How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676
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This will be a fun one. I have a Dell Inspiron 5676 desktop (six months old.) It turns out that, as far as I can tell, the SATA in it doesn't conform to 3.2+ or 3.3 standards (but their docs don't tell us one way or the other, it's just undocumented) so it looks like a 2016 or older power supply in the unit. I have a new WD 10TB SATA drive that is Power Disable Feature enabled. That means that SATA 3.2 or older power puts 3V on Pin 3 and disables the drive. A ridiculously stupid change to SATA in how they did this, but it is what it is.
The drives were not supposed to be Power Disable Feature, but this is what arrived. Every resource says to just use a MOLEX to SATA adapter to get around this. But the Inspiron 5676 has no MOLEX in it, so where would it even plug in? Every resource, including WD's site, acts like there is no possibility of not having MOLEX in the case.
So, anyone know how I can hook up one of these drives? I have plenty of power. If only someone made a SATA to MOLEX to SATA adapter, I'd be all set. The whole situation is absurd, between Dell, the HD seller, the SATA standard all being totally screwed up for it to get to this situation.
Any ideas? How can I stop the power on Pin 3 so that the drive will fire up?
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Maybe there is some way to add MOLEX power into the system, that should do it. Just not sure how.
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How about Sata to molex adapter and another molex to sata?
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@scottalanmiller Is it a standard size Power Supply or is the case SFF?
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Are all the SATA ports enabled in BIOS?
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Take a wire cutter and cut off the orange wire at both ends. Throw it away.
It's the wire that carries 3.3V power. No SATA drive has ever used it so you'll never going to need it.
Molex, the old 4-pin connector doesn't have 3.3V. So a molex to SATA adapter works with the HDD because it doesn't have an orange wire with 3.3V...
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@marcinozga said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:
How about Sata to molex adapter and another molex to sata?
Couldn't find one, I looked. Do you know of one? That would be simple.
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@CCWTech said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:
@scottalanmiller Is it a standard size Power Supply or is the case SFF?
Large case.
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@RojoLoco said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:
Are all the SATA ports enabled in BIOS?
Yes, and the BIOS still can't see the drive.
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@Pete-S said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:
Take a wire cutter and cut off the orange wire at both ends. Throw it away.
It's the wire that carries 3.3V power. No SATA drive has ever used it so you'll never going to need it.
Molex, the old 4-pin connector doesn't have 3.3V. So a molex to SATA adapter works with the HDD because it doesn't have an orange wire with 3.3V...
I had been wondering if there wasn't a way to do this
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@scottalanmiller said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:
@CCWTech said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:
@scottalanmiller Is it a standard size Power Supply or is the case SFF?
Large case.
Replace power supply.
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You could put nail polish over the pin on the power connector on the drive itself. Or a small piece of electrical tape
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@scottalanmiller said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:
How can I stop the power on Pin 3 so that the drive will fire up?
Hot glue
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Byte My Bits did a video on this a while back. Electrical tape over the third pin works.
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@scottalanmiller said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:
Dell Inspiron 5676
Is this for a gaming system or what?
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@dbeato said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:
@scottalanmiller said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:
Dell Inspiron 5676
Is this for a gaming system or what?
It is, yeah. So nothing super critical.
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@scottalanmiller said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:
@marcinozga said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:
How about Sata to molex adapter and another molex to sata?
Couldn't find one, I looked. Do you know of one? That would be simple.
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=7642 - male sata to female molex
https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=8799 - male molex to female sata -
I ran into this and ended up putting Kapton tape over pin 3.
Since the tape was wider than the pins I put a piece of tape over all the contacts and used an x-acto knife to cut out the tape covering the other pins.
Do not use electrical tape. The glue is very gummy and will ooze under the higher temperatures. When you withdraw the connector (or drive from the cage) the tape could stay behind and will probably leave a sticky mess in the connector.
Kapton doesn't have these problems. It will continue to hold under high temperatures and will release cleanly when you need it to.
