Sata hard drive connection cable. How to connect a hard drive to a computer by yourself? Do-it-yourself HDD connection

The production of hard drives does not stand still. Technologies are actively developing: the speed of writing and reading is increasing, the service life is increasing, new standards and form factors are emerging, which is why many old devices become incompatible with modern computers. Using IDE SATA adapters, you can make even an old machine work with new drives.

Differences between SATA and IDE

IDE (ATA) is a parallel interface for connecting storage devices or optical drives to the motherboard. The old standard of the 1990s. IDE technology uses a 40-pin connector to connect to the motherboard and 4 power pins separately. It is now almost an obsolete class. The exception is the old technique, which is still in use for unknown reasons.

SATA is a serial data exchange interface. It is now used in all new devices. Has a number of advantages over the old system.

The main advantages of SATA:

high speed of reading / writing information;
increased volume of the drive itself;
the ability to connect devices without restarting the system.

There is also a more recent version, eSATA. The same SATA, but guarantees a stable contact throughout the entire operating time. Applicable for external HDDs.

Why do you need an adapter?

There are several problems that can cause the desire to purchase an IDE SATA adapter. For example, there is an old 80 GB IDE hard drive at home, and suddenly you need to "pull" a photo out of it. It will not work to connect it to a new computer with SATA connectors.

There was a sharp lack of memory on the computer, and an IDE hard disk of the required size appeared at hand, which at first glance is useless.
The situation can be the other way around: without upgrading the IDE interfaces, you want to get more additional memory or recover files.

All situations have one solution - to use a SATA / IDE or IDE SATA adapter. It is capable of converting data streams from one system to another, thus blurring the boundaries between different standards. The complexity of the application is nothing more than using an adapter for microSD cards.

How to choose?

The first step is to decide which adapter is needed. There are as many as five options:

IDE / SATA.
SATA / IDE.
IDE USB.
SATA USB.
IDE SATA USB.

The first two items are suitable for indoor installation. They will be useful if you want to place one or more hard drives or SSDs of different standards in a computer case. Usually these adapters do not even have a housing and are not protected in any way. They look like a regular board, where it is intuitively clear where and what to connect.

An important parameter of an IDE to SATA adapter is the speed of reading and transferring information. In the case of a USB adapter, it can be version 2.0 or 3.0. The latter allows you to quickly operate with information, but depends on the version of the computer ports, as well as on the capabilities of the hard drive itself.

IDE SATA with USB output

In addition to adapters for switching between IDE SATA standards, you can find IDE SATA USB adapters on the shelves. This device allows you to connect any hard drives directly to the USB port, regardless of standards. So, it is allowed to use ordinary ones as a large flash drive. This is mostly useful for laptops or tablets.

There are both universal (SATA IDE adapters on one board, connection of several carriers of the same or different types at once), and separate (only SATA or IDE) adapters. The choice depends on your specific needs and price. An important parameter when choosing will be the presence of a built-in or additional power supply. Without it, the adapter will cost a little less, but it will be less functional. It is possible to use the computer's central power supply unit, but this is not always convenient, and besides, you will have to unscrew the cover every time.

Nutrition

The IDE series drives are powered by a common Molex connector with 12v and 5v pins. It is found on all power supplies.

SATA drives require connections for 12v, 5v and 3.3v boards. To do this, you can find a regular 15-pin SATA IDE power adapter from a Molex connector. The problem is that the standard Molex does not have a 3.3v wire, which means that it is not able to power some block of the board. This feature was taken into account by the manufacturers of discs, to some extent solved.

Connected via a drive powered by a Molex / Sata adapter will work adequately on all machines, but not all will be able to support hot-plug technology (removing or attaching to the system during operation). Most modern power supplies have a separate pin - the SATA connector, which is not a Molex connector and includes 3.3v power. One way or another, modern SATA devices do not require 3.3v to operate.

Adapter or new drive?

