Using a USB to IDE/SATA adapter.

[rjfvillarosa]

For quite some time now we have been recommending the use of USB to IDE/SATA adapters, these adapters have various uses including backing up data, imaging and virus scanning. Using one of these adapters for the first time can be a bit of a hit and miss affair. I personally have three of them, one purchased in the UK and two purchased in the US and their operational procedures are pretty much the same. I want to list a few points to help people attempting to use an adapter for the first time.


1. First plug the adapter into your computer without a harddrive attached, this will allow your computer to recognize the adapter and load any necessary drivers for it.

2. Always dismount the adapter regardless of whether a harddrive is connected to it or not before unplugging it from your computer and definitely dismount the adapter if you do have a harddrive connected to it. Just because you have finished working with the harddrive it’s possible that Windows is still accessing the harddrive and could be indexing or writing System Restore information to it. Unplugging a USB mass storage device of any type without dismounting it first can cause file system damage and make an already problematical harddrive worse.

3. One of the questions I am often asked is “why doesn’t the harddrive show up on my computer when I use the adapter?” The adapter is working as a USB mass storage device and your computer sees the harddrive via the adapter, the adapter needs to see the harddrive first and report to the computer what it is. It is therefore important to take into account the harddrive jumpers. The adapter needs to know what is plugged into it and with most of the IDE harddrives I have connected via the adapter you need to jumper the harddrive as Master or Cable Select. You should be able to find the jumper positions on the manufacturers’ website if they are not clearly marked on the harddrive.

4. When using an IDE laptop harddrive be very careful with the jumpers and the data plug, the jumper has a tendency to hinder the correct installation of the data plug. Depending on the position of the jumper it is possible to very gently bend the pins up or down just enough to allow the data plug to slide onto its contacts, do this by manipulating the jumper out of the way rather than trying to bend the pins themselves.

5. You will soon know if all is well if AutoPlay starts scanning the drive for known file types.

6. Don’t be surprised if the next time you need to use System Restore that a warning pops up saying that drive xx (whatever drive letter was used for your adapter) will not be included in the System Restore. This is only because restore information was saved for the harddrive at the time it was connected to your computer and now the harddrive is not seen.


These adapters can really come into their own when you are experiencing problems with Windows not recognizing a faulty harddrive. On several occasions I have found that by connecting a harddrive using the adapter I have been able to view and access a harddrive that previously didn’t show up in the BIOS or Windows Disk Manager.
For some reason connecting the harddrive up using the adapter seems to be less of a drain on the harddrives resources and therefore allows you to view and access a previously troublesome harddrive.
Laptop harddrives do not require the use of the power supply that comes with the adapter, they get their power from the USB port and I have found that by using the adapters’ power supply at the same time, it again helps when trying to access a faulty harddrive.
All the points listed here are based on my own experience gained from using these adapters over the last three or four years, obviously I cannot comment on every scenario only the ones I have seen, but for me anyone serious about data recovery or virus/malware scanning would certainly benefit from using one of these adapters.

[shadowpr]

Good thread.

[kilgoretrout]

The Western Digital 100gb SATA laptop harddrive I have mounted in my Apricorn housing is jumpered Cable Select; it is the only way it will be recognized.

SATA drives don't have a Cable Select setting AFAIK. The only jumper setting on a SATA drive is for forcing a 300MB/sec SATA drive to operate at the older SATA speed of 150MB/sec. Is that what you are referring to or is my knowledge of SATA just wrong?

[glc]

Here are the jumper settings for WD SATA notebook drives:

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....reated=#jumper

There is no master/slave/cable select. Kilgore is correct. Not all brands and models of SATA drives use a jumper to lock it down to 1.5 either.

Are you sure you aren't referring to a IDE notebook drive? Those in fact do have master/slave/cable select jumpers.

[rjfvillarosa]

I have edited the first post to remove the information about SATA harddrive jumpering until I can substantiate the point. The only laptop SATA harddrive I have here at the moment is jumpered RPS in order for it to work with the adapter.

[rjfvillarosa]

I have got my Apricorn housing back and the WD 100gig SATA notebook harddrive in it is also jumpered RPS.
Please ignore my earlier dull comments about SATA drives and Master, Slave and Cable Select jumpering I was obviously having a "senior moment"

Here are some links to typical USB adapters:

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=2020&cat=HDD

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...504-DT&cpc=SCH

http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/S...roductID=12596

http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/S...roductID=13779

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812200155

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812186036

Typical IDE and SATA harddrive jumpering:

http://wdc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/wdc....cF9jdj0mcF9zZW

http://www.seagate.com/images/suppor...5_family_1.gif

http://www.seagate.com/staticfiles/i...umpers_rev.jpg

http://www.seagate.com/images/suppor...sata_block.gif

http://www.seagate.com/images/suppor...ta_jumpers.gif


RPS or Reduced Power SpinUp is very useful when using a notebook SATA drive with a USB adapter and no power supply, using the jumper in the RPS position lowers the power load on spinup when you are using only the power provided by the USB port.

http://www.wdc.com/en/library/portable/2579-001116.pdf

Please check the manufacturers knowledge base for your own drive to make sure of the jumper settings for your drive.

