Where's Laptop HDD Pin-1?

[Knack]

Hi folks. Want to copy some files off a failing laptop HDD. I've got the HDD
out of the laptop and I've got the necessary cable adapter to connect the
laptop HDD to the IDE ribbon connector of my tower PC (IDE secondary
channel). Don't want to connect it backwards. The red wire on the ribbon
cable is pin-1, correct? So how do I identify pin-1 on the IBM 'Travelstar'
2.5" HDD?

 

[Paul Rubin]

Hi folks. Want to copy some files off a failing laptop HDD. I've got the HDD
out of the laptop and I've got the necessary cable adapter to connect the
laptop HDD to the IDE ribbon connector of my tower PC (IDE secondary
channel). Don't want to connect it backwards. The red wire on the ribbon
cable is pin-1, correct? So how do I identify pin-1 on the IBM 'Travelstar'
2.5" HDD?

Generally it will only fit in the adapter one way. Or you can look
for a "1" on the drive's PC board (sometimes it's marked there).

 

[Knack]

Generally it will only fit in the adapter one way. Or you can look
for a "1" on the drive's PC board (sometimes it's marked there).

The adapter has pin-1 marked, but the connector on the HDD has no such
markings. The adapter can mate to the HDD connector either way, and also to
the ribbon cable connector either way.

 

[Paul Rubin]

The adapter has pin-1 marked, but the connector on the HDD has no such
markings. The adapter can mate to the HDD connector either way, and also to
the ribbon cable connector either way.

The connector is not centered in the drive. If you put it in the
mounting bracket the wrong way, you'll have to contort the cable a bit
to plug it in. If you put it in the right way, the cable will plug in
very easily.

 

[Knack]

The connector is not centered in the drive. If you put it in the
mounting bracket the wrong way, you'll have to contort the cable a bit
to plug it in. If you put it in the right way, the cable will plug in
very easily.

True, the HDD's connector should not be centered on the HDD, but offset
where the pin spacing permits. However, the adapter's 44 female 'holes' can
be flip-flopped either of 2 ways (180 degree difference) on the drive's 43
pins.

Also, is the red wire on a standard PC IDE ribbon cable for pin-1? I have a
hunch that it isn't.

 

[Paul Rubin]

True, the HDD's connector should not be centered on the HDD, but offset
where the pin spacing permits. However, the adapter's 44 female 'holes' can
be flip-flopped either of 2 ways (180 degree difference) on the drive's 43
pins.

What? Put the drive in the bracket so the PC board is on the bottom
and the connector lines up naturally with the cable. You do have the
mounting bracket and not just the cable adapter?

Also, is the red wire on a standard PC IDE ribbon cable for pin-1? I
have a hunch that it isn't.

Yes, red is pin 1.

Also, no guarantees and if your drive blows up you didn't hear this
from me, but I've put cables on drives backwards a few times. It
didn't work, but nothing bad has happened (i.e. no damage), after
fixing the error the drive always worked just fine.

You should also be able to find the pinout of the drive on the vendor
web site (start at ibm.com and follow the links til you get to the
Travelstar drives). There should be a diagram showing where the pins
are.

 

[Eric Gisin]

Yes, the red wire is pin 1 on IDE/floppy/scsi2.

|
|
| Also, is the red wire on a standard PC IDE ribbon cable for pin-1? I have a
| hunch that it isn't.
|
|

 

[Rod Speed]

Hi folks. Want to copy some files off a failing laptop HDD. I've got the HDD
out of the laptop and I've got the necessary cable adapter to connect the
laptop HDD to the IDE ribbon connector of my tower PC (IDE secondary
channel). Don't want to connect it backwards. The red wire on the ribbon
cable is pin-1, correct? So how do I identify pin-1 on the IBM 'Travelstar'
2.5" HDD?

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/dcxa/dcxaeis.htm

The best way is to check for the row which
DOESNT have a missing pin. Pin 1 is the
RH pin in that row when looking into the pins.