There is no single answer to this question. It all depends on your preference and budget. At the present time, prices for memory have dropped significantly, but still they are not encouraging in some moments. Perhaps a more rational solution would be to purchase a new drive or docking station, which will allow you to quickly connect hard drives of different formats like a flash drive.

It is worth considering that buying a new hard drive can lead to an upgrade of the entire system, while installing an adapter does not oblige you to anything.

Do it yourself

Most useful electronic devices can be assembled for just a few dollars with your own hands, without much knowledge of electronics, but the IDE SATA adapter hardly falls into the category of easily reproducible devices. Ultimately, much more time and money will be spent than in the case of buying a ready-made adapter, although it is easy to find many working schemes on the Internet. But "techno-monsters" should like such a task.

Buying a new PC accessory will force you to think carefully about what cables you need, what you will have to buy additionally, etc. Therefore, in order to avoid such problems, you should immediately make sure that assembling your computer on your own will not cause difficulties. And if you know what USB is, then a SATA cable will make you intimidate.

What is it?

While studying models of personal computers, you have repeatedly come across this interface. What it is for and why it is important, not everyone knows. Even the abstruse definitions on the Internet do not always give the exact concept of the term. After all, hardly everyone understands what a serial interface is, and not everyone even understands information storage.

To make it easier, it should be said right away that SATA "grew" from another format - ATA, and owes its name to it. This interface, or, more simply, the connector, has a serial data transmission system. This means that data is transmitted 1 bit at a time for a certain period of time. In this case, the blocks of information go one after the other along one channel.

The SATA cable works in tandem with a storage device. This is usually referred to as a hard drive. You bought a hard disk drive and want to install it in the system. To do this, you need to get a cable of this format and connect the drive to the motherboard.

Predecessor

Before we further understand our interface, we will find out what was special about its previous version. ATA served the same function as SATA, but in a different way. Unlike the previous interface, it worked with parallel information transfer. As a result, data transmission and reception were carried out simultaneously.

But it still functioned in tandem with storage devices, including a hard drive or optical drive. After SATA grew from ATA, they decided to rename the first interface to PATA (Parallel ATA).

Peculiarities

SATA cable for hard drive has its own characteristics. It is represented by a 7-pin connector. Unlike the previous one, it has become several times smaller. ATA used as many as 40 holes. The advantage of the novelty is its small area. When connected, it takes up little space, and therefore does not block air flows for cooling other components. Wire routing has been simplified.

The shape of the new interface allows for multiple cable connections. The power cord has also become stronger. Power is supplied through three channels: +3.3 V, +5 V and +12 V. Among modern devices that support this format, there are those that work directly with the SATA connector, and there are those that support Molex.

Another difference from the previous format was the lightweight connection. Now one device is connected to one loop, and not two, as before. Now several devices can work simultaneously without delays or interruptions. The problem with a large number of loops and wires also disappeared.

Contacts

The SATA cable for devices must have both a 7-pin connection and a 15-pin for power. There is an option to use the 4-pin connector from Molex instead of the 15-pin one. But it is worth remembering that if you connect both cables to power, then most likely the hard drive will burn out. The interface works on two-channel transmission. Low-voltage differential signaling technology allows data to be transmitted at high frequencies but uses cheap connections.

There is also a 13-pin connector. It is used in servers or small devices where thin drives are used. It is combined and consists of two parts: a seven-pin for the data bus and a six-pin for the power supply.

First

Since the introduction of SATA cables, there have been many varieties and variations. The first revision appeared in 2003. It operated at a frequency of 1.5 GHz and a bandwidth of 1.2 Gbps. The new product hardly differed from the previous ATA interface in terms of bandwidth. Serial exchange, although somewhat slower than parallel, but by raising high frequencies, the parameters are compared. And due to noise immunity and unnecessary synchronization of SATA channels, it wins.

