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What SATA cables do I need for this?

B

badlydrawnboy

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 20, 2003
1,531
418
Recently I tried installing a 2.5" SSD in a 3.5" enclosure (Icy Dock) in one of the internal drive bays in my Mac Pro. The enclosure was defective, apparently, because the SATA ports on the enclosure didn't quite line up with the internal SATA ports in the MP drive bay. Unfortunately, I pushed a little too hard to get it in and I ended up bending the metal brackets that the black plastic SATA port is screwed on to in the Mac Pro.

The result is that the SATA port is now bend down at about a 10% angle, which is enough to prevent me from sliding a hard drive in and connecting it. I've tried to bend it back to the normal angle, but I wasn't successful.

I'd hate to lose the use of that bay, so I was thinking I could just get a SATA cable to connect the drive to the drive bay. I guess I'd have to have both the SATA to SATA connector and the SATA to SATA power cable. Unfortunately, I can't find a cable like that. Any ideas?
 
This is what you need:

sata-extension-cable-22-pin-male-to-female.jpg


They are called SATA (or SAS) backplane cables or SATA extension cables. You can get them pretty much everywhere. Good and cheap source might be ebay.

However, with such an extension attached, you won't be able to slide in a drive any more, but I think that's clear, isn't it?
I'd rather try bending the SATA port back to its normal state, 10 degrees isn't that much.

Just curious, why did the Icy Dock not fit? Many people here (including myself) use the Icy Dock carrier and it fits just perfectly.
 
Thanks. I actually tried again and was able to bend it back and put a drive in there.

I'm not sure why the Icy Dock didn't fit. Must have been a defective unit.

I am still using it, though. It's just sitting in the 2nd optical bay, and I connected it to one of the SATA ports on the motherboard. I used an adapter cable to plug the hard drive power into that thick black strip that goes into the optical bay. Seems to work just fine.
 
badlydrawnboy said:
I am still using it, though. It's just sitting in the 2nd optical bay, and I connected it to one of the SATA ports on the motherboard. I used an adapter cable to plug the hard drive power into that thick black strip that goes into the optical bay. Seems to work just fine.
Click to expand...
For a single SSD, you don't have to have a mount. ;) You can even use zip ties or velcro if you wish (cheaper and faster than ordering something if you do want to secure it). :)

I guess duct tape would work too, but I wouldn't go this route myself, as the adhesive weakens when it gets warm (and makes a mess).
 
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