Reasons a Sata cable wouldn't recognize a harddrive?
14 replies, posted
I have an old computer that broke just over a year ago. Recently, I decided I'd open it up and get the harddrive out. I've never done this before, but I ordered a Sata cable, which I plugged into the old PC and a laptop, however nothing happens and it doesn't appear to be picking up the harddrive. There's another area of the PC that has a Sata input, which I tried. If I plug the cable in there, it does show up and I'm able to open the old PC's disk tray via the laptop :v:
Apart from the harddrive being dead, which worked perfectly fine before the PC broken, is there any other issues this could be and any suggestions I could try?
is the SATA input you use which worked on the case or is it the ones on the motherboard? it sounds like an issue with the SATA ports themselves, not the cable. have you tried using another cable on the SATA ports that didn't work?
This is what I've been using:
[url]http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B008AGJKNO/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1[/url]
I haven't tried anything else as I didn't previously own anything suitable
oh, it's a laptop, somehow missed that :v:
I'm a little confused right now. if I understand correct, you want to take the old HDD out of the broken PC for use somewhere else? you also mention plugging it into the old PC too, which I don't understand. is the HDD removed or are you trying to transfer files across?
HDD removed, using the USB 2 to SATA adapter into the laptop, but doesn't work?
Basically, the PC is dead, but you can still turn it on and it won't boot properly. I was trying to plug the harddrive from it into a laptop since I want to get some files from it, but when I plug the USB and Sata cables in, nothing shows up
Is the hdd you're trying to power via usb a laptop drive?
As far as I can tell, yes
Okay. So let me get exactly what you're trying down here, I'm still a bit groggy. You took the 2.5" hard drive out of your dead laptop. You then plugged the SATA end of cable into the old hard drive, and the two USB plugs into your working laptop. It will not recognize. The old PC is a laptop, correct?
Oh, no, the laptop and old PC are two different things, apologies
[QUOTE=NiandraLades;45497346]Oh, no, the laptop and old PC are two different things, apologies[/QUOTE]
So the old PC is not a laptop? That means it most likely has a 3.5" desktop hard drive, fairly bigger than a 2.5" laptop drive. Unfortunately that cable cannot power a desktop drive, as desktop drives use both a 5v and 12v power, while laptop drives only use 5v which USB can handle.
Sorry for the late reply, but okay, thanks, I wasn't aware of this
I'll see about plugging it into my current PC instead or something
In case you have a external hard drive, you can open it up, temporarily take out the current drive and hook up the drive from the dead PC. If the external drive 3.5'' the controller should be able to power the drive.
I disassembled my Seagate drive to use the disk for a NAS and I use the USB controller to make backups of files.
[QUOTE=Merijnwitje;45512965]In case you have a external hard drive, you can open it up, temporarily take out the current drive and hook up the drive from the dead PC. If the external drive 3.5'' the controller should be able to power the drive.
I disassembled my Seagate drive to use the disk for a NAS and I use the USB controller to make backups of files.[/QUOTE]
This as well. The only case I know of that this wouldn't work on is select Western Digital externals because the controller actually encrypts the data.
[QUOTE=Levelog;45517512]This as well. The only case I know of that this wouldn't work on is select Western Digital externals because the controller actually encrypts the data.[/QUOTE]
There's a few WD drives which have the USB controller directly on the drive PCB too, without a standard SATA or power connector.
Yeah fuck WD externals.
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