Second

The SATA 2 cable has increased the data transfer rate to 3Gb / s. It first appeared in the nForce 4 chipset controller. It is believed that the second revision should work easily with the previous revision, since there is a coordination of speeds. But in fact, it turned out that some devices and controllers required a special mode.

Third

The third revision has become the most complete and diverse. SATA 3 cable introduced in 2008. The bandwidth has doubled again. 6 Gbps has been expanded with improved power management. The developers have left compatibility with previous revisions not only regarding the connection of connectors and cables, but also when working with exchange protocols.

After the main version, there were still updates. So, a little later, SATA Revision 3.1 appeared. It marked the introduction of cables for compact devices. MSATA became known for 2.5-inch solid state drives. Among the innovations were special technologies that were responsible for power consumption, performance and other capabilities.

The SATA 3 cable of the second version was separately named Express. It was compatible with its "father" at the software level, but PCI Express became the carrier interface. The design has also changed in this revision. Now these are two SATA ports, placed side by side in length. The speed increased to 8 Gb / s, if you use only the first part of the connector, if you use both, then 16 Gb / s.

Hot swap

In parallel with SATA, eSATA was also formed. He became famous in 2004. Worked with the connection of external devices and the "hot swap" mode. This mode is the ability to disconnect or reconnect the device while the system is running without having to turn off the power.

Connectors have become more elaborate, less fragile and resistant to repeated disconnection or connection. The modification is physically incompatible with ordinary SATA, but it is synchronized by signal, albeit with different signal levels. The connection requires a data bus and a power cable. The version became longer by a meter - 2 m. To keep the signal level the same, the transmission level was increased.

Refinement

For eSATA to work, you need to not only transfer data, but also connect the cable to power. For the last process, a separate wire had to be used. To somehow combine these two functions, it was necessary to synchronize the External SATA with the USB cable. MicroStar have developed a subset of eSATAp. They managed to combine eSATA with USB. The latter was in charge of food.

Other types

In general, since the release of SATA, so many of its modifications have appeared that some have not even become in demand. There were also such interfaces that were widely used. There are many adapters and adapters for this format. With the modification of information storage devices, the cable itself was modified. So, there is mSATA, SAS, Thunderbolt, etc.

Hello, friends. Sooner or later, disk space runs out. We are constantly flooding our devices with data and one day we will find out that there is no more space on our disk. And I want it to be always. Today I will tell you how you can quickly cope with this problem yourself. In today's article, we will connect the hard drive to the computer ourselves.

So, friends, you found that you have a problem, but do not worry, it is really easy to connect an HDD. In a regular computer, one to six hard drives are installed. You can make them a place to store files, you can install another operating system. For example, on one disk you have Windows 10, and on the other Windows 7. When necessary, you boot from the "seven", and when not - from the "ten" - you can do that. And you can make RAID arrays if necessary.

We connect a 3.5 hard drive from a laptop to a computer via a USB adapter

The easiest and most hassle-free option is to buy an external portable hard drive. Such a disk is connected via a USB connector and is used as a large USB flash drive. The advantage of such a solution is that you can store a lot on it? It connects easily to your computer, is compact and easy to carry. There are also disadvantages:

the presence of a cord that must be connected all the time;
read-write speed is lower than that of a disk connected in the usual way;
special sensitivity to shocks, falls.

What does a laptop drive have to do with it? Inside this enclosure is the most common laptop hard drive. And if you have such a used disk from a laptop, you can make a portable one yourself. The most important part is the adapter. The adapter can be bought in a store, taking a disc with you, and the seller will select an adapter for you, and perhaps even a beautiful case. Putting everything together, we get a portable disk:

It can now be connected to the USB port. Or such an option, without an adapter, just the connector is screwed to the case, into which the hard drive is then inserted. The case itself can be fixed in the system unit basket with screws:

This option is suitable for connecting an HDD without an adapter - inside the system unit. We read further.

