Placing the SSD of a MBA in an external case

[XavierCarrel]

My old MBA (A1304) died, but the SSD is still good. I want to use it as an external drive.

I found in this forum this truly impressive job done by hybster.
However I am neither equipped nor skilled enough for this kind of soldering prowess.

I have an external case which has a 40-pin LIF connector (picture 2). My plan is to wire the 40-pin connector of the case to the 24-pin connector of the SSD drive (THNS128GG4BMAA, picture 1).

Thanks to hybster, I have the pinout on the drive side. But I need the pinout of the 40-PIN connector too. I didn't find it anywhere and I haven't been able to figure it out studying the tracks (heck, I'm just a software guy ).

Question: anybody has any clue/hint as to where I can get a hold of this spec ?

With that in hand, I will try to cut the ribbon (pic #2) and "rebuild" a 24-pin connector.

Xavier

P.S: I know it might be simpler / cheaper to buy a new external disk. But (a) I can't stand throwing away a perfectly functional piece of hardware and (b) I enjoy doing this kind of stuff

 

[ZipZap]

OWC has a case for the MBA SSD. I did not like it cause it was way too big and the install was too tight.

Point, though, is that it contains the special connector and USB conversion.

 

[XavierCarrel]

Thanks for the info ZipZap.

I guess it is this encolsure you're talking about.

Unfortunately, its cost plus shipping and customs (switzerland) make it too expensive for me to buy.

But if you have one, would you be so kind as to post a picture of the cable so that I can figure out the pinning ? That would be great.

Xavier

 

[ZipZap]

I returned it....but it did not have a cable.

They created a new board with the connector that plugged into their standard enclosure board (USB).

This is why the unit was so large. They tried to use what they were already selling and already had manufactured instead of making it more like a USB stick type of enclosure. Then they tacked a $70 price to it.

Very stupid on their part showing that they gave the design NO though whatsoever.

I sent them a message with my return telling them so.