Help me build a Hard Disk On/Off Switch! =)

[Polieno]

I have 2 hdd and 1 ssd.
I dont have any molex to sata cables but I do have standard spdt switches.

What I want to do is simple!? I basicly want to make one of these
but without the lights, so I wont need to use resistors.

One of the hard disks uses +-5V the SSD uses +-5V and on the last HDD it says +12V,+5V
Here are the drives:
3.5"
2.5"HDD
SSD

I have read this thread and I have come to the conclusion that none of the drives use the 3.3V cable on a power SATA cable.

What wires do I connect to the switch that is supposed to power the 5V drives, the 12V or the 5V or both? At the same time I dont know what wires to connect when hooking up my hdd either, the 5v or the 12v?

Lastly, I dont have a soldering pen nor do I have a crimpler so I was thinking of just twisting the cables and insulating them with electrical tape, would that be a bad idea?

Oh and does anyone know if the extra 5V provided by the SATA3 connector do anything to the drive while the current from the SATA power cable is blocked?

 

[USAFRet]

OK, I have to ask...
Why do you wish to build this?

Randomly powering off drives will very often lead to data loss.

 

[Polieno]

OK, I have to ask...
Why do you wish to build this?

Randomly powering off drives will very often lead to data loss.

To be able to dualboot from different drives without having a chance for any malicious software to spread, why would I randomly power them off ?

 

[USAFRet]

OK, I have to ask...
Why do you wish to build this?

Randomly powering off drives will very often lead to data loss.

To be able to dualboot from different drives without having a chance for any malicious software to spread, why would I randomly power them off ?

Just checking. I've heard stranger things.

But don't just twist the wires together. If you're going to do it, do it right.

Here's is another link for making one: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/82086-build-your-own-sata-hard-drive-switch

 

[Polieno]

OK, I have to ask...
Why do you wish to build this?

Randomly powering off drives will very often lead to data loss.

To be able to dualboot from different drives without having a chance for any malicious software to spread, why would I randomly power them off ?

Just checking. I've heard stranger things.

But don't just twist the wires together. If you're going to do it, do it right.

Here's is another link for making one: http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/82086-build-your-own-sata-hard-drive-switch

Thanks for the link! I have read through it, sadly it doesnt answer if I should cut the 5v,12v or both for the ssd.

 

[USAFRet]

It outlines exactly which wires (by color) should be connected to where.
Do you have a multimeter? And you really need a soldering iron.

Do you have a switch yet? A case for this?

 

[ArtPog]

In lieu of this kind of makeshift workaround that's sure to cause you problems of one sort of another in the future...

Why don't you consider installing removable HDD/SSDs (mobile racks) in your desktop PC - a configuration that's tried & true and has been used by thousands of PC users over the years? By doing so you'll achieve your basic objective of isolating your drives from each other both physically & electronically and by a mere push of a ON-OFF power button immediately activate the drive of your choice on-the-fly. It's eminently practical as long as your desktop PC case has one or more 5 1/4" bays for installation of the mobile rack(s).

I prepared a broadside for my computer club with some details on the installation & use of these devices. If you're interested, so indicate.

 

[Polieno]

It outlines exactly which wires (by color) should be connected to where.
Do you have a multimeter? And you really need a soldering iron.

Do you have a switch yet? A case for this?

It does show what to connect to where, altho what it doesnt say if I should connect the 12V or the 5V to a drive that requires 5V, It may seem obvious but I dont want to risk it. Also I dont have a multimeter, but since I wont be having any leds I wont need one. All I want to do is just break current so that the storage unit cant power on.
I have read that crimping is just as effective as soldering, but I miht just go out and buy a soldering iron in the next couple of days.

As for the Switch I have 4 standard 2 way spdt switches. And regarding the case I have an old cd reader case that I am going to add a customized plate to hold the switches

 

[Polieno]

In lieu of this kind of makeshift workaround that's sure to cause you problems of one sort of another in the future...

Why don't you consider installing removable HDD/SSDs (mobile racks) in your desktop PC - a configuration that's tried & true and has been used by thousands of PC users over the years? By doing so you'll achieve your basic objective of isolating your drives from each other both physically & electronically and by a mere push of a ON-OFF power button immediately activate the drive of your choice on-the-fly. It's eminently practical as long as your desktop PC case has one or more 5 1/4" bays for installation of the mobile rack(s).

I prepared a broadside for my computer club with some details on the installation & use of these devices. If you're interested, so indicate.