Connecting HDD without adapter at home

The same 3.5 hard drive can be easily connected by yourself. You will need an additional SATA cable for the hard drive and possibly an additional power plug (if the power supply lacks connectors). On sale there are such cable options where everything is in one:

We open the system unit, having previously disconnected all the wires from it, unscrew the screws:

... remove the cover,

We connect the data cable to the motherboard ...

... and the hard drive along with the power connector:

It is highly desirable that the 3.5 drive does not hang on the wires. If possible, it is better to secure it in a stationary state to avoid vibrations and shocks.

Then, we find a suitable place for it and fix it, if possible, with regular fixing screws in the basket, or at worst with plumbing tape, so that our disk is firmly and motionlessly fixed. We put the cover of the system unit in place.

How to connect a second, additional hard drive to the computer via the SATA connector

If you have a standard hard drive from your computer, you can just as easily connect it as a second drive. We do everything in the same way. First, fix the new disk with standard screws on both sides in the disk cage so that there are no vibrations:

Then we connect the ribbon cable and the power connector. The disk is connected.

Connecting IDE hard drive to motherboard and SATA connector

If your computer's motherboard has connectors for an IDE hard drive, you can try connecting such a drive as well. For a long time, all computers worked on the IDE interface for about this year until 2005. A disk with such an interface looks like this:

The connection socket looks like this:

Sometimes the connectors are multi-colored. And the cable for connecting to the motherboard looks like this:

The blue header connects to the motherboard, the black (topmost) one connects to the hard drive, and the white one connects to the DVD drive.

There is an important point when using IDE drives. If you are going to use such a disc, you need to correctly switch the jumper to the position Master or Slave. This option tells the system what role this disk will play. Master- this disk is considered to be the main one, and it will be loaded from it. Slave- secondary disk.

Different manufacturers have their own pinout of jumpers. The decoding of the switching modes is always indicated on the disk case:

By setting the jumpers to a certain position, we indicate the priorities - which disk is the main one. Earlier, when there were several such disks, it took a lot of time to switch them. The SATA interface is free from these drawbacks. The IDE interface has long been outdated, and is no longer used on modern devices. However, you can connect your existing IDE drive to the SATA socket on the motherboard using a special adapter. You need to connect the adapter to the IDE drive:

... and the SATA cable and power cable to the motherboard and power supply. In this way, you can increase the disk space by some, albeit small (by modern standards) amount. More than a USB stick!

If you bought a new hard drive, you must initialize it before using it, otherwise Windows will not see it, even if it is connected correctly. This is done using special programs such as Acronis Disk Director 12. First, install the disk in the system unit, connect, load Acronis Disk Director:

At first, you will not see the new mapped drive from under Windows. However, if the Disk Management snap-in is available in your version of Windows, then you can try to initialize the connected disk through this snap-in. In the photo we first went to Computer Management, then to Disk Management.

However, I always use Acronis, it is guaranteed to see all the disks connected to the computer.

You need to select the desired disk, right-click to bring up the menu, select "Initialize disk", and then at the very top, click "Apply pending operations":

After initialization, we create a partition or partitions on the disk, formatting them in the NTFS file system. At this point, the operation of connecting the disk to the computer can be considered completely completed. We connected it physically and programmatically. After these steps, the disks can be used for their intended purpose - to install the operating system or make volumes from them to store your data.

If you decide to install another operating system on a new disk, then after installation, when you boot your computer, you will need to select the disk on which you installed it. This is done through BIOS. To enter BIOS, first press the key DEL, and then select the desired disk:

Again, you need to select from the list that appears, the disk that you need. You can then change the download at any time. In general, you can connect a hard drive yourself very easily, try everything you will definitely succeed.

All sections of the site site

All problems with hard drives(screws) can be divided into two groups: incorrect connection (which, of course, is not a malfunction) and a malfunction of the device itself (failure of the electronics and / or the disks themselves).

It often happens that everything works fine until you connect the second hard drive... After that, the system “does not see” both disks or “does not see” the second disk.