 

[Al Dykes]

What? Put the drive in the bracket so the PC board is on the bottom
and the connector lines up naturally with the cable. You do have the
mounting bracket and not just the cable adapter?


Yes, red is pin 1.

Also, no guarantees and if your drive blows up you didn't hear this
from me, but I've put cables on drives backwards a few times. It
didn't work, but nothing bad has happened (i.e. no damage), after
fixing the error the drive always worked just fine.

You should also be able to find the pinout of the drive on the vendor
web site (start at ibm.com and follow the links til you get to the
Travelstar drives). There should be a diagram showing where the pins
are.

I can verify that several attempts to shoot myself in the foot
by putting an IDE cable in backwords have not been successfull
(ie the disk and I both survived),

But every time I had to connect a laptop drive to a mini-ide cable
I had no clue (on the drive) as to which was pin 1. The coupld
times I looked the vendor site didn't have (or I couldn't find)
a picture showing which is pin 1.

On full-sized IDE I realized long ago that pin 1 (in the cable) is
_always_ closest to the power connector. Believing this has allowed
me to recable disks blind, with my hands deep in a crappy small PC
case.

(I know it's possible to produce smoke by mis-insertion of
the mini power plug on a floppy disk drive.)

 

[Arno Wagner]

What? Put the drive in the bracket so the PC board is on the bottom
and the connector lines up naturally with the cable. You do have the
mounting bracket and not just the cable adapter?

Yes, red is pin 1.

Also, no guarantees and if your drive blows up you didn't hear this
from me, but I've put cables on drives backwards a few times. It
didn't work, but nothing bad has happened (i.e. no damage), after
fixing the error the drive always worked just fine.

Perfectly fine for 3.5" drives. Death for 2.5" drives, since they
have the power lines in the connector!! Your drive could actually
explode (locally on the PCB) or burn up if you plug the cable in
the wrong way. BTW with any decent adapter plugging it in wrongly
is not possible.

You should also be able to find the pinout of the drive on the vendor
web site (start at ibm.com and follow the links til you get to the
Travelstar drives). There should be a diagram showing where the pins
are.

Pin 1 should be marked on the drive itself. At least it was on the
Thosiba I removed from my Laptop and on the Fujitzu I replaced
it with.

Arno

 

[Arno Wagner]

I can verify that several attempts to shoot myself in the foot
by putting an IDE cable in backwords have not been successfull
(ie the disk and I both survived),

But every time I had to connect a laptop drive to a mini-ide cable
I had no clue (on the drive) as to which was pin 1. The coupld
times I looked the vendor site didn't have (or I couldn't find)
a picture showing which is pin 1.

On full-sized IDE I realized long ago that pin 1 (in the cable) is
_always_ closest to the power connector. Believing this has allowed
me to recable disks blind, with my hands deep in a crappy small PC
case.

Orientation is allways the same for 2.5" HDDs also. But since the
power pins are integrated into the connector, it does not
help. However all 2.5" HDDs have the same connector layout and the
same orientation. Otherwise swapping one for another would be
impossible. So as soon as you know the upper side of the HDD, you know
where pin 1 is (almost allways marked in some way).

One drawing:

http://www.fujitsu.com/support/computing/storage/hdd/mhdd/mhs2xxx-jumper.html

Another one:

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/5k80/5k80eis.htm

And this one tells you the power is to pins 41,42 and Ground on pin 43:

http://sdd.toshiba.com/cda/main.asp...0000156c/8182000006ec000000010000659c00001573

(Sorry, stupidly long URL).

IF you can identify the power pins on your adapter, that
will let you determine the right way to plug it in.

Caveat: If you make a mistake your drive will probably die.

Arno

 

[Bob Kos]

There are a few offset pins next to the main group of pins. Pin 1 is the
first pin after the offset group. Pin 40 is farthest away from the offset
group.


Knack wrote in message ...