• Welcome to Tux Reports: Where Penguins Fly. We hope you find the topics varied, interesting, and worthy of your time. Please become a member and join in the discussions.

SATA male - female cable???

M

~misfit~

Flightless Bird
So, I'm sitting here thinking and right from the start I know it's not a
good idea. I should do the chores instead...

Anyway, I'm thinking; I have a couple of those 1.5TB 3.5" SATA HDDs that I
connect to my laptop via USB 'docks'. My main laptop never leaves my desk...
I wonder if it's possible to get an extension / adapter cable to run a
desktop HDD sitting on the desk next to my laptop (or rather behind it).

I mean, the interface is exactly the same between 2.5" and 3.5", right down
to the positioning of the power and data cables. Ok, I can see that there
could be an issue with the laptop not supplying enough power to spin up the
3.5" HDD but I doubt it while it's running on mains power. <shrug> Even if
that is the case I can run a power brick for the HDD.

So has anyone done this? I can imagine a 2.5" HDD-sized 'male' end to the
cables and the cables proper snaking out to connect to the 3.5" HDD. When I
Google I find lots of adapters to run laptop HDDs in desktops but I've gone
mad trying to find the opposite.

Essentially I could do it myself if I could find such a thing as a SATA male
to female cable....

And with new search parameters in mind I find what I'm looking for!

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A2869040&dgc=SS&cid=27530&lid=627063

So whaddya reckon? One of these coming out of the laptop hooked up to a
multi-terrabyte 3.5" drive for those of us who simply use a laptop mainly
for space and power saving rather than portability? Has anyone tried it?
--
Cheers,
Shaun.

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's
warm for the rest of his life." Terry Pratchet, 'Jingo'.
Nota bene: 'Return to' email is very rarely checked, if at all. It's spam
city but is a req. of my NNTP providor.
 
B

BillW50

Flightless Bird
In news:hm034c$kts$1@news.eternal-september.org,
~misfit~ typed on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:20:22 +1300:
> So, I'm sitting here thinking and right from the start I know it's
> not a good idea. I should do the chores instead...
>
> Anyway, I'm thinking; I have a couple of those 1.5TB 3.5" SATA HDDs
> that I connect to my laptop via USB 'docks'. My main laptop never
> leaves my desk... I wonder if it's possible to get an extension /
> adapter cable to run a desktop HDD sitting on the desk next to my
> laptop (or rather behind it).

That is why they sell 3.5 inch external HDD SATA enclosures.

> I mean, the interface is exactly the same between 2.5" and 3.5",
> right down to the positioning of the power and data cables. Ok, I can
> see that there could be an issue with the laptop not supplying enough
> power to spin up the 3.5" HDD but I doubt it while it's running on
> mains power. <shrug>
> Even if that is the case I can run a power brick for the HDD.

I would not recommend powering any 3.5 inch HDD from a laptop. Running a
laptop from AC power doesn't give you extra power either. As the power
regulators and the traces are fixed inside of the laptop and are
designed to handle so much power and no more. Thus you definitely need
external power for any 3.5 inch drive you want to connect up to a
laptop.

> So has anyone done this? I can imagine a 2.5" HDD-sized 'male' end to
> the cables and the cables proper snaking out to connect to the 3.5"
> HDD. When I Google I find lots of adapters to run laptop HDDs in
> desktops but I've gone mad trying to find the opposite.
>
> Essentially I could do it myself if I could find such a thing as a
> SATA male to female cable....
>
> And with new search parameters in mind I find what I'm looking for!
>
> http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A2869040&dgc=SS&cid=27530&lid=627063
>
> So whaddya reckon? One of these coming out of the laptop hooked up to
> a multi-terrabyte 3.5" drive for those of us who simply use a laptop
> mainly for space and power saving rather than portability? Has anyone
> tried it?

Instead of using the laptop internal SATA connector, why not use an
external SATA connector? If your laptop doesn't have one, they have
CardBus and ExpressCard ones you can use. Then you can use an external
SATA 3.5 inch external drive enclosure. The only problem I could see
from this is whether or not your BIOS would allow to boot from an
external SATA HDD or not.

