6 pin modular sata connectors

[selldoor]

Hi, bit of story here and a warning to anyone who doesnt know!!I know its my own fault BUT naively expected that sata connectors would be standardised. I got a freebie PC and after taking it to bits and putting it back together it was running well. Unfortunately it had only one sata cable for the power supply and I wanted to connect 3 drives, a ssd with the OS and two 2TB drives one old that was dodgy (bad sectors) and a new one that I was going to transfer the files to.
Thought hey, I am sure I have a spare cable left over from a previous set up. Eventually found it and just plugged it in and away . Hmm whats that smell!!!! smoke!!! Rip the power cord out of the PC. As I had not secured the drives but placed them on card on the bottom of the PC I thought damn, one has moved and shorted out. Hoping its not the new one I take all the drives and cables out and find that,thankfully,it is the old drive.
(Files on it were not that important and copied to my sons pc.)
On closer inspection I see that it was not shorting on the frame it is ONLY the connector that has burnt, drive has a bit of charring and pins on the connector now a different colour and a bit of melted plastic from the cable connector. The drive socket cleaned up and whoopee worked ok ( back on 2 drives so used the original cable that came with the PC.)
Transfer project still on, I connected the new drive up to the second cable which still had a unused (unburnt) sata socket and £$%&**!!! same thing happened - scorched the socket on the new drive. Again the drive still worked, after cleaning, on the original cable.
Took some time to sink in but I removed both cables to compare and Whoa different wiring!!!

Gave up on the project till now and having found another cable off another power supply thought I will try again. Twice bitten I have been more careful and looks like its a good job ALL3 connectors are wired differently. What is annoying all 3 plug into the power supply.
The sockets are supposedly shaped to stop that happening? 2 are the same and one is different but even the different one has only one of the 6 "pegs" different and as it is a "U" instead of a square it still goes in. I have tried all 3 in different sockets on the power supply and they all just plug in - no resistance at all.
Maybe I can rewire a cable in the same format as the one that works. Anyone else come across this?

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: 6 pin modular sata connectors

are the modular cables from different brand and model power supplies? u cant interchange modular cables from different psus like that. each psu manufacturer wires the modular panel on their psu differently to carry different voltages thru different individual wires. the U and the square sometimes makes no difference depending on how each psu manufacturer set up the individual plugs on their modular panel and cables.

case in point, look at those 4+4 pin atx 12v psu connectors and an 8 pin eps 12v connector on a mobo. they are shaped differently but still plug in. apparently, they do it this way for 4 pin and 8 pin compatibility but that is not the point. the point is that u cant blame the psu manufacturer. they cant consider every possible scenario to make those connectors "idiot-proof" as there are too many possible combinations. some of them even use pci express 6 pin connectors for their modular cable plugs. u cant expect psu manufacturers to make their modular cables interchangeable with others. its just not a reasonable expectation. just dont interchange modular cables from different psus.

and im quite surprised those drives still work after running wrong voltages in the wrong directions through them. my advice is that just because they work now doesnt mean they will continue to work. the drive electronics are living on borrowed time from the short circuited incorrect connection. i suggest u not put anything critical on those drives and backup the data to a fresh brand new drive on another pc.

[eccerr0r]

Re: 6 pin modular sata connectors

I hate those modular PSUs when you get them used, yes they tend to be different per manufacturer on the PSU side (the other side, SATA/Molex/PCIe/etc. is standardized). The problem being that people tend to toss the extra cables in the trash or somewhere else and when you receive it, you don't get them :\

I've been dumping my extra modular cables inside the PC so I never lose them... and sometimes just leave them connected, but then it defeats the purpose of modular PSUs.

Thus I don't think the modular PSUs are worth the additional cost. Will not pay extra for it! :\

[Per Hansson]

Re: 6 pin modular sata connectors

Yea it's really crazy this is not standardized.
How bloody difficult would it have been to use the same connector on both ends?

[ChaosLegionnaire]

Re: 6 pin modular sata connectors

I hate those modular PSUs when you get them used, yes they tend to be different per manufacturer on the PSU side (the other side, SATA/Molex/PCIe/etc. is standardized). The problem being that people tend to toss the extra cables in the trash or somewhere else and when you receive it, you don't get them :\

I've been dumping my extra modular cables inside the PC so I never lose them... and sometimes just leave them connected, but then it defeats the purpose of modular PSUs.

what about those modular psus that come with pouches to help u store excess/unused modular cables? are those pouches useful to ppl at all? im curious to know.

e.g. leaving the pouch taped to the inside of the case if u can find a space to put it. then leaving a bag of dessicant inside the pouch helps to protect the unused cables from oxidization. rather than just chucking the unused cables inside the case with exposed connectors.

for me, i like modular psus because of how i can hotplug and unplug things easily when i want or dont need to use them. i dont need to pull the plug out on every individual device! it would then be a hassle to plug all of them back in again when i wanna use em.

so i suppose eccerr0r's point is right. if u dont have the right personality trait or right usage scenario(s) for modular psus, u are better off with non-modular fixed cables and saving your money.

[stj]

Re: 6 pin modular sata connectors

i HATE modular psu's - try taking one apart!

a lot are a bit of a scam anyway, the internal wiring is far less capable than the external cables.

[fzabkar]

Re: 6 pin modular sata connectors

I have seen MANY disasters in the storage forums caused by mixing dissimilar modular cables. Typically 12V will be applied to a HDD's 5V input, or the 5V input will be reverse biased. This is particularly disastrous on WD drives which have a stupid "protection" circuit. The 5V supply typically powers the preamp on the headstack, so if the overvoltage gets past the protection, then the drive usually sustains internal damage.

See ...

Catastrophic failures in Western Digital PCBs:
http://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.p...&t=1119&p=5033

Otherwise, the drive will be protected by a TVS diode which usually goes S/C.

HDD TVS diode FAQ:
http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/HDD/TVS_diode_FAQ.html

[stj]

Re: 6 pin modular sata connectors

depends on the psu, larger ones will just blow a tvs clean off the pads!

[fzabkar]

Re: 6 pin modular sata connectors

depends on the psu, larger ones will just blow a tvs clean off the pads!

I've seen hundreds of shorted TVS diodes over the years. In fact I was answering questions on the subject about 3 times per week. I never saw one that was destroyed in that way.

In fact during my minicomputer days I saw hundreds of shorted tantalum capacitors across 5V, 120A supply rails. Some caps caught fire, but those that didn't simply shut down the PSU.

[stj]

Re: 6 pin modular sata connectors

i'v seen tvs diodes get so hot they fell off the pads.

[selldoor]

Re: 6 pin modular sata connectors

Thanks for the comments folks - At least I am not alone in stumbling on this major plug and play incompatibility masterpiece. Yes 3 different makes -Zalman, Antec and an unknown (just have the cable) Naturally the pins will only pull out on the good original cable (as I dont need to pull those) and the others wont budge so its a cut and re solder job.