[Anthony1uk]

I wasn't sure exactly which section of the forum to ask this. But I am needing a SATA extension cable for my Western Digital Hard Drive.

Problem is, Western Digitial are using a new spec of SATA power where if the SATA power cable has an active 3.3v pin. The hard drive won't power up at all.

I therefore need a SATA power exension cable that does not have the 3.3v pin active.

I do not want to go down the route of sticking tape on the SATA power pins as I am worried if it moves slightly it could either break my hard drive or cause a fire.

I had bought an AKASA Molex to SATA power cable adapter, but this did not fix it so it seems this cable has an active 3.3v pin.

 

[MPR]

The power disable feature allows hard drives to be electrically reset from software rather then by having to manually unplug them. It's a good idea but unfortunately not backwards-compatible with legacy SATA power connectors that don't support SATA 3.3.

That said, SATA 3.3 came out in February 2016 so you are talking about a pretty old computer system here if it doesn't have it.

Probably the most elegant solution -- snip off the pin 3 contact:

http://imgur.com/a/A0JXgrQ

43% of users simply cover pin 3 with tape. Kapton tape is best.

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https://documents.westerndigital.com/content/dam/doc-library/en_us/assets/public/western-digital/collateral/tech-brief/tech-brief-western-digital-power-disable-pin.pdf

 

[Anthony1uk]

That said, SATA 3.3 came out in February 2016 so you are talking about a pretty old computer system here if it doesn't have it.

Its a £150 Seasonic Titanium 850W PSU I have. That I bought in 2019. I didn't think I could buy any better. But it seems the modular SATA cables it comes with are old? (Or is it the fault of the PSU itself?) And Seasonic don't sell replacement cables to the UK, only to the USA. (or if they do not, at any feasible price)

If I put tape on the pin and it moves, could this cause a fire? We are talking about electricity here. This is what I am mostly worried about as these pins are tiny any the tape easy to move.

 

[MPR]

 

[MPR]

Its a £150 Seasonic Titanium PSU I have. That I bought in 2019. I didn't think I could buy any better. But it seems the modular SATA cables it comes with are old? And Seasonic don't sell replacement cables to the UK, only to the USA. (or if they do not at any feasible price)

If I put tape on the pin and it moves, could this cause a fire? We are talking about electricity here.

What is the model number of the PSU some have SATA 3.3-compatible cables and some don't. A 2019 PSU could well be 2016 or earlier tech too, especially in systems that have ten to twelve-year warranty periods.

A Molex to SATA isn't going to have a 3.3 V wire. Purple is 3.3 V, Red is 5 V and yellow is 12 V.

 

[MPR]

Your drive may be "stuck." Plug in a legacy SATA cable with 3.3 V and then unplug it to remove the signal. Then see if the Molex workaround works. Make sure that the Molex adapter is firmly plugged in and the Molex cable from your PSU is firmly plugged in too at both ends.

 

[fzabkar]

A Molex to SATA isn't going to have a 3.3 V wire. Purple is 3.3 V, Red is 5 V and yellow is 12 V.

Agreed, so the PCB must actually be broken, or the wrong cable is being used with a modular PSU (which in turn can damage the HDD).