4 ms·

Is there actually a SCSI drive in there or just a SATA drive with a USB bridge chip using the USB mass storage spec and implementing some basic SCSI commands?

by pkaye 7y ago

vbezhenar 7y ago
When I disassembled one portable SSD, it was exactly that: ordinary SATA 2.5" drive inside enclosure with tiny adapter.
- bayindirh 7y ago
  Sometimes the firmware is optimized for operation though. WD is one of the most advanced companies in this regard. My 4TB Passport drive reports a drive model which is not sold separately but, it's purpose built to run in an enclosure. My first generation Passport 320GB disk was also has a different firmware for enclosure based operation. IIRC some WD disks doesn't have SATA ports but USB ports are directly soldered to their drive boards. WD is an interesting company.
laurentdc 7y ago
It's a regular 2.5" hard drive, but the motherboard has a USB <> SATA bridge and some glue logic on it already, probably to save space or costs. [0] There's no SATA connector so you can't salvage the drive or the enclosure. But there are SATA test points so you could wire it that way in theory. [1] [2] Toshiba does the same, I found out the hard way after prying open one of them to salvage a hard drive for my PS4 [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP4l_L81NKw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP4l_L81NKw [1] https://forum.acelaboratory.com/download/file.php?id=999&mode=view https://forum.acelaboratory.com/download/file.php?id=999&mod... [2] https://forum.acelaboratory.com/viewtopic.php?t=9174 https://forum.acelaboratory.com/viewtopic.php?t=9174
- LeifCarrotson 7y ago
  In the 3.5" space, "shucking" the enclosures off desktop USB storage devices almost always reveals a SATA 3.5" hard drive. Kind of surprising that the drive control board in the Passport has the USB connector built right in. It makes me wonder a few things: 1. What are volumes like for 2.5" spinning rust drives? I understand that the vast majority of 3.5" drives go into servers, desktops, or storage devices where they operate on a SATA bus, so the small volume of USB drives are most cheaply made with a housing that uses the economies of scale of that industry and adds a USB conversion motherboard. A decade ago, I would have said most 2.5" drives are used with SATA connectors in laptops, but who's buying laptops that don't use solid state storage anymore? 2. What's the cost difference for a drive control board with optional pads for both SATA and USB, only one installed at a time, vs one that only supports SATA? 3. Can you pull off the control board and replace it with one from the same lineup that uses SATA, like you would in a data recovery operation where some IC on the board burned out? Or is the mechanical component also specialized?
prussian 7y ago
Well the output looks like it came from the UAS driver which is by name, usb attached scsi. I imagine the drive itself is probably some sata drive and the usb chip just translates scsi to sata.

Is there actually a SCSI drive in there or just a SATA drive with a USB bridge chip using the USB mass storage spec and implementing some basic SCSI commands?

by pkaye 7y ago

Is there actually a SCSI drive in there or just a SATA drive with a USB bridge chip using the USB mass storage spec and implementing some basic SCSI commands?

vbezhenar 7y ago

When I disassembled one portable SSD, it was exactly that: ordinary SATA 2.5" drive inside enclosure with tiny adapter.

bayindirh 7y ago
Sometimes the firmware is optimized for operation though. WD is one of the most advanced companies in this regard. My 4TB Passport drive reports a drive model which is not sold separately but, it's purpose built to run in an enclosure. My first generation Passport 320GB disk was also has a different firmware for enclosure based operation. IIRC some WD disks doesn't have SATA ports but USB ports are directly soldered to their drive boards. WD is an interesting company.

laurentdc 7y ago

It's a regular 2.5" hard drive, but the motherboard has a USB <> SATA bridge and some glue logic on it already, probably to save space or costs. [0] There's no SATA connector so you can't salvage the drive or the enclosure. But there are SATA test points so you could wire it that way in theory. [1] [2] Toshiba does the same, I found out the hard way after prying open one of them to salvage a hard drive for my PS4 [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP4l_L81NKw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP4l_L81NKw [1] https://forum.acelaboratory.com/download/file.php?id=999&mode=view https://forum.acelaboratory.com/download/file.php?id=999&mod... [2] https://forum.acelaboratory.com/viewtopic.php?t=9174 https://forum.acelaboratory.com/viewtopic.php?t=9174

LeifCarrotson 7y ago
In the 3.5" space, "shucking" the enclosures off desktop USB storage devices almost always reveals a SATA 3.5" hard drive. Kind of surprising that the drive control board in the Passport has the USB connector built right in. It makes me wonder a few things: 1. What are volumes like for 2.5" spinning rust drives? I understand that the vast majority of 3.5" drives go into servers, desktops, or storage devices where they operate on a SATA bus, so the small volume of USB drives are most cheaply made with a housing that uses the economies of scale of that industry and adds a USB conversion motherboard. A decade ago, I would have said most 2.5" drives are used with SATA connectors in laptops, but who's buying laptops that don't use solid state storage anymore? 2. What's the cost difference for a drive control board with optional pads for both SATA and USB, only one installed at a time, vs one that only supports SATA? 3. Can you pull off the control board and replace it with one from the same lineup that uses SATA, like you would in a data recovery operation where some IC on the board burned out? Or is the mechanical component also specialized?

prussian 7y ago

Well the output looks like it came from the UAS driver which is by name, usb attached scsi. I imagine the drive itself is probably some sata drive and the usb chip just translates scsi to sata.