I would do that, but seeing as I have a case that is a B-word to open and close and since I have no money atm I am stuck with this.
Why do you say it will cause complications, I am simply breaking the current, or am I missing something ?
Dont scare me mate ~

 

[USAFRet]

The multimeter is to test connectivity before you apply actual power to a drive, and let the magic smoke out.

 

[Polieno]

The multimeter is to test connectivity before you apply actual power to a drive, and let the magic smoke out.

How would it make a difference if the power was going through or not?
This is a genuine question, no spite intended

 

[USAFRet]

The multimeter is to test connectivity before you apply actual power to a drive, and let the magic smoke out.

How would it make a difference if the power was going through or not?
This is a genuine question, no spite intended

Just in case you got it wrong.
I used to fix fighter jets. Lots of electricity, data signals, etc.
This is a simple wiring job.

There is no way I would power a drive up with this without testing the basic connectivity though each switch and wire.
Just in case.

Especially if this is your first time (no soldering iron, no multimeter) building something like this.

 

[Polieno]

The multimeter is to test connectivity before you apply actual power to a drive, and let the magic smoke out.

How would it make a difference if the power was going through or not?
This is a genuine question, no spite intended

Just in case you got it wrong.
I used to fix fighter jets. Lots of electricity, data signals, etc.
This is a simple wiring job.

There is no way I would power a drive up with this without testing the basic connectivity though each switch and wire.
Just in case.

Especially if this is your first time (no soldering iron, no multimeter) building something like this.

Thank you for your advice, it is much appreciated! It isnt my first time wiring, I just tend to be a bit reckless, it is my first time wiring inside a PC tho so I might aswell get the propper tools, wouldnt want any magic smoke escaping..

 

[USAFRet]

But...as ArtPog says, there are MUCH better, easier, safer, ways to do this.

 

[Polieno]

But...as ArtPog says, there are MUCH better, easier, safer, ways to do this.

Well that may be, but I really dont have alot of choice, because I need it to be able to switch fast and keep my pc closed. Also no money to spend at the moment.
So I assume you dont know if I shuold connenct my switch to the 12V or the 5V wire when connencting the smaller drives.

 

[USAFRet]

5.25 drive mount. Accessible from the OUTSIDE. No case opening needed after you install it.
Take a drive out, put a new drive in
Boot

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-5-25in-Trayless-Mobile-3-5in/dp/B000KS8S9W

12v or 5v? You need to wire it for that specific drive.
I don't know which ones you have. But if a particular drive requires 12v, then that is what it needs.

 

[Polieno]

In lieu of this kind of makeshift workaround that's sure to cause you problems of one sort of another in the future...

Why don't you consider installing removable HDD/SSDs (mobile racks) in your desktop PC - a configuration that's tried & true and has been used by thousands of PC users over the years? By doing so you'll achieve your basic objective of isolating your drives from each other both physically & electronically and by a mere push of a ON-OFF power button immediately activate the drive of your choice on-the-fly. It's eminently practical as long as your desktop PC case has one or more 5 1/4" bays for installation of the mobile rack(s).

I prepared a broadside for my computer club with some details on the installation & use of these devices. If you're interested, so indicate.

5.25 drive mount. Accessible from the OUTSIDE. No case opening needed after you install it.
Take a drive out, put a new drive in
Boot

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-5-25in-Trayless-Mobile-3-5in/dp/B000KS8S9W

12v or 5v? You need to wire it for that specific drive.
I don't know which ones you have. But if a particular drive requires 12v, then that is what it needs.

Sadly that would solve half of my problem, I run two drives on my personal pc and one drive for testing. If I were using two drives in total that would have been awesome, and I thank you for showing me that such a thing exsists ! Also I only have one bay free, if I only had one more I would scrap this whole idea get two of those!
EDIT: Also I will get the 5 1/4 mount as soon as I have the money!

EDIT2: Also I would be interested in some instructions on how to install those ArtPog, Sorry I reply like this, I am bad at using forums as you can probably tell.

 

[ArtPog]

No problem...(I can sense your frustration).

But there is a viable solution for your objectives...

The remarkable thing about the mobile rack I'm going to tell you about is that you would need only a SINGLE vacant 5 1/4" bay on your desktop PC. That is because a removable tray (caddy) is used to make up the removable HDD/SSD configuration. So you could utilize a hundred different drives should you desire with a single mobile rack and insert/remove each in your running system as long as your motherboard supports "hot-swapping" - which virtually every modern motherboard on the market supports today.

