The guy that invented sata connection cables should be hung … in a tree … such a crap :fume:
What’s wrong with them? They’re easier to use than IDE cables.
Bad contacts … easy to get lose and loss of data written to the HDD …
[quote=“Belgian Pie”]Bad contacts … easy to get lose and loss of data written to the HDD …[/quote]Never happened to me, maybe just yours are loose. Try a new cable?
Yeah, the cheap cables are crappy, always coming loose.
I got some nice SATA cables a while back that come with locking clips, you have to push the button in the centre to remove the plug…they fit nice and snug too.
Well, it’s not the best connector ever, but I dunno what you guys are doing to make them come loose. All Gigabyte motherboards come with the clip kind and you can get them in the computer market for little to no money. The only problem I’ve had is that I managed to snap the plastic part of the connector on a hard drive and a motherboard at different occasions. Luckily the hard drive died (well, not so lucky…) so I got it replaced on warranty, although the replacement broke two weeks later :neutral: so I got another replacement which is still going strong…
You’ll appreciate SATA much more when you start using eSata to back up your notebook to an eSATA drive. Note that eSATA connectors are different from internal SATA connectors.
[quote=“maunaloa”]You’ll appreciate SATA much more when you start using eSata to back up your notebook to an eSATA drive. Note that eSATA connectors are different from internal SATA connectors.[/quote]I know the plug is a slightly different shape but aren’t they otherwise identical? Can you have a SATA to eSATA cable to give you an eSATA socket on the back? Then use an eSATA to SATA cable to connect that to a hard drive?
Yes and no 
You can get a SATA to eSATA bracket, Gigabyte tend to bundle them with some of their slightly more upmarket motherboards and they also stick an eSATA to SATA cable in the box and you get a MOLEX to SATA power cable as well.
The problem with using a SATA drive externally is the power, since a PC doesn’t have any external SATA power connectors and the drive can’t draw power from the eSATA connector, although that will be possible with the next revision of eSATA that should be out next year.
The other option is to get something like this - shopping.pchome.com.tw/?mod=item … -A16781203 but I don’t know where you’d get suitable cables from with a SATA power connector in each end.
I mean it’s easy apart from the power. I have seen a motherboard that has an external power socket on the SATA bracket.
Why are SATA power cables twice the size of the data cables?
This mentions problems with the fragility of SATA connects: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sata#Cables_and_connectors . You’re not alone, Mr Pie.
Uhm, because the cables were designed that way?
The power connector carries 12, 5 and 3.3V as well as ground and if you have a look further up on the link you posted, you can see the pin-out which might explain why it’s so wide. The reason for the addition of 3.3v compared to the old MOLEX which only carries 12 and 5V is because SATA was designed for both desktops and notebooks, something old PC power connector wasn’t.
As SATA is hot-swappable, i.e. you can unplug a drive while the power is on and plug it back in, there are extra connectors for this as well which cuts the power and powers the drive up once it’s being removed or have been replaced.
The old MOLEX connector doesn’t support hot-swap due to its design and since that connector is some 30 years old now, if not older, it’s not strange that it’s a bit clunky.