Or you went to a friend with your hard disk (screw), everything worked fine for him, and when you came home, you found that the system “does not see” your disk.

These are all symptoms of an improperly connected hard drive. There is nothing complicated in connecting a hard drive, so every user should know how hard drives are connected to a computer.

It's like being able to replace a wheel in a car. Do not call a tow truck if a wheel is punctured.

Hard drive interface

For connecting the hard drive to the computer one of three interfaces can be used:

IDE (Integrated Device Electronics) - developed in 1986 and is still in use;

SCSI (Small Computer Systems Interface) - also developed in 1986 and is still in use;

Serial ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) - developed in 2003, is steadily gaining momentum.

In addition to these interfaces, ST and ESDI interfaces were previously used to connect hard drives, but the first was forgotten in 1989, and the second - in 1991.

Initially, IDE was developed only as an interface for connecting hard drives. Later it was modified and received the official name ATA - an extended interface for connecting drives.

The difference between ATA and IDE is that not only hard drives, but also CD / DVD drives can be connected to ATA.

The ATA interface has been constantly improving, and at the moment there are several of its varieties, designed in the form of standards (Table 4.1).

Table 4.1. ATA standards

Yes, the last version of ATA was released in 2001. It seems that in the future the interface will not develop, but will peacefully live out its own. The next accepted standard - ATA-8 (2004) - already describes SATAII, not IDE (ATA).

SCSI interface is a high-performance interface for connecting various kinds of devices. With the help of this interface, not only drives, but also peripheral devices can be connected to a computer.

For example, there are SCSI scanners, the speed of which is much higher than the speed of scanners connected to the parallel LPT port. But with the advent of the USB bus, the need to manufacture peripheral devices with SCSI interface has disappeared - USB is much more convenient.

Therefore, now the SCSI interface is used mainly on servers - ordinary users, as a rule, do not buy SCSI disks due to their high cost. And a motherboard with a SCSI controller is quite expensive (compared to conventional motherboards).

The SATA (Serial ATA, Serial ATA) interface was developed in 2000, but it was not until 2003 that it first appeared in off-the-shelf systems. Compared to conventional ATA (sometimes called PATA - Parallel ATA - Parallel ATA), it provides better performance. Much also depends on what the real cache memory of hard drives is.

The ATA interface is described in the ATA-7 (in parallel with regular ATA) and ATA-8 standards. The interface of the ATA-7 version supports the data transfer rate of 150 Mb / s, and the ATA-8 version supports the data transfer rate of 200 Mb / s. As you can see, even the very first SATA version is faster than the latest PATA version. And SATAII is even faster.

So far, 200 Mb / s is the limit for a home / office computer, that is, for a workstation. But the data transfer rate over the modern SCSI interface (Fast-320DT technology) is 640 Mb / s.

But such interfaces are used only on high-performance servers - most ordinary users cannot afford them, and there is no need for such speed.

Physical connection of the hard drive

As we know, there are two types of hard drives: ATA (IDE) and SATA (Serial ATA). The first discs are more "ancient", but nevertheless the second ones are on sale - more modern, promising and faster.

SATA is definitely the future. It seems to me that in a few years ATA disks will be discontinued. I think so. Wait and see.

Attention! Any change in the physical configuration of hard drives and other disk drives requires the computer to be powered off!

Attaching an ATA disk (IDE)

As a rule, the motherboard has two controllers for connecting IDE drives - a primary and a secondary. Each controller can connect two IDE devices. I do not specifically say "two hard drives" because CD / DVD drives can be connected to the IDE controller.

The first device connected to the controller is called the master. This is the master device, so a faster device should be selected for the role of master.

The second device is called a slave. So, the system can have four (maximum) IDE devices:

primary master;

primary slave (primary slave);

secondary master - the second controller;

secondary slave - the second controller.