Here's the general description of the mobile rack (removable drives) configuration I prepared for out computer club.

We equip every PC we build with at least one mobile rack/removable HDD/SSD. The advantages of this configuration are enormous as I will explain.

Here's the mobile rack we've been using for quite a number of years...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

1. The beauty of installing removable HDD/SSDs in a desktop PC is that the user can easily work with multiple installed drives, each effectively isolated (when desired) from any other installed drive. Thus, multiple operating systems may be installed on different drives installed in the system and no conflicts will arise from this situation since each drive can be completely isolated from another. In addition, the use of removable drives facilitates accommodating different storage/backup needs that the user may desire since it's a simple matter to add, remove, modify a HDD/SSD using a removable drive in the system.

2. With removable HDD/SSDs desktop PC users have an UNLIMITED number of drives to work with should they choose without the need for opening their computer cases to install (or remove) the drive in the machine. Again, each removable drive is isolated from the other internally-connected drives at the user's option.

3. Assuming the drive in the mobile rack contains an OS, simply by pressing its power switch the user can thus boot to this drive or that drive without the need for any "bootloader" or any other multi-booting software, as well as avoiding the need (in most cases) to access the motherboard's BIOS to change the boot priority order in order to boot to this or that particular HDD that contains a different OS.

4. Should a removable HDD/SSD become defective/dysfunctional that needs to be removed & replaced in the system, it's a simple & quick process for a user to remove & replace it from the comfort of his or her computer chair without the need of disconnecting/uninstalling the disk from the motherboard's internal SATA connector.

The mobile rack we use is a two-piece affair - a removable tray and the rack itself which is affixed to the desktop PC's 5 1/4" bay (identical to affixing an optical drive or some such 5 1/4" device). This model contains a small fan that is dead silent in operation.

This particular mobile rack model is equipped with an ON-OFF power switch button, a most desirable feature in our opinion. Assuming a user is working with multiple removable hard drives in their mobile racks (or has also installed a fixed internally-connected hard drive), it's a simple matter to press the ON-OFF button and "on-the-fly" temporarily disable one or more of the mobile rack's hard drives without the need of using the rack's lever to remove the rack's tray (caddy) containing the HDD from the rack's internal SATA power/data connectors.

Of course should the user choose to do so it's a relatively simple matter to press the removable tray's lever release button and thus physically disconnect the removable tray containing the tray's HDD/SSD SATA data/power connectors from the mobile rack's connectors. A simple pull of the tray's lever is all that is necessary.

So can you see the advantages in your situation? In effect, you would be able to electrically connect or disconnect your 2 TB HDD from the OS's internal system by a simple push of the rack's power button. Should you desire to physically remove the HDD from the system all that would be necessary is a pull on the removable tray's lever and out would come the removable tray with the installed HDD.

And should you desire to use additional HDDs for one reason or another, simply remove the present disk from the tray and plop a different one in. Thus, you would have an UNLIMITED number of drives at your disposal.

So with a removable HDD, you get the speed advantages of an internally-connected drive when you need it and the absolute security of the backup/storage data on that disk by easily disconnecting/uninstalling the disk from the system whenever you need to.

 

[Polieno]

No problem...(I can sense your frustration).

But there is a viable solution for your objectives...

The remarkable thing about the mobile rack I'm going to tell you about is that you would need only a SINGLE vacant 5 1/4" bay on your desktop PC. That is because a removable tray (caddy) is used to make up the removable HDD/SSD configuration. So you could utilize a hundred different drives should you desire with a single mobile rack and insert/remove each in your running system as long as your motherboard supports "hot-swapping" - which virtually every modern motherboard on the market supports today.

Here's the general description of the mobile rack (removable drives) configuration I prepared for out computer club.

We equip every PC we build with at least one mobile rack/removable HDD/SSD. The advantages of this configuration are enormous as I will explain.

Here's the mobile rack we've been using for quite a number of years...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

1. The beauty of installing removable HDD/SSDs in a desktop PC is that the user can easily work with multiple installed drives, each effectively isolated (when desired) from any other installed drive. Thus, multiple operating systems may be installed on different drives installed in the system and no conflicts will arise from this situation since each drive can be completely isolated from another. In addition, the use of removable drives facilitates accommodating different storage/backup needs that the user may desire since it's a simple matter to add, remove, modify a HDD/SSD using a removable drive in the system.

