same looking port and that same looking connector and I have tired every angel I can think of to mate them and they simply do not go together. The plug even has notches or cutouts so that it has to fit in only one way but this port is made of slightly slanted to flat tynes or metal connectors that in no way accept a plug like the one pictured. What am I missing in making this hook-up? I've seen Youtube videos of SATA hook-ups and as good a look as I could get of the back of the hard drives in those videos the port is sticking straight out and easily snaps into the SATA plug. Is there a special plug for this drive of mine or some other mystery I can't figure out? Thanks for any help.

 

[smorizio]

I'm trying to hook up my WD 3.0 TB SATA hard drive to a SATA adaptor. It's also a 3.0 USB drive and the connectors look like those on Western Digital's page here http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5389/~/physical-description-of-data-cables,-data-ports,-and-data-connection-types-for They are the first pictures seen under Internal Connections labeled Port. However none of the SATA cables I've seen fit that port connection. Even the plug they show beside that port with the red cable on it doesn't look from the picture like it would fit. I have that same looking port and that same looking connector and I have tired every angel I can think of to mate them and they simply do not go together. The plug even has notches or cutouts so that it has to fit in only one way but this port is made of slightly slanted to flat tynes or metal connectors that in no way accept a plug like the one pictured. What am I missing in making this hook-up? I've seen Youtube videos of SATA hook-ups and as good a look as I could get of the back of the hard drives in those videos the port is sticking straight out and easily snaps into the SATA plug. Is there a special plug for this drive of mine or some other mystery I can't figure out? Thanks for any help.

if it a sata drive there doing to be two plugs that look the same but one larger then the other. one the power plug and the other is the data plug.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/SERIAL-RAID-CONTROLLERS-AMCC,1738-2.html
as you can see that sas and sata look almost the same.

 

[ngrego]

You've mixed me up here. Is the drive internal or external?
If it's internal (you connect it inside your computer case) it need to be connected by two cables. The red data cable as seen in the first image and a SATA Power cable from your PSU fits right beside the red one.
If its externa (inside an enclosure or case) you will need to connect it by either a USB (2.0/3.0) cable or possibly an eSATA cable. You will find an image for the eSATA cable in the link you supplied further down the list.
The drive apparently came with the cables needed to connect it. USB 2.0/3.0 can be connected to ant USB port as thay are backward compatible. An eSATA cable (usually blue) is connected to an eSATA port wich sould be on the back pannel of your PC.

 

[larrydonline]

The drive is a WD My Book Essential 1130 USB external drive. I have removed it from its case and am presented with the port as shown in the Western Digital photo. It is plainly labeled a SATA drive so I bought the Vantec SATA/IDE to USB adaptor kit hoping to hook it directly to my USB computer port since it will not be recognized properly through the USB connection that it came with. Windows 7 wanted to install it as a CD Drive and sometimes as both a CD Drive and a hard drive. The only help Western Digital offered was to send it back for a replacement. I'd like to get my data off the drive and destroying it was always a possibility. So I have it out of the case but I can't figure out how to hook up the SATA port to the SATA connectors in the Vantec kit.

 

[smorizio]

http://www.vantecusa.com/en/product/show_pro_image/471/3
if this is the adaptor then eather the vendor that msde the adaptor make a mistake on putting it together. or there a part of a connector left on your drive or you snapped somthing off on the old drive taking it out of the encloser, I would try and take a photo and post it here.

 

[ngrego]

The SATA adapter on the Vantec kit should slide onto the disks SATA port covering both Data and Power. If you don't have either one of the two then smorzio is right, you may have snapped of one of the two when removing disk from enclosure.

 

[larrydonline]

if it a sata drive there doing to be two plugs that look the same but one larger then the other. one the power plug and the other is the data plug.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/SERIAL-RAID-CONTROLLERS-AMCC,1738-2.html
as you can see that sas and sata look almost the same.

The port looks like the one in the picture with the link above. The drive came out of the plastic case very easily there is nothing but plastic snaps and four rubber end grommets holding it in place so there no chance anything broke on the drive. But my adaptor kit is this one http://www.vantecusa.com/en/product/show_pro_image/266/0 It uses separate plugs for the power connection and for the data connection. Understanding the adoptors is not hard. They just don't fit the port of the drive. I think I'll get the one in the other link which is for the 6 Gps adaptor. I'm not concerned about transfer speed but it does have the plug as one piece so perhaps I can figure out how it is supposed to fit. There's a great photo on the Wikipedia page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA under Data Connector there is a close up of a SATA connector on a hard drive and looks much like mine but not exactly. You can see from that photo that there are two holes and a flat space between the data pins and the power pins. Mine has only one hole and no flat space. The far ends look the same though with a recess hole on each end. I believe this is for the ridge on the plug to lock into to, to retain the plug on the connecting port. So I have hope that the one piece adaptor might fit my drive. I didn't realize there were different configuration of a SATA port. Whoever did the photo page on Western Digital Knowledge Base http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5389/~/physical-description-of-data-cables,-data-ports,-and-data-connection-types-for did a lousy job. You can tell just by looking at the photos that those plugs pictured do not fit the ports in the photos across from the plugs. And they don't. If I still can't get it to mate after I get the other plug design I'll get back to you. Thanks for your help.