Open the cover of the computer case. Typically, the first controller is labeled IDE0, and the second is IDE1 (that is, the numbering starts at zero). If you already have an IDE drive installed (because you might have bought a computer with a SATA drive), then it will be connected to the first controller.

How do you distinguish an IDE connector from a SATA connector? Quite simply, the IDE connector is large (Figure 4.3) and the SATA connector is small (Figure 4.4).

Rice. 4.3. IDE connectors on the motherboard

Pay attention to the color of the IDE cable that connects the motherboard and hard drive. If it is gray, then it is better to replace it with yellow - these are higher-performance cables (your hard drive will work faster if you connect it with a yellow cable).

You can watch a visual video tutorial - the subtleties and nuances of
checking the hard disk in the HDD Scan program

The difference is that the old (gray) cables have 40 pins, and the new (yellow) ones have 80. When the drive is connected using the old cable, the BIOS issues a warning that a 40-pin (40 pin) cable is used instead of an 80-pin ( 80 pin).

Rice. 4.4. SATA connectors

Connect one end of the IDE cable to the IDE connector on the motherboard (don't worry - you won't plug it in the wrong way, because the dongle won't allow it), and the other end to the hard drive.

And this is where the fun begins. You have connected a hard drive to one of the controllers, but now you need to select its mode - master or slave.

Next to the connector for connecting the IDE-cable on the hard disk there will be a connector for selecting the operating mode. The operating mode is selected using a jumper - jumper (Fig. 4.5), which must be set in one of the positions corresponding to one or another operating mode.

The map of the operating modes of the hard disk is drawn on the hard disk itself - on the sticker above. Sometimes the master is called DEVICE 0 (Figure 4.6), and the slave is called DEVICE 1. Don't be confused by that.

Please note: two masters or two slaves cannot be connected to one controller. If a device is connected to the controller, you need to disconnect it and check the operating mode - if master, then connect the second device as a slave, or vice versa.

Rice. 4.5. Connecting an IDE device

It is undesirable to change the operating mode of already installed devices. Let me explain why. Suppose a hard disk is connected to the first controller as a master - Windows boots from it.

If you install new hard drive as a master, and make the old one a slave, then the computer will try to boot Windows from the new hard disk and, of course, it will fail!

Usually there is a third mode of operation for an IDE device - by choosing a cable (CABLE SELECT). In this mode, the device will be master or slave, depending on how it is connected to the loop - to the middle or to the end of the loop. You do not need to select this mode, otherwise the controller may have two masters or two slaves (if you connect them incorrectly).

So, we connected the IDE cable, selected the operating mode, it remains to connect the power supply. With this, everything is simple: a lot of power cables come out of the power supply, connect one of them to the hard drive. Do not be afraid - you will not connect it incorrectly. Usually when connecting power, the yellow wire is facing you.

The general scheme for connecting an IDE device (yes, exactly the device, since CD / DVD drives are connected in the same way) is shown in Fig. 4.5.

Why didn't we talk about the location of the device in the computer case? I remember that an acquaintance from America came and brought with him his computer, or rather, one system unit.

It was a system unit of the so-called white assembly. When I opened it, I was pleasantly surprised - the length of all wires was adjusted to a millimeter. There was an air intake from the fan to the processor, the second fan was directed to the IDE devices - for optimal cooling.

Our computers are of the so-called yellow assembly. Although they are assembled from us, all the components, including the cases, are manufactured in Taiwan (hence the name of the assembly - yellow).

And with Taiwanese cases, the situation is such that hard drives have to be placed not where you want or need from the point of view of cooling, but where they fit. I'm not talking about adjusting the length of the wires. I am silent about this ...

Connecting a SATA hard drive

Now let's talk about SATA drives. Connecting a SATA drive is as easy as shelling pears. But there must be a SATA connector on board your motherboard (see Figure 4.4). All modern motherboards have it. Fear not, you will not be confused: the SATA cable cannot be connected to any other connector on the motherboard.