2. With removable HDD/SSDs desktop PC users have an UNLIMITED number of drives to work with should they choose without the need for opening their computer cases to install (or remove) the drive in the machine. Again, each removable drive is isolated from the other internally-connected drives at the user's option.

3. Assuming the drive in the mobile rack contains an OS, simply by pressing its power switch the user can thus boot to this drive or that drive without the need for any "bootloader" or any other multi-booting software, as well as avoiding the need (in most cases) to access the motherboard's BIOS to change the boot priority order in order to boot to this or that particular HDD that contains a different OS.

4. Should a removable HDD/SSD become defective/dysfunctional that needs to be removed & replaced in the system, it's a simple & quick process for a user to remove & replace it from the comfort of his or her computer chair without the need of disconnecting/uninstalling the disk from the motherboard's internal SATA connector.

The mobile rack we use is a two-piece affair - a removable tray and the rack itself which is affixed to the desktop PC's 5 1/4" bay (identical to affixing an optical drive or some such 5 1/4" device). This model contains a small fan that is dead silent in operation.

This particular mobile rack model is equipped with an ON-OFF power switch button, a most desirable feature in our opinion. Assuming a user is working with multiple removable hard drives in their mobile racks (or has also installed a fixed internally-connected hard drive), it's a simple matter to press the ON-OFF button and "on-the-fly" temporarily disable one or more of the mobile rack's hard drives without the need of using the rack's lever to remove the rack's tray (caddy) containing the HDD from the rack's internal SATA power/data connectors.

Of course should the user choose to do so it's a relatively simple matter to press the removable tray's lever release button and thus physically disconnect the removable tray containing the tray's HDD/SSD SATA data/power connectors from the mobile rack's connectors. A simple pull of the tray's lever is all that is necessary.

So can you see the advantages in your situation? In effect, you would be able to electrically connect or disconnect your 2 TB HDD from the OS's internal system by a simple push of the rack's power button. Should you desire to physically remove the HDD from the system all that would be necessary is a pull on the removable tray's lever and out would come the removable tray with the installed HDD.

And should you desire to use additional HDDs for one reason or another, simply remove the present disk from the tray and plop a different one in. Thus, you would have an UNLIMITED number of drives at your disposal.

So with a removable HDD, you get the speed advantages of an internally-connected drive when you need it and the absolute security of the backup/storage data on that disk by easily disconnecting/uninstalling the disk from the system whenever you need to.

Oh Thank you very much for the very detailed and thorough explanation! If I might ask two more questions, why is it so dangereous use the option that I want to use, since all I am doing is cutting power? And more importantly, do you know of any 5 1/4 hotswap bays that support a 3.5 and a 2.5 at the same time?

 

[USAFRet]

A 2 drive hotswap bay? Yes, they make those.
For the 2.5" drive, you get a 2.5"->3.5" adapter plate. It then fits into a standard 3.5" space.

 

[Polieno]

A 2 drive hotswap bay? Yes, they make those.
For the 2.5" drive, you get a 2.5"->3.5" adapter plate. It then fits into a standard 3.5" space.

I mean do they make any that can run a 2.5 and a 3.5 at the same time? I have seen ones that run 2x2.5 ones but none that can run 2.5+3.5.

Also thank you for still sticking around! It is much appreciated!

 

[USAFRet]

A 2 drive hotswap bay? Yes, they make those.
For the 2.5" drive, you get a 2.5"->3.5" adapter plate. It then fits into a standard 3.5" space.

I mean do they make any that can run a 2.5 and a 3.5 at the same time? I have seen ones that run 2x2.5 ones but none that can run 2.5+3.5.

Also thank you for still sticking around! It is much appreciated!

Are there? You can research as easily as I can.

 

[Polieno]

A 2 drive hotswap bay? Yes, they make those.
For the 2.5" drive, you get a 2.5"->3.5" adapter plate. It then fits into a standard 3.5" space.

I mean do they make any that can run a 2.5 and a 3.5 at the same time? I have seen ones that run 2x2.5 ones but none that can run 2.5+3.5.

Also thank you for still sticking around! It is much appreciated!

Are there? You can research as easily as I can.

Didnt mean to imply that I wanted you to search, but since I searched and didnt find any until a few minutes ago ironicly enough, I asked to know if you maybe knew some workaround, I thouhgt it was implied.

I guess searched in the wron language hehe.

Anyway thank you for all the help! Have a wonderful day/weekend!