# USB to external hard drive adaptors



## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

I have a couple of hard drives that were pulled out of defunct computers long ago that I need to read, but their edge connectors do not match any of my USB cable adaptors.

One, marked Hitachi has single contact edges of 15 contacts, a space, and then 7 contacts, and the label further reads:
HDD:5K500.B-500 C P/N H2T500854S 
SATA 3.0Gb/s


The other, marked Compaq, has a female, 2x22 pin/row card edge acceptor and its label reads:
COMPAQ P/N 309324-001 and,
HDD2184 F ZE01 T
on what appears to be its original label, and on a label that looks like it was stuck on after the original manufacture that reads,

REPLACE WITH
285277-001
(Bar code)
P/N 6745BMS004A

What do I need for adaptors to power up and read these drives?


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

It would have made things a lot easier if you had mentioned up front that these were 2.5" drives.

A good interface usually features the smaller PATA connector that the Compaq (Toshiba) uses. I use one like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Drive-Adapter-Converter-Optical-External/dp/B00OVPA906/ref=sr_1_64?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1432243118&sr=1-64&keywords=ide+sata+converter+cable+with+power+supply

Depending on the interface you have, you'll probably need an adapter for the Hitachi to convert from mSATA to SATA. One style of adapter for mSATA to SATA looks like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Micro-SATA-Cables--adapter-Drives/dp/B002P6PBAQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1432243203&sr=1-4&keywords=msata+to+sata+adapter

CAUTION: SATA has at least five different connector styles so you need to be extra careful that you get the right configuration.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

Bring the drives to Microcenter and ask a tech there.


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## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

harsh said:


> It would have made things a lot easier if you had mentioned up front that these were 2.5" drives.


I would have if the manufacturers thought it was important enough to to put that characteristic on any of the labels.



> A good interface usually features the smaller PATA connector that the Compaq (Toshiba) uses. I use one like this:


That looks like the ones I have in hand that don't fit.



> Depending on the interface you have, you'll probably need an adapter for the Hitachi to convert from mSATA to SATA. One style of adapter for mSATA to SATA looks like this:
> 
> http://www.amazon.com/Micro-SATA-Cables--adapter-Drives/dp/B002P6PBAQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1432243203&sr=1-4&keywords=msata+to+sata+adapter


What I need, for one of them, is the opposite gender of the card edge in that picture.



> CAUTION: SATA has at least five different connector styles so you need to be extra careful that you get the right configuration.


That is why I opened this thread.



4HiMarks said:


> Bring the drives to Microcenter and ask a tech there.


Mapquest says it is 18 miles away, 25 minutes driving time each way with light traffic... and I expect them to charge the brick and mortar price. I was looking for internet pricing. The problem is while I could eventually find the edge connectors that look right on eBay, they list over 18,000 and it really isn't worth my time going through them page by page.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

AntAltMike said:


> I would have if the manufacturers thought it was important enough to to put that characteristic on any of the labels.


The physical size of the drive is usually pretty obvious without an entry on the label. If you can't offer that, at least let us know that the drives came out of laptop/notebook/tablet computers as opposed to a desktop.


> That looks like the ones I have in hand that don't fit.


This is why I offered links to products that should work.


> What I need, for one of them, is the opposite gender of the card edge in that picture.


Since we're talking about two decidedly different formats, it is important to make clear which one you're talking about.

The mSATA adapter features the smaller female connector that your drive mates to on the other side. That's what adapters do.


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## AntAltMike (Nov 21, 2004)

We have winners!


AntAltMike said:


> I have a couple of hard drives that were pulled out of defunct computers long ago that I need to read, but their edge connectors do not match any of my USB cable adaptors.
> 
> One, marked Hitachi has single contact edges of 15 contacts, a space, and then 7 contacts, and the label further reads:
> HDD:5K500.B-500 C P/N H2T500854S
> SATA 3.0Gb/s


SATA 7+15 22 Pin to USB 2.0 Adapter Cable For 2.5 HDD Laptop Hard Disk Drive KA











> The other, marked Compaq, has a female, 2x22 pin/row card edge acceptor and its label reads:
> COMPAQ P/N 309324-001 and,
> HDD2184 F ZE01 T
> on what appears to be its original label, and on a label that looks like it was stuck on after the original manufacture that reads,
> ...


Funny thing was, when I searched for that adaptor, my search led me to a picture of a drive labeled HDD2184, but with a different looking pin edge. That hard drive also had a Toshiba sticker in it. In fact, it had three stickers. As best as I can determine, it is a hard drive that was manufactured by Toshiba but sold for original installation in a Compaq computer, and there was actually a tiny edge connector adaptor built right into the assembly that couldn't even be seen as an edge connector adaptor until I took the hard drive out of its aluminum installation chassis by removing four tiny screws and prying a retaining tab back. Once I did that and removed that adaptor, it plugged into one of my IDE/SATA to USB cables.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

That dedicated mSATA adapter should work. I generally avoid using USB power (especially when it consumes two USB ports) and opt for a small power brick instead. This can especially helpful in an environment where only notebooks are available. If you don't have two adjacent USB ports (or a high power USB 3.0 port), this interface setup might be problematic due to limited power. Both USB cables should be plugged in to live USB ports to sufficiently power the drive. A two-port USB phone charger might work in a pinch.

The Compaq drive was manufactured by Toshiba in an OEM arrangement. Compaq (HP) doesn't manufacture notebook hard drives; rather they offer other's mechanisms at a substantial premium with their own part number.

I did a Google search on the manufacturer's part numbers you provided to fill in the data needed to understand what was going on.


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