 

[ngrego]

Is there any chance you drive connector is SAS or micro SATA (mSATA)?
In smorizio's link there are images of SATA (top) and SAS (bottom), does yours look anything like either of them?
If it is possible try posting an image.

 

[larrydonline]

How do you post an image? The insert image tool here is asking for a URL for where the picture is located. Is there some site that you can upload photos to so you can link to them in a message?

 

[smorizio]

i use photobucket it make the image link for you.

 

[larrydonline]

Thanks. I have not heard of them before. This the top of the drive showing it is marked as a SATA:

and this is a photo of the connection:

I'm still waiting for my Vantec NexStar SATA 6Gbps to USB 3.0 Adapter for 2.5/3.5/5.25-Inch SSDs that the Amazon.com seller says was shipped on the 14th. and should be here by the 23rd. Seems rather slow for a small package they could have sent first class mail for the $6.37 shipping and I'd have had it by the 18th. So I won't know until I get it if it will work for my drive.

 

[larrydonline]

Well I see that I've linked to the same photo twice. I'll try the connection photo again:

 

[ngrego]

That my friend looks like you have removed the drive with a part from the housing on it!
That is the housings sata port along with the circuit attached to it. You should be able to pull that off by hand. Unless WD uses a specialised sata disk for their own enclosed drives (witch I doubt).

 

[larrydonline]

That my friend looks like you have removed the drive with a part from the housing on it!
That is the housings sata port along with the circuit attached to it. You should be able to pull that off by hand. Unless WD uses a
specialised sata disk for their own enclosed drives (witch I doubt).

First, I'm positive there's nothing broken on the drive. Perhaps seeing some more views will help you to help me.

I think it looks like what Western Digital shows on this page under Internal Connections: SATA
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5389/~/physical-description-of-data-cables,-data-ports,-and-data-connection-types-for

They do not show a SATA connection under External Connections, same page.

My connection also looks much like this photo on the Wikipedia page here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA

Here's a photo of the drive standing on edge so you can see the SATA connection in relation to the PC board. The USB connection is at the top of this photo.

This photo shows the whole PC board and its attachment to the drive. The camera has been moved just a little bit to the left in relation to the first photo.

And this is a photo from the top showing the usual power plug port on the right, the USB 3.0 connector in the middle. I don't know what the red button is there for.

 

[larrydonline]

Oh I figured out the red button. It's an on/off switch. When the drive is in the plastic case there is a piece of plastic that you depress to turn the drive on or off. Pressing that plastic toggles that red button.

 

[larrydonline]

I'm not happy with the quality of those photos. You can see a lot more detail when viewing them on photobucket, so I'm going to try my links again:

Those are much better. If nothing else I'm learning how to post photos <g>

 

[ngrego]

After seeing your first photo yesterday I have realized that there is nothing broken, that's not what I am saying. In pictures 2 & 3 above, I can see that there is a metal plate with a circuit and the usb and power ports and also the red button. That all is part of your enclosure is what I'm trying to tell you!

If you remove the (4) screws that I can see from the metal plate on the bottom of the disk, that entire assembly will just slip off your disk!

If you tell me how to post an image I will show you how it should look

 

[larrydonline]

After seeing your first photo yesterday I have realized that there is nothing broken, that's not what I am saying. In pictures 2 & 3 above, I can see that there is a metal plate with a circuit and the usb and power ports and also the red button. That all is part of your enclosure is what I'm trying to tell you!

If you remove the (4) screws that I can see from the metal plate on the bottom of the disk, that entire assembly will just slip off your disk!

If you tell me how to post an image I will show you how it should look

OK, I follow you now. I will remove that assembly and get back to you. As for posting images I took smorizio's advice and opened a free account at photobucket. Now when I want to post a photo I click on the blue link above the message window that says "insert image", then go to photobucket and copy the URL for that image into the insert image field. If I get the right image link it will add that image to my message. Of course you have to first upload the images to photobucket but that works smoothly just by following their links on their website.

 

[larrydonline]

Best answer selected by larrydonline.

 

[larrydonline]

Thanks to all who helped. ngrego's answer was the one I needed. I learned a lot from the feedback here.