It's easier to connect a SATA drive than an IDE:

A SATA cable has two identical connectors - at the ends. One end connects to the motherboard, the other to the hard drive. It is impossible to connect the SATA connector incorrectly - the key will not allow;

The SATA disk has no jumpers (jumpers), so you do not need to select the device operating mode;

Only one disk can be connected to one SATA connector;

Jumpers on existing IDE devices do not affect SATA drives in any way;

After connecting the SATA cable, be sure to connect the power to the SATA drive. Please note: you need a dedicated power cable (3.3V) that comes with the hard drive.

Sometimes an adapter is supplied that allows you to connect a regular power cable to a SATA drive (Figure 4.7).

Rice. 4.7. SATA power cable with adapter (left) and SATA interface cable (right)

As you can see, the physical connection of the SATA drive is simple. If you want to install Windows on a SATA drive, you need to make it bootable.

How? When the computer boots up, when you see the inscription, press DEL to enter SETUP, then among the settings of the SETUP program, find one with the name Boot Sequence or Boot Device Priority.

If you plan to visit it later ... ( Connection procedure
hard drive to the computer | Connecting a hard drive)

Installing a hard drive on a computer is not difficult and there is nothing to be afraid if you have to do it yourself, even if you have never seen your computer open. I'll explain everything to you now, and everything will work out for you.

Installing a hard drive on a computer will be required if you are going to update your device, build a computer from scratch, or want a second HDD. This guide will help you in the first two cases. But in the case of replacing the HDD, I will not tell you how to remove the old one, I think there will be no problems with this, but I will only show you how to install the new one correctly. But I'll tell you about the connection of the second hard some other time.

Installing a new hard drive begins by screwing it to the case. This is done with bolts. There are threaded holes in the hard case, there are grooves in the computer case. It is screwed through them.

Make sure that the installed device does not interfere with ventilation inside the system unit, and that all wires and cables can easily reach it without stretching.

Only on the service https://doctorsmm.com/ there are discounts for selling views on Instagram for a limited period of time. Hurry up to have time to purchase a resource with the most convenient speed mode for video or broadcast, and experienced managers will help you sort out any issue.

Connecting the hard drive to the motherboard

The bolts are fixed, and we move on to the wires and loops. Connect with which the HDD will communicate with it.

Depending on the type of HDD, they will be different - ATA (IDE) and SATA. The first is older, the second is new, but both are still on sale.

Connecting an IDE hard drive to the motherboard is carried out using a ribbon cable, which has a large number of contacts, pins, and therefore it is wide. There is a lock on the loop that prevents it from being connected incorrectly. Therefore, it is impossible to make a mistake. Connect the IDE cable between the HDD and the motherboard.

The SATA hard drive is connected using a narrow ribbon cable. It will be impossible to mix up the connection sockets on the motherboard, since SATA will fit only into the correct connector. Use a SATA cable to connect the HDD to the motherboard.

Connecting the hard drive to power

Power cables are also different for IDE and SATA hard drives. Most for one and the other, or there are special adapters.

To connect IDE hard drives, a 4-pin Peripheral Power Connector is used. SATA hard drives require a SATA Power Connector. In both cases, you cannot mix up the connections, so do not be afraid that you will do something wrong.

Differences between connecting IDE and SATA hard drives

It would seem that the connection procedure is the same, but in fact, IDE is slightly different from SATA in that it requires setting the position of the jumper, the so-called jumper.

The motherboard is usually supplied with a pair of connectors for IDE devices, and each can be connected to two devices. Each pair can have one master and one slave, and it is impossible that there are two identical. The hard disk must be in the master position if Windows is booted from it. The second device in the same connection branch must be slave.

If all this is difficult to understand, then just put the jumper on master if your computer has only one hard disk.

You can find the jumper connection card on the hard drive case itself.

There are no such problems with SATA. Master and slave positions are set via BIOS. When connecting a SATA hard drive, you will need to configure it as bootable if an operating system is installed on it.