What Interface Does the World's Smallest HDD use?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
T

Tien23

Distinguished
Nov 2, 2011
30
0
18,530
I am having one heck of a time figuring out what interface this HDD is. It is a Toshiba .85" MK4001MTD. It is so small that it uses a ribbon connection but I have no idea what interface type it is or pin out information. I have spent hours trying to find it online but the only thing I see is that it is an ATA-100 interface. However, this looks nothing like an ATA interface...any thoughts?

140973094130


MK4001MTD_1.jpg&size=400,400


http://
 
Solution
F
Toshiba's web site is/was useless:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070502092604/http://www3.toshiba.co.jp/storage/english/stspec3.htm

Your photo suggests that the interface has 14 pins:
https://www.jacobsparts.com/images/harddrive/MK4001MTD_1.jpg

There appear to be 4, maybe 5, heavy traces, probably corresponding to +3.0V and Ground.

There are also two groups of 4 and 5 traces. Since these are lighter traces, I expect that they would be signal lines.

I found the following review for a COWON iAUDIO 6 MP3 player:
http://www.imp3.net/1/show.php?itemid=9138&page=1

Here is the Cowon user manual:
http://www.warrantylife.com/product_files/1/User-Manual/11954381.pdf

The player incorporates a Toshiba MK4001MTD HDD. If you examine the chips...
Sort by date Sort by votes


It is an ATA-100
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Are there connectors made for this? I'd like to somehow find a sata converter for it or wire it up to a sata cable. [/quotemsg]


lol it is slower than a 4G flash SD card why do you bother :) ?

but there are Sata - ATA bridges around ... I guess you will have to do the wiring lol
 
Upvote 0 Downvote



lol it is slower than a 4G flash SD card why do you bother :) ?

but there are Sata - ATA bridges around ... I guess you will have to do the wiring lol[/quotemsg]

Yeah, I know it is slower. I am actually wanting to power it for display...not worried about storing meaningful data on it but I do want it to work. However, ATA-100 is 40 pins correct? This ribbon is on 13, maybe 14 pins. I'm not experienced with wiring so this is new territory for me.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Yeah, I know it is slower. I am actually wanting to power it for display...not worried about storing meaningful data on it but I do want it to work. However, ATA-100 is 40 pins correct? This ribbon is on 13, maybe 14 pins. I'm not experienced with wiring so this is new territory for me.[/quotemsg]

maybe they are using just the needed connections for this drive .. you need to see the white paper for the drive ...

I think there is a board for it but is hard to find online .. sec i will try
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
maybe they are using just the needed connections for this drive .. you need to see the white paper for the drive ...

I think there is a board for it but is hard to find online .. sec i will try[/quotemsg]


I reached out to Toshiba but have yet to hear anything. Kind of a simple but fun project. I want to make a clear plastic cover for this and build the drive into a custom PC case with multiple small drives so they can be seen spinning and the arms moving. I also have a Seagate St1 that is easily connected via a CF adapter.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote



I reached out to Toshiba but have yet to hear anything. Kind of a simple but fun project. I want to make a clear plastic cover for this and build the drive into a custom PC case with multiple small drives so they can be seen spinning and the arms moving. I also have a Seagate St1 that is easily connected via a CF adapter.[/quotemsg]


I found this

http://www.ecoustics.com/products/addonics-ipod-hard-drive-adapters/

I dunno if it is the same

483965.jpg
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Thanks for the help! It will take me some time but I'm hoping with this info I'll be able to connect the drive to my PC.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Toshiba's web site is/was useless:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070502092604/http://www3.toshiba.co.jp/storage/english/stspec3.htm

Your photo suggests that the interface has 14 pins:
https://www.jacobsparts.com/images/harddrive/MK4001MTD_1.jpg

There appear to be 4, maybe 5, heavy traces, probably corresponding to +3.0V and Ground.

There are also two groups of 4 and 5 traces. Since these are lighter traces, I expect that they would be signal lines.

I found the following review for a COWON iAUDIO 6 MP3 player:
http://www.imp3.net/1/show.php?itemid=9138&page=1

Here is the Cowon user manual:
http://www.warrantylife.com/product_files/1/User-Manual/11954381.pdf

The player incorporates a Toshiba MK4001MTD HDD. If you examine the chips, there is a Tokyo Electron TE4000 "SD Memory Card, SDIO card, MultiMediaCard Controller" IC. However, there is no card inside the unit, nor is there an external card slot. Therefore it appears that the HDD may have an SDIO interface and that the TE4000 chip may be controlling it.

Here are several datasheets for the TE4000 IC:
http://www.inrevium.jp/data/TE4300PF/TE4300_BR_REV100.pdf
http://www.inrevium.jp/data/TE4300PF/TE4300_APP001_REV100.pdf
http://www.inrevium.jp/data/TE4300PF/te4300-1_br.pdf
http://www.inrevium.jp/data/TE4300PF/TE4300_HW_DS_REV107_simplified.pdf

I suspect that the group of 4 pins may be DATA 0 - DATA 3.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
Sorry for the excessively late reply. I may have emailed you months ago but I do not remember. I never did get it to work. I am no expert, but I think most HDDs have controller circuitry built into them that handles the data transfer and sends the pulsating power needed to spin the motor. I am almost positive that the controllers are not built into this HDD, but are instead built into whatever device the HDD is utilized in.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom