3 ms·

Haven't read the page yet but the header image struck me as interesting. "Molex to SATA, lose all your data" was drilled into my head at an early job and appea

by branon 5y ago

Haven't read the page yet but the header image struck me as interesting. "Molex to SATA, lose all your data" was drilled into my head at an early job and appears to be what's depicted there. If your disks are set up in a similar way, you might have a very immediate need for a good backup script :)

tjoff 5y ago
That's a weird mantra, molex to sata is perfectly fine.
- scottlamb 5y ago
  I'd never heard of it either but found this interesting youtube video: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyy_WOSdVc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyy_WOSdVc>. tