Western Digital Elements External HDD Question

[i.got~issues]

Hi folks

I have a quick question regarding WD Elements external 2.5" hard drives.

Does anyone know if the newer types have SATA connectors inside the enclosures ?



I have had a few of the older types;



and found out too late that they have no SATA connectors; but soldered USB thing that wiggles loose and renders the drive useless eventually.

Thanks.

 

[Totempole]

It's definitely a USB native drive and not SATA. You can tell by the length of the drive. It's only 11.1cm. If was a SATA drive with a USB3.0 bridge it would be at least 13cm long.

 

[i.got~issues]

Thanks for that.

It's definitely a USB native drive and not SATA. You can tell by the length of the drive. It's only 11.1cm. If was a SATA drive with a USB3.0 bridge it would be at least 13cm long.

 

[SouthBit]

We can convert them to SATA for you if need be.

 

[i.got~issues]

We can convert them to SATA for you if need be.

Oooh, really ? What does this entail ? I have a 1TB WD Elements SE whose USB connecter needs to be persuaded to co-operate for it to work. Would be nice to have this as a SATA spare then...

Please let me know ...

 

[i.got~issues]

Argggg - what a crappy horrid stupid fekking design;



@SouthBit, please let me know more about converting the above to SATA.

 

[sajunky]

Fine soldering skills required. It can cost you more if you damage PCB.
Post hires picture of PCB, both sides. Ask SouthBit for the location of soldering points.

 

[i.got~issues]

Fine soldering skills required. It can cost you more if you damage PCB.
Post hires picture of PCB, both sides. Ask SouthBit for the location of soldering points.

Thanks .. I am not touching it. Just removed it to see what the connector looked like.
Fekking designed to fail... no support at all.
Cost cutting at its worst.
Do not care about the data... just would like a drive that works... SATA conversion would be amazeballs.

 

[i.got~issues]

Yay!

By wedging a micro-SD card in the tiny gap between the connector and the drive, it works!



Designed to fail, planned obsolescence.
muttermutterhumbug

 

[Rickster]

Aaaaaaaand thats why you buy Seagate.

 

[i.got~issues]

Aaaaaaaand thats why you buy Seagate.

Nope... aaaaaaaand that is why you do not buy these USB-not-SATA-external-drives!

BUT... speaking of Seagate...

Online backup service provider BackBlaze has published a treasure trove of data about the reliability of the hard drives it uses. The numbers clearly show that on average, Seagate drives fail at a much higher rate than Hitachi and WD drives. Hitachi's failure rates across four models ranged from 0.9 to 1.5 percent, and WD's rate across three models was 3.2 to 3.6 percent.

Linky

 

[Rickster]

^^ LOLwut?


Hitachi are THE WORST hard drives ever, non of my Seagates/Samsungs have Failed.

 

[i.got~issues]

In this case... my drive has not failed, the WD still is hundreds... it is just the not-SATA-el-cheapo-usb-to-PCB-thingy-has-been-designed-to-fail that has failed.

BackBlaze's "anecdotal" data still makes for an interesting read tho'.

 

[SouthBit]

Converting to SATA drive requires a replacement PCB (a compatible SATA PCB) and the moving of the ROM chip (IC) from the USB PCB to the SATA PCB. PCB matching needs to be done in a way that matches the MCU (basically the CPU of the PCB), motor chip and ROM size. Your PCB will have a number, such as 2060-xxx-xxx and we'll get a compatible SATA based on this.

However, it's probably not financially viable. It will be the cost of the PCB plus the cost of the labour, which won't be that much less than the cost of the drive. If you really want the drive converted it would be cheaper than buying a new SATA HDD, but not by a huge amount.

 

[i.got~issues]

Phew! Sounds like a mission.

I have an old SIM card wedged between the USB connector and the drive now, and it seems to be working.

Please PM me the cost involved in doing the conversion, if it fails again, it will mean the cost of a new drive anyway, and I am kinda loathe to turf a perfectly good HDD just because of its crappy USB design. Also, SATA would mean faster data transfer and can be used in PC now or laptop too.

I can give you any info from the drive you need... and it would be very much appreciated.

Thanks SouthBit!

Converting to SATA drive requires a replacement PCB (a compatible SATA PCB) and the moving of the ROM chip (IC) from the USB PCB to the SATA PCB. PCB matching needs to be done in a way that matches the MCU (basically the CPU of the PCB), motor chip and ROM size. Your PCB will have a number, such as 2060-xxx-xxx and we'll get a compatible SATA based on this.

However, it's probably not financially viable. It will be the cost of the PCB plus the cost of the labour, which won't be that much less than the cost of the drive. If you really want the drive converted it would be cheaper than buying a new SATA HDD, but not by a huge amount.

 

[sajunky]

I have an old SIM card wedged between the USB connector and the drive now, and it seems to be working.

Re-soldering connector will be more reliable, but it is going to fail again. You can also cut USB cable and solder it directly to PCB, bypassing connector.