[diegol]

I have this adapter, as far as I remember I used it with an XP machine and it worked fine. But now on my vista laptop doesnt work. If I plug the adapter without any disk attached Vista (Business) says it doesnt recognize the USB device. If I plug the adapter WITH the disk attached Vista starts to install some kind of drive, when finished it says that the device controller installed properly and I can use it but the disk doesnt appear in disk management nor in windows explorer. The only way I can access the disk is by using a USB hub between the adapter and the usb input in the laptop. My USB hub is USB 1.0 and I have not tested with a USB 2.0 hub, but could this fact be related with the controller issue??

[rjfvillarosa]

Diegol. Thank you for the PM
It would be more beneficial for others if we address this problem here.
How old is the adapter?
Have you tried it in all the USB ports on your machine?

Originally Posted by diegol The only way I can access the disk is by using a USB hub between the adapter and the usb input in the laptop. My USB hub is USB 1.0 and I have not tested with a USB 2.0 hub, but could this fact be related with the controller issue??

Just a guess, but I am thinking the firmware of your adapter was written long before Vista came out, or is not compatible with Vista, hence the reason why I asked how old the adpter is.

[diegol]

I bought the adapter in october last year. It look like this one

http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?inv...504-DT&cpc=SCH

Its no branded and made in China. Thats all the info on the box. Do you think I can download from somewhere the last firmware?

[glc]

It's more likely that your laptop's USB port doesn't have enough power to run it without a self-powered hub in between.

[diegol]

Originally Posted by glc It's more likely that your laptop's USB port doesn't have enough power to run it without a self-powered hub in between.

You think? That USB port can power a 2.5 disk by itself. In this case Im trying to read a 3.5 disk which I connect directly to the power source, the disks spins just fine with its own power source, the USB is just for data.

[rjfvillarosa]

Originally Posted by diegol In this case Im trying to read a 3.5 disk which I connect directly to the power source, the disks spins just fine with its own power source, .

Can you tell me what make and model disk this is?

[diegol]

Its not just one disk actually, is a bunch of them: SATA Seagate 250 and 300 GB, a Toshiba 500GB 7200rpm, a pair of IDE Seagate of 80 GB each/5400 rpm. With all I use the adapter and the behavior its the same

[rjfvillarosa]

With the IDE drives try jumpering them Master or Cable Select.

[diegol]

Originally Posted by rjfvillarosa With the IDE drives try jumpering them Master or Cable Select.

Thanks for all the alternatives, I tried already in Master and Cable Select: didnt work

[psCargile]

I have a new computer running Vista Home Premium SP1 64bit. As the old computer was slowing dying, I purchased an external HD and put a lot of files and programs on it. However, there is still some data on the old HD that I would like to retrieve, such as Outlook addresses and emails of my wife's, and our library of bookmarks. These are things we can live without, so If I can't get them, I can't get them.

I bought a adapter kit in hopes of retrieving the data. The problem is that the new computer is seeing that the drive is connected, but it can't read the drive. There is an Initialize option that I've tried, which pops up a window saying the Device Is Not Ready. Of course, if the Initialization has something to do with reformatting the drive, that is not what I want to do.

I suspect one problem is that both drives are labeled C. The old HD also has windows XP SP2 loaded onto it. I've used both Master and Cable Select jumper positions to no avail. I also tried another internal HD labeled E, but my DVD RW drive is also labeled E. I had the same problems with this drive.

The USB Mass Storage Device shows up on the Remove Hardware window, but not in the Computer window. The Device Manager recognizes the USB device but the Volume page on the Properties window shows no data. The General page also says it is working properly.

Could this be a problem of the drive letters being the same? Or is it some other reason I haven't thought of?

Thanks in advance.

Edit:

I answered my own questions by changing the DVD RW drive letter to K. I can now read my otherwise empty old HD E.

Is there a way to change the letter on the old C hard drive? Vista wont let me do it on the new machine. Is there any software that will assist, or this something that I need to be done a computer service shop?

[rjfvillarosa]

Connect the adapter on it's own first and make sure it is recognised, then try it with the harddrive attached.
The spare harddrive you have "E" are you able to see that harddrive on your old computer using the adapter?
I know this is probably not what you want to do but, instead of using the power connector of the adapter to power the harddrive try using one of the molex connectors from the power supply of your new computer. This will mean taking the side cover off your new computer but it sounds to me like you are capable of doing that anyway.

[psCargile]

The old computer is dead and in the trash, except for all the drives (hard and optical) a video card and a USB card. I had two internal drives "C" and "E" on that machine that I can play around with on the new computer. I was able to connect the old E drive onto the new computer by changing the letter on the DVD RW drive that was assigned E to K. I then changed the E drive to Y and changed the K back to E. In the new machine, C drive is the one with Vista loaded onto it.

So, I have one internal HD labeled Y that I can connect via the USB connector and my new computer sees it and allows me to open it. It wont do it with the other drive labeled C. This HD drive is powering up. My best guess is that the conflict is with the drive letters being the same, plus the fact that it wont let me change the drive letter that Vista is loaded onto, the drive from which it boots. Since the HD that I want to retrieve files from was also a boot drive with XP loaded onto it, I don't think I'll be able to change that letter assignment either.