--
Bill
Gateway MX6124 ('06 era) 1 of 3 - Windows XP SP2
 
M

Mark F

Flightless Bird
On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:20:22 +1300, "~misfit~"
<sore_n_happy@nospamyahoo.com.au> wrote:

> So, I'm sitting here thinking and right from the start I know it's not a
> good idea. I should do the chores instead...
>
> Anyway, I'm thinking; I have a couple of those 1.5TB 3.5" SATA HDDs that I
> connect to my laptop via USB 'docks'. My main laptop never leaves my desk...
> I wonder if it's possible to get an extension / adapter cable to run a
> desktop HDD sitting on the desk next to my laptop (or rather behind it).
>
> I mean, the interface is exactly the same between 2.5" and 3.5", right down
> to the positioning of the power and data cables. Ok, I can see that there
> could be an issue with the laptop not supplying enough power to spin up the
> 3.5" HDD but I doubt it while it's running on mains power. <shrug> Even if
> that is the case I can run a power brick for the HDD.
>
> So has anyone done this? I can imagine a 2.5" HDD-sized 'male' end to the
> cables and the cables proper snaking out to connect to the 3.5" HDD. When I
> Google I find lots of adapters to run laptop HDDs in desktops but I've gone
> mad trying to find the opposite.
>
> Essentially I could do it myself if I could find such a thing as a SATA male
> to female cable....
>
> And with new search parameters in mind I find what I'm looking for!
>
> http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A2869040&dgc=SS&cid=27530&lid=627063
>
> So whaddya reckon? One of these coming out of the laptop hooked up to a
> multi-terrabyte 3.5" drive for those of us who simply use a laptop mainly
> for space and power saving rather than portability? Has anyone tried it?
As others have stated don't attempt to power from your laptop.

Addonics has various external boxes and power supplies that can
accomplish what you want. You can get Addonics Diamond DSACSB for
eSATA only. They have an eSATA/USB 2.0 box also. I use DSACSB
(UPC 6 05242 96076 3) with a FANSD.


dataTale has a combination eSATA, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394b, IEEE-1394a
box that comes with a power supply. I got mine from Oyen Digital.
http://oyendigital.com/external-hard-drive-TQM12H.html#?
(Mine came with a "green" drive, but I switch to 7200 RPM)

The dataTale Model TQM12H in 3.5 USB 2.0/eSATA/1394a/1394b HDD
Enclosure in the package don't have a fan and doesn't seem to have an
easy why to add one, although have had some success by putting a
laptop cooling fan base under them. However, they still ran hot with
7200 RPM drives (say 43+C compared to DSACSB+FANSD run about 36C at
25C ambient)

I've also used a Stanley 10-079 Retractable Utility Knife
to cut away parts from the innards of various multiple-interface
"boxes" similar to the TQM12H and Addonics AASA2SAP15C, AESAPSA15C,
and other cables so that I could use arbitrary single interface SATA
and eSATA boxes with my choice of interface. I don't recommend such
cable trimming for a permanent setup, but is has allowed me us use
any of my external boxes with whatever interface happened to be
available on a particular laptop.

Addonics had a 12/5V power supply with various adapters so you
could power SATA drives taking either the 4-pin PATA style power
or the now normal SATA power shown on the cable you cite and also
came with an adapter for the Addonics Diamond, Saturn and other
boxes, but I couldn't find the number for the complete package
today. Addonics also has automobile power adapters, so you could
power your disk from your car.
 
M

~misfit~

Flightless Bird
Somewhere on teh intarwebs Mark F wrote:
> On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:20:22 +1300, "~misfit~"
> <sore_n_happy@nospamyahoo.com.au> wrote:
>
>> So, I'm sitting here thinking and right from the start I know it's
>> not a good idea. I should do the chores instead...
>>
>> Anyway, I'm thinking; I have a couple of those 1.5TB 3.5" SATA HDDs
>> that I connect to my laptop via USB 'docks'. My main laptop never
>> leaves my desk... I wonder if it's possible to get an extension /
>> adapter cable to run a desktop HDD sitting on the desk next to my
>> laptop (or rather behind it).
>>
>> I mean, the interface is exactly the same between 2.5" and 3.5",
>> right down to the positioning of the power and data cables. Ok, I
>> can see that there could be an issue with the laptop not supplying
>> enough power to spin up the
>> 3.5" HDD but I doubt it while it's running on mains power. <shrug>
>> Even if that is the case I can run a power brick for the HDD.
>>
>> So has anyone done this? I can imagine a 2.5" HDD-sized 'male' end
>> to the cables and the cables proper snaking out to connect to the
>> 3.5" HDD. When I Google I find lots of adapters to run laptop HDDs
>> in desktops but I've gone mad trying to find the opposite.
>>
>> Essentially I could do it myself if I could find such a thing as a
>> SATA male to female cable....
>>
>> And with new search parameters in mind I find what I'm looking for!
>>
>> http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A2869040&dgc=SS&cid=27530&lid=627063
>>
>> So whaddya reckon? One of these coming out of the laptop hooked up
>> to a multi-terrabyte 3.5" drive for those of us who simply use a
>> laptop mainly for space and power saving rather than portability?
>> Has anyone tried it?
> As others have stated don't attempt to power from your laptop.
>
> Addonics has various external boxes and power supplies that can
> accomplish what you want. You can get Addonics Diamond DSACSB for
> eSATA only. They have an eSATA/USB 2.0 box also. I use DSACSB
> (UPC 6 05242 96076 3) with a FANSD.
>
>
> dataTale has a combination eSATA, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394b, IEEE-1394a
> box that comes with a power supply. I got mine from Oyen Digital.
> http://oyendigital.com/external-hard-drive-TQM12H.html#?
> (Mine came with a "green" drive, but I switch to 7200 RPM)
>
> The dataTale Model TQM12H in 3.5 USB 2.0/eSATA/1394a/1394b HDD
> Enclosure in the package don't have a fan and doesn't seem to have an
> easy why to add one, although have had some success by putting a
> laptop cooling fan base under them. However, they still ran hot with
> 7200 RPM drives (say 43+C compared to DSACSB+FANSD run about 36C at
> 25C ambient)
>
> I've also used a Stanley 10-079 Retractable Utility Knife
> to cut away parts from the innards of various multiple-interface
> "boxes" similar to the TQM12H and Addonics AASA2SAP15C, AESAPSA15C,
> and other cables so that I could use arbitrary single interface SATA
> and eSATA boxes with my choice of interface. I don't recommend such
> cable trimming for a permanent setup, but is has allowed me us use
> any of my external boxes with whatever interface happened to be
> available on a particular laptop.
>
> Addonics had a 12/5V power supply with various adapters so you
> could power SATA drives taking either the 4-pin PATA style power
> or the now normal SATA power shown on the cable you cite and also
> came with an adapter for the Addonics Diamond, Saturn and other
> boxes, but I couldn't find the number for the complete package
> today. Addonics also has automobile power adapters, so you could
> power your disk from your car.

