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Questions tagged [sata]

SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) is one of the most common bus interfaces for connecting mass storage devices to a computer system.

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165 votes
16 answers
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How to check the health of a hard drive

My SATA drive started clicking and I was unable to access the data. This is the hard drive in question: HITACHI Deskstar T7K250 HDT722525DLA380 (0A31636) 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5"...
tony_sid's user avatar
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90 votes
8 answers
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How can I remove the option to eject SATA drives from the Windows 7 tray icon?

The Safely Remove Hardware icon in Windows 7 offers the ability to eject my SATA drives, including the boot drive. I don't see myself ever needing this - especially not from the convenience of the ...
sblair's user avatar
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80 votes
5 answers
560k views

What is the difference between mSATA and SATA SSDs?

Is there any difference between an mSATA SSD and an SATA SSD (other than the fact that the mSATA doesn't take up a disk slot)?
Andreas's user avatar
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77 votes
3 answers
234k views

What is the purpose of this 4-pin interface on SATA HDDs and why doesn't it exist on SSDs?

I have 4 HDDs here with me, from 3 different manufacturers, and all of them have the following 4-pin extra interface beside the SATA connector: HDD with 4-pin interface Looking on the internet, I can ...
Diogo's user avatar
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66 votes
2 answers
150k views

What does "LFF SATA" mean?

I've heard of SATA, but "LFF SATA" as listed on HP's specs page (archive) is a new one for me. What does the "LFF" bit mean?
Billy ONeal's user avatar
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56 votes
4 answers
15k views

What is the actual speed of SATA 3?

Google says it is running at 6Gb/s. The throughput is at 600MB/s. 600MB/s equals 4.8Gb/s. Does this mean that the bandwidth is 6Gb/s but the actual throughput is 4.8Gb/s ?
Space Ghost's user avatar
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52 votes
4 answers
244k views

How can I determine the SATA controller version on Windows?

I have recently bought the ASUS N550JV-DB71 and I am planning on replacing the Bluray Drive with an SSD. Is there any way that I can confirm whether the BD Drive is connected via a SATA 2 or a SATA 3 ...
osm's user avatar
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49 votes
4 answers
47k views

How can I check whether USB3.0 UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol) mode is enabled in Linux?

I have a laptop running Ubuntu 15.04 (3.19.0-21-generic) and an external USB3.0 2.5" SATA HDD enclosure which claims that it supports UASP mode (the S2510BPU33 model by StarTech). I have no problems ...
ali_m's user avatar
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40 votes
3 answers
46k views

Why are there so many pins on a SATA power connector?

I was just looking at the power connector for a SATA optical drive and noticed that it had fifteen pins! I then marveled at the data connector next to it, which has a measly seven pins. I know that ...
eleven81's user avatar
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40 votes
5 answers
247k views

Can you connect an M.2 SATA to an M.2 NVMe port?

As people already know they are physically compatible, you can plug an M.2 SATA (aka M+B key) into an M.2 NVMe (M key). My question is will it work?
unom's user avatar
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36 votes
2 answers
5k views

Why is my USB drive showing corrupted data when plugged as an internal SATA drive?

I have a 3TB Seagate Backup Plus Desktop USB 3.0 drive, which works fine when in its enclosure, but when I get it off its enclosure and directly plug it as an internal SATA drive, it's just not ...
OMA's user avatar
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35 votes
5 answers
101k views

Demystifying SATA hotplug

I have a BIOS that has an option to enable hot-plug on individual ports. I have a sliding enclosure for HDD and SSD (nothing more than a pass-trhu to power and a sata port) that allow me to cut power ...
gcb's user avatar
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33 votes
3 answers
114k views

Switch RAID to AHCI without reinstalling Windows 10

My Dell XPS 9560 uses RAID as a SATA controller mode. After I change it to AHCI, the Windows 10 will not boot. What should I do if I don't want to reinstall Windows 10? RAID = Redundant Array of ...
qin's user avatar
  • 597
31 votes
5 answers
12k views

Can I continue using a partially corrupt hard drive by stripping out the bad sectors?

I have a hard disk which started failing. I tested the hard disk using the in-build hardware diagnostic tool which the Dell laptop shipped with and it told me it has bad sectors. So, I understand that ...
Saifur Rahman Mohsin's user avatar
30 votes
6 answers
112k views

Can hard drives fully utilize SATA III?

My motherboard currently supports both SATA II and III (3 Gb/s and 6Gb/s respectively), but after reading some online, it seems as though connecting a HDD to the 6 Gb/s is pretty much pointless. If ...
nathpilland's user avatar
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30 votes
3 answers
157k views

GPT PMBR Size Mismatch will be corrected by w(rite)

Linux gives error "GPT PMBR size mismatch will be corrected by w(rite)." The error message is far from self-explanatory. Does this mean that Linux will (attempt to) resize the GPT partition ...
GeriatricJerry's user avatar
29 votes
5 answers
57k views

How to find SATA controller version on Ubuntu laptop. Do I have SATA 1, 2, or 3? I, II, or III?

