On Mar 25, 2008, at 14:08, Tim Øsleby wrote:
> Obvious questions, yeah.
> The answer seem to be no on both :-)
> Can't hear no spinning, so most likely it has no power.
>

Another followup (thank you Wikipedia):

"The SATA standard also specifies a new power connector. Like the data  
cable, it is wafer-based, but its wider 15-pin shape prevents  
accidental misidentification and forced insertion of the wrong  
connector type. Native SATA devices favor the SATA power-connector  
over the old four-pin Molex connector (found on all PATA equipment),  
although some SATA drives retain older 4-pin Molex. The seemingly  
large number of pins are used to supply three different voltages: 3.3  
V, 5 V, and 12 V. Each voltage is supplied by three pins ganged  
together, while ground is provided by five pins. Each pin should be  
able to provide 1.5 A. Pin 11 is used in newer drives for staggered  
spinup. The supply pins are ganged together because the small pins by  
themselves cannot supply sufficient current for some devices. One pin  
from each of the three voltages is also used for hotplugging.

Adaptors are available to convert a 4-pin Molex connector to a SATA  
power connector. However, because the 4-pin Molex connectors do not  
provide 3.3 V power, these adapters provide only 5 V and 12 V power  
and leave the 3.3 V lines unconnected. This precludes the use of such  
adapters with drives that require 3.3 V power. Understanding this,  
drive manufacturers have largely left the 3.3 V power lines unused.  
However, without 3.3 V power, the SATA device may not be able to  
implement hotplugging as mentioned in the previous paragraph."

So, in short - you may be able to find an adapter, and if your drive  
doesn't care about 3.3v, it should work.

  -Charles

--
Charles Robinson - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Minneapolis, MN
http://charles.robinsontwins.org



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