What I need is a computer whose boot drive is not assigned to C. Or perhaps some registry editing which I am not confident performing unless I know exactly what such editing would be doing.

The nature of the old computer's failure lends me to believe that the HD was not the fault and that it is good.

And I also thought I'd be smart and upload XP onto my external to see it I could boot from it, but the option to install was grayed out.

[glc]

The letter that a drive had in a different computer should have nothing to do with it being seen or not seen. There must be something wrong with that drive. I pull "C" drives out of computers all the time and connect them via USB - worst case, I have to go into Disk Management and manually assign it a letter. Are you hotplugging the drive after Windows is running? That's the recommended method.

[psCargile]

Okay, what lead me to believe that the problem was/is associated with the drive letters is the fact that I had two old drives, C and E that I both tried to connect to the new computer which also has drives C and E. In both instances, in Vista's Disk Management, the old drives were listed, but they needed to be Initialized. When I tried to Initialize them and error message stated that the Device Is Not Ready, and I could go no further.

When I changed the new computer's E drive to something else, I was able to connect the old E drive to the new computer, whereupon it was recognized. I could open the drive and see the two files left on it.

When the old C drive is connected, the new computer knows it has a mass storage device connected to it, but it wont show it on the Computer window as an available drive. It will show it in Disk Management, but requiring Initializing, which it cant do. I can't do anything with the old C drive in Disk Management.

I connect the USB port to the computer first, then to the drive, then power then drive. The drive does power up.

So it may actually be a bad hard drive?

[BigHair]

Thanks))
All right!

[Planefreak]

Does anyone have the rosewill usb to ide/sata?

When I first got it I did the logical thing. Plugged the usb in and tried it out. It recognized it. Then I tried plugging in a drive. The 2.5" drive worked great. When I tried the 3.5" drives I couldn't get any of them to work.

Evidently for that one you need to plug in the power with the switch off, then hook up the adapter to the drive, then power up the drive and lastly plug in the usb.

It seems out of order but it works.

Bottom line...

...read the instructions!!!

[jsslifelike]

I have a 2.5" Toshiba laptop drive(HDD2181 or MK3021GAS) that I need to connect through my Vantec USB Adapter but it refuses to be visible in My Computer, which is a PC running VistaX64. The drive is working properly according to the Device Manager, which labels it as 'TOSHIBA MK3021GAS USB Device'. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly welcomed.

[IKNOWJACKBOUTPCS]

OK I am running Vista Home Pre. and i keep getting not ready message tried to change letter no dice. Tried to attach the cable no drive same result. Does any one else have an idea how this can be fixed
ps I DO have the usb 2.0 so sata ide cable deal

[Vjrey]

Originally Posted by rjfvillarosa Connect the adapter on it's own first and make sure it is recognised, then try it with the harddrive attached. The spare harddrive you have "E" are you able to see that harddrive on your old computer using the adapter? I know this is probably not what you want to do but, instead of using the power connector of the adapter to power the harddrive try using one of the molex connectors from the power supply of your new computer. This will mean taking the side cover off your new computer but it sounds to me like you are capable of doing that anyway.

Thanks for this! it's working now.. I can now access my second HDD.

[elitie]

Hi, I'm not sure if this is the place for questions, but I haven't been able to use my SATA-USB adapter with any of my hardrives.

i bought this eSense SATA/IDE - USB adapter a year ago. A couple of months ago i tried it on my Maxtor ATA hardrive to connect to my sony VAIO laptop. it didn't work and i left it connected, and after 20 mins windows autoplay found it. after half an hour it disconnected and i haven't been able to make it work since. Today i tried it again with the hardrive, and another Toshiba SATA hardrive, and my laptop's faulty Hitachi SATA hardrive. none worked. i took it to my brother's eMachine PC and it doesn't work as well. I'm not sure what's wrong. when i turn on the power and plug in the USB, the hardrives make the spinning sound but windows have no reactions at all.

can anyone help?

[atkin]

Hi,
I am using XP, MB Asrock K7S8X , system Bios does not support SATA.I have tried a PCI adaptor and those that fit directly to the SATA drive.The SATA drive is not recognised but it does show in disk management.
I wonder would I have more success with a USB to SATA ?
Any ideas appreciated.

[rjfvillarosa]

Originally Posted by elitie Today i tried it again with the hardrive, and another Toshiba SATA hardrive, and my laptop's faulty Hitachi SATA hardrive. none worked. i took it to my brother's eMachine PC and it doesn't work as well.

When you connect the adapter without a harddrive connected to it is it seen by your laptop?

[rjfvillarosa]

Originally Posted by atkin The SATA drive is not recognised but it does show in disk management.

What does it say about the harddrive in Disk Management?

[atkin]

You see the hard drive but it is greyed out so you cannot click on it.
I contacted Asrock sometime ago and they replied the MB does not support an IDE to Sata adaptor. I will try to just connect the Sata hard drive only and adaptor.