I'm running Ubuntu on a laptop and am shopping to upgrade to an SSD. Based on the specs for this drive for example, it seems like I should figure out what version of SATA my computer will support ...
Sean's user avatar
  • 478
29 votes
2 answers
7k views

Why are there different lengths of contacts on SATA connectors?

I have looked around, but cannot seem to find out why. On SATA drives (2.5 and 3"), there are variable lengths to the copper contacts on both the data and power ports on the drives. These variations ...
Carl B's user avatar
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28 votes
7 answers
68k views

How do PCIe to SATA expansion cards work, and does my PC support them?

I've recently been looking into getting a PCIe to SATA expansion card, which I think is otherwise known as a port multiplier (which was the first result in Google when I searched for such an adapter). ...
Hashim Aziz's user avatar
28 votes
4 answers
281k views

Can I connect and disconnect a SATA harddrive while my computer is running?

I have a SATA hard drive that says it supports hot-plugging. Does that mean I can actually connect it to power and a SATA plug while my computer is running? Would be handy, but seems kind of scary... ...
Svish's user avatar
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27 votes
8 answers
56k views

How can I use an old PATA hard disk drive on my newer SATA-only computer?

I've got some old hard drives I'd like to connect to my new computer to quickly transfer gigs and gigs of data from the old drives to my nice large new drives. The old drives are PATA/IDE/ATA and the ...
Zack Peterson's user avatar
26 votes
2 answers
32k views

Listing unused SATA ports on Linux

I have a physical machine running Linux (CentOS 6.3, specifically), and I want to know how many SATA ports are currently unused (i.e. nothing is plugged in). Of course, I could just pull the machine ...
coledot's user avatar
  • 363
26 votes
3 answers
221k views

SATA drives: What is the difference b/w IDE mode and AHCI?

I just built a PC for the first time. My Gigabyte motherboard notifies me after the POST that I have SATA drives operating in "IDE MODE". It asks me if I want to switch to AHCI mode to allow hot ...
Neil Traft's user avatar
25 votes
5 answers
28k views

When should I use SATA 6gb/s?

I purchased a Baraccuda hard-drive (model ST3000DM001) that supports a maximum read transfer rate of 210 MB/s and SATA 1.5/3/6 Gb/s. My motherboard has a limited number of 6 Gb/s ports so I'd like to ...
Gili's user avatar
  • 1,841
22 votes
5 answers
100k views

Why is my 3.5" SATA hard drive not spinning up via USB?

I'm having issues connecting a 3.5 inch WD Caviar SE (WD3200AAJS) via a SATA to USB adapter. The drive is recognized, but it doesn't spin, so it just shows up with a capacity of 0 bytes. Note that ...
Brokenstuff's user avatar
21 votes
7 answers
58k views

How to connect multiple HDDs to a computer?

What is the best and most efficient way to connect 10 - 20 SATA HDDs to a home computer? I mean an ordinary motherboard supporting 2 connections for SATA HDDs. The purpose of this assembly is to ...
Googlebot's user avatar
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21 votes
3 answers
55k views

What is the difference between SATA and eSATA?

Is the following correct? eSATA is the same as SATA, except that the cable plug has a slightly different shape, but as far as the electrical signal goes, it's the exact same thing. In theory, if you ...
Manos Dilaverakis's user avatar
20 votes
4 answers
3k views

Are all basic SATA drives equally reliable?

I'm about to purchase a SATA hard drive. I was wondering if, aside from the storage capacity, are there any other factors I should keep in mind? I care above all about reliability. Is a more expensive ...
deprecated's user avatar
20 votes
4 answers
59k views

Why does a SATA hard drive have jumpers?

Back in the days of PATA hard drives, a person used jumpers on the drive to indicate whether the drive was the master or the slave of the channel, or to let the cable select which drive was which. ...
eleven81's user avatar
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20 votes
1 answer
7k views

How can I enable AHCI on a SATA drive after installing Windows?

Can I enable AHCI after installing Windows 7 in a SATA drive that was on IDE mode?
Jader Dias's user avatar
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20 votes
4 answers
133k views

What do the different colours of the SATA ports on my motherboard mean?

I've bought a new hard drive for my system, and my motherboard (an ASUS M2A VM HDMI) appears to have two black and two red SATA ports, with the existing hard drive and DVD drive plugged into the red ...
David Dean's user avatar
19 votes
5 answers
19k views

Soldering a SATA-Data cable to a HDD

I tried to clean my computer and accidentally ripped of the SATA cable from the HDD which resulted in a broken SATA data port because the "L" on the HDD broke off and was stuck in the cable. I wanted ...
Milos's user avatar
  • 291
19 votes
4 answers
32k views

6Gb/s SATA hard drive with 3Gb/s SATA port?

I know I can use a 3Gb/s SATA hard drive with a 6Gb/s SATA port, but can I use a 6Gb/s SATA hard drive with a 3Gb/s SATA port? I am unable to find a definite answer.
Joseph's user avatar
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17 votes
2 answers
73k views

Are there SSDs compatible with PCIe x1?

