Question Help with a SATA to USB cable

[t4temple]

Good Evening to anyone who maybe able to help.

I first of all would like to apologise if this has been placed in the wrong area of this forum. I was not sure where to post this request but chose Memory as i thought it would be the best place as i am trying to retrieve what is stored on an hold hard drive.

It saddens me that i must ask for help. 20 years ago, i knew everything about computers, cables and set ups but years working in the field have left me so out of date.

I recently found an old Toshiba laptop that died on me years ago. I am desperate to retrieve what was stored on it and hoped that using a Sata to USB cable would help.

When i connect everything up. My current laptop (Lenovo ideapad) does not recognise that anything is connected. The laptop is plugged in and being powered but i think the problem is with the hard drive from the Toshiba laptop as it just clicks over and over.

As far as i can see, the hard drive is fine but i have attached a short video with the cover off (have since put back on)

I have tried both USB slots, re-started the laptop and anything basic i could think off.

I was hoping some genius might be able to guide me on what i could do to get the connection up on my Lenovo laptop. Thank you in advance.

Edit: i am struggling to find a way to attach the video. I only get the option to insert links

Temple

 

[USAFRet]

You're trying to connect an old spinning HDD to a current laptop via USB?

What specific cable do you have?
What specific drive?

Likely something like this would work:
https://www.amazon.com/UGREEN-Cable-Adapter-Converter-Support/dp/B00MYU0EAU

or this:
https://www.amazon.com/SABRENT-Docking-Swappable-Supports-DS-UC1B/dp/B0CRCW4ST9


Likely the drive needs 12v power, not just 5v from the USB port.

 

[evermorex76]

SATA laptop drives usually only need 5V, not 12V, and a USB3 port's output is usually enough to make it work on an adapter but it might take a little longer to spin up. If it's clicking then it's probably getting enough power to spin up but the actuator can't load the heads onto the platters or can't read the service tracks, which would not be a power issue because the actuator won't move until the platters are up to full speed, and the drive will not initialize and be recognized by the OS. For an internal drive that can often prevent the BIOS from even loading, or prevent the OS from loading even when it's on a different drive, because the BIOS hangs while trying to communicate with the drive. For USB drives, it can sometimes cause the OS to hang for short or long periods.

You can't necessarily see problems that cause that just by looking at the platters or heads (you'd only see anything if there was a solid head crash that scratched the surface), and by opening the drive outside of a clean room you've possibly made the problem worse because now there will be contaminants inside the drive that could further damage the platters. There are several things that can cause the actuator issue and it could potentially be fixed by finding another of the exact same model of drive and swapping the actuator and heads, but it's just as likely that the damage is in the service track of the platters. Everything you do at this point is simply risking further damage and making recovery less and less likely. If it's very important data then you need to send it to a recovery specialist. If it's not very important data then it's just lost data.

 

[USAFRet]

SATA laptop drives usually only need 5V, not 12V, and a USB3 port's output is usually enough to make it work on an adapter but it might take a little longer to spin up.

Current ones yes.

This being an ancient drive....?

 

[evermorex76]

Current ones yes.

This being an ancient drive....?

I think all SATA models were always 5V only. Even IDE laptop drives only used a fraction of an amp of 12V power. I searched for the first 2.5 inch SATA model and it seems to have been Fujitsu's MHT20xxBH, which was 5V only. It simply wasn't necessary for those drives to pull 12V to spin up such small platters which are often also made of glass instead of aluminum so they weigh less. If OP's dead laptop was using an IDE drive, it's probably failed simply from being a 20-year-old or older drive that's just been sitting for who knows how long.

 

[USAFRet]

I think all SATA models were always 5V only. Even IDE laptop drives only used a fraction of an amp of 12V power. I searched for the first 2.5 inch SATA model and it seems to have been Fujitsu's MHT20xxBH, which was 5V only. It simply wasn't necessary for those drives to pull 12V to spin up such small platters which are often also made of glass instead of aluminum so they weigh less. If OP's dead laptop was using an IDE drive, it's probably failed simply from being a 20-year-old or older drive that's just been sitting for who knows how long.

IIRC, some of the 2.5" models also required the 12v. Early enterprise level drives

I could be mistaken, though.

 

[evermorex76]

Well, the WD VelociRaptor 2.5 inch 10,000 RPM drive did take 12V, but that was still only 0.35A, and hardly a laptop drive. Enterprise drives are obviously a different class with different requirements. The first 2.5 inch enterprise models might even have been SAS. Slow spin-up is less acceptable in servers, even though it used to be perfectly normal to have one drive at a time turn on and spin up in a RAID array due to the massive power requirement.

I found a 2005 news release about the Fujitsu MAV2036RC and MAV2073RC being the first SAS 3Gbps 2.5 inch drives, and they took 12V 0.4A at 10,000 RPM.

 

[geofelt]

The drive clicking sound suggests to me that it is not getting sufficient power.
Try a powered usb sata adapter like this:
https://www.amazon.com/FEMORO-Adapt...ocphy=9011555&hvtargid=pla-2281435178818&th=1

 

[Misgar]

As far as i can see, the hard drive is fine but i have attached a short video with the cover off (have since put back on)

I can't find the link to your short video, but I'm concerned about your reference "with the cover off (have since put it back on)".

Did you remove the metal cover from the disk drive to look at the insides? If so, you may have reduced the chances of data recovery by allowing dust particles to contaminate the platters.

https://ericscomputerservices.com/never-open-failed-hard-drive/

https://acsdata.com/data-recovery-3tb-seagate-hard-drive/

i think the problem is with the hard drive from the Toshiba laptop as it just clicks over and over.

If you're very unlucky, it's the dreaded "Click of Death" and not just normal head seeks or lack of power.

https://www.howtogeek.com/832396/what-is-the-click-of-death-in-an-hdd-and-what-should-you-do/

The 900mA available on a USB3 port should be enough to power most laptop drives. With USB2 you're limited to 500mA per port, so it was common for some drives to use two USB2 ports for up to 1000mA.

I am desperate to retrieve what was stored on it

The more desperate you are, the greater the need to consider a professional data recovery agency. Some shops examine your drive, then give you a price if file recovery is possible. Charges can range from expensive to extortionate.

There are software recovery tools you can run yourself, but they rely on the drive spinning up and the heads reading data off the drive. Get it wrong and you can make things worse or impossible for a professional.

If you did open up the drive and get dust on the platters, who knows what will happen now. It might still be OK.

 

[USAFRet]

Edit: i am struggling to find a way to attach the video. I only get the option to insert links

Upload your video and pics to imgur.com. 1 minute max length.
Post the link here.