[SOLVED] Synology-bay compatible scaffold to hold a WD external USB-3 drive

[valrama]

I have multiple WD external USB drives ("Passport", "Elements" etc) which have a USB port soldered onto the board. I have spare bays in my Synology NAS, and I would just like to mount these "external" disks into those bays. This means we need a scaffolding that has the form factor of an internal 3.5" HDD including a SATA-out in the right place, and connect to the USB-3 port on the inside.

What do folks think of this idea? Is there anything close? And if I wanted to do some h/w hacking myself any pointers on getting the underlying parts?

Edit: Something like this: https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/sho...dia?ref=p13n_ena_pdp_vv&c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd but assume the 2.5" disk only has USB port

 

[popatim]

I am not aware of any USB (drive) to Sata (interface) bridges on the market, only Sata to USB.
You might be able to make something but you would still be left with the performance of a USB drive no matter how fast the HDD actually is (if it were true Sata).

 

[valrama]

You might be able to make something but you would still be left with the performance of a USB drive no matter how fast the HDD actually is (if it were true Sata).

Understood; it would just be a way of making better use of perfectly functional but practically useless drives...

Any pointers on where I can start? 🙃

 

[popatim]

I would start with a cheap test by slapping on a usb gender changer on the end of the external drive, connect it to a usb sata drive adapter, plug in a sata gender changer on the end of that and plug that into a sata port.
You'll have to cut open the usb cable to figure out how to get 5Vusb power to the actual drive and drive adapter... This is not something you would even connect to a live system; rather something you wouldn't care if it went up in flames should be the test bed; because it might.

usb drive>>usb gender changer<<usb end of usb sata adapter...sata end<< sata gender changer>>sata port

I wouldn't hold high hopes but for under $50 you might get lucky.

** the following is used for examples only, I did not check if pinouts were correct for their intended use! **
https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-Aluminum-Connector-Converter-Coupler/dp/B07T9QXZCL
https://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-SATA-USB-Cable-USB3S2SAT3CB/dp/B00HJZJI84
https://www.amazon.com/IO-Crest-Male-Female-Detachment-SY-ADA40106/dp/B01CSDZ3S0