My internal hard drive is ticking. It's gonna be dead soon. I've backed up all my data, thanks for your concern. What I'm doubting is, I have an old computer, that I plan on replacing in a year or so....
Shimmy Weitzhandler's user avatar
16 votes
3 answers
4k views

Using External Harddisk as an internal desktop SATA Harddisk

I have a 2TB Western Digital MyBook Essential External Hard-disk. I wanted to use the Hard-disk as an internal hard-drive for my PC running Linux Mint. So, I dis-assembled it, and took out the SATA ...
shivams's user avatar
  • 1,754
16 votes
3 answers
26k views

Are all SATA cables compatible with SATA 3?

I have a HP Compaq de5700 Small Form Factor desktop computer, and I am looking to upgrade it's hard drive. When I open up the box, it clearly has available SATA connectors on the motherboard, but no ...
Jim Fell's user avatar
  • 5,956
16 votes
2 answers
36k views

How to check if an attached SSD device is SATA or PCIe on Linux?

I have a machine with both SATA and PCIe SSDs attached. Is there a set of Linux commands (on Ubuntu or CentOS) that I can use to check if a given SSD is SATA or PCIe?
Safdar Iqbal's user avatar
16 votes
3 answers
5k views

How can I verify that my SSD is performing as it should?

I've got a brand new 256GB SSD (Crucial CT256M225) which should have stellar performance. However, on my (also brand new) Dell Studio 1557 with Windows 7 Professional 64 bit, it's only giving a ...
Jon Skeet's user avatar
  • 5,144
15 votes
4 answers
31k views

Can I install a laptop 2.5" SATA drive on a desktop without any adapters?

My girlfriend's computer has had the disk so I'm going to reinstall the operating system. However, before I do this I need to get all the data onto another machine. As the laptop won't stay on long ...
jammus's user avatar
  • 1,294
15 votes
1 answer
50k views

Connecting Internal SATA HDD to eSATA

I have these 3 things: (1) An internal 3.5 SATA HDD. (2) An independent power supply that provides a Molex style connector (i.e. 5V and 12V power) and an adapter to convert it into SATA (except that ...
JavaMan's user avatar
  • 437
15 votes
3 answers
40k views

Can I connect a SATA hard drive to to my PC, while it is running?

I am trying to do a hard drive recovery, and want to know if I unplug and plug the hard drive back in, while the PC is on (running Windows 7). This is a secondary hard drive, not the primary one. I ...
Basit's user avatar
  • 151
14 votes
8 answers
151k views

Can SAS drives work on a SATA motherboard

I have a Supermicro X8STi-F motherboard and would like to know if I can use SAS drives on it. I am not concerned with RAID right now, just if the drives will work. Or does the fact the motherboard is ...
winarm's user avatar
  • 347
14 votes
1 answer
5k views

Do hard disk drives turn on 512e (512byte emulation of 4k sectors) as-needed depending on host controller?

I have a 4 TB hard disk that has 4k physical sector size (Advanced Format) and I attached it to two SATA host controllers (one internal and one in a USB enclosure). On the (older, about 2010) it comes ...
Nathan Summers's user avatar
14 votes
3 answers
36k views

Can't mount Linux usb disk. It just create /dev/sg device but no /dev/sd

I have a Corsair R60 ssd disk which is a disk with both sata and usb connectors. But the usb thing seems to be a bit non-standard, or maybe its just my fedora linux. When I insert the disk using a ...
MTilsted's user avatar
  • 1,220
13 votes
1 answer
4k views

Why are these SATA bus ports different?

I bought several larger 3.5" HDDs in SATA format and two of them have a different port on them and will not mate with the external enclosure. One of them is a 3TB and the other is a 6 TB. The 6TB ...
FORD Brian's user avatar
13 votes
3 answers
56k views

Do all SATA to USB converters need AC power?

I'm shopping for SATA to USB converters. It looks like most need AC power cable as well as the actual converter. I know that his one leeches the power off the host computer but also has two USB plugs. ...
winchendonsprings's user avatar
13 votes
2 answers
60k views

How do I know if my MacBook Pro supports SATA III?

I have a MacBook Pro that I bought around 2011. How do I know what level of SATA the internal hard drive interface supports? This is the About This Mac: And this is what the SATA section of the ...
AngryHacker's user avatar
  • 18.7k
13 votes
1 answer
13k views

Avoid HDD spinup at boot

Is there any way to avoid specific HDDs from spinning up at boot time? There are 3 HDDs in my HTPC (Ubuntu 12.10) and 1 SSD (boot drive). I don't want the HDDs to spin up when booting to reduce boot ...
NoMad's user avatar
  • 782
13 votes
4 answers
30k views

How can I replace a broken M.2 SSD mounting standoff for my motherboard?

I just bought an ASUS Z97M Plus motherboard. It has an M.2 socket. Here's a pic of the socket: I want to install this M.2 SATA drive: The drive is held in the socket by a screw in a standoff, ...
Ethan's user avatar
  • 3,771
12 votes
1 answer
5k views

Is ATA the same as IDE/PATA or SATA?

I was taking a look at a HDD and I found a document (from Toshiba, link: 2.5-Inch SATA HDD mq01abdxxx) that says: Drive interface: Serial ATA, Revision 2.6 / ATA-8 I know that SATA uses SATA ...
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