Thanks for your comments Mark.

I haven't been able to source the cable here in New Zealand. I can soon
knock together a cooled box with a PSU from the piles of stuff I have around
here.
--
Cheers,
Shaun.

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's
warm for the rest of his life." Terry Pratchet, 'Jingo'.
Nota bene: 'Return to' email is very rarely checked, if at all. It's spam
city but is a req. of my NNTP providor.
 
A

Anthony R. Gold

Flightless Bird
On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:20:22 +1300, "~misfit~"
<sore_n_happy@nospamyahoo.com.au> wrote:

> http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A2869040&dgc=SS&cid=27530&lid=627063
>
> So whaddya reckon? One of these coming out of the laptop hooked up to a
> multi-terrabyte 3.5" drive for those of us who simply use a laptop mainly
> for space and power saving rather than portability? Has anyone tried it?

The connector(s) inside the notebook may be where the sun don't shine and
where the fingers can't reach.

BTW the cable you found had all 22 pins, 7 data and 15 power. Maybe
http://www.amazon.com/Price-Piece-CablesToBuy-Female-Cable/dp/B0022WRMIC or
equivalent, just for the data lines, is more appropriate and you could then
power the drive separately.

Tony
 
M

~misfit~

Flightless Bird
Somewhere on teh intarwebs Anthony R. Gold wrote:
> On Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:20:22 +1300, "~misfit~"
> <sore_n_happy@nospamyahoo.com.au> wrote:
>
>> http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?sku=A2869040&dgc=SS&cid=27530&lid=627063
>>
>> So whaddya reckon? One of these coming out of the laptop hooked up
>> to a multi-terrabyte 3.5" drive for those of us who simply use a
>> laptop mainly for space and power saving rather than portability?
>> Has anyone tried it?
>
> The connector(s) inside the notebook may be where the sun don't shine
> and where the fingers can't reach.

Ahh, I've had my fingers where the sun don't shine before. ;-)

> BTW the cable you found had all 22 pins, 7 data and 15 power. Maybe
> http://www.amazon.com/Price-Piece-CablesToBuy-Female-Cable/dp/B0022WRMIC
> or equivalent, just for the data lines, is more appropriate and you
> could then power the drive separately.

Thanks Tony. I was originally hoping that I could power the HDD from the
laptop but now realise that I'd be risking the motherboard if I did that. It
*might* work fine but then again I'd hate to have to replace the mobo in
this T60. Still, it'd be no big deal to run a power brick, I'm just
re-working all the wiring around my desk / office / workshop (no mean feat I
tell you, it's gradually developed to the stage it's at now over years of
adding on new power splitters, ethernet switches and USB devices...) so that
I can turn off my modem, router and switches at night if I'm not leaving any
computers running [but *not* turn off the filters in the fish tanks]. They
pull down quite a bit of electricity between them and it's going up again on
the 1st of April. :-(

Oh, my point was I could run a power brick for the HDD from the switched
power that runs the above devices so that it's turned on before the laptop.

Thanks for the link.
--
Cheers,
Shaun.

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's
warm for the rest of his life." Terry Pratchet, 'Jingo'.
Nota bene: 'Return to' email is very rarely checked, if at all. It's spam
city but is a req. of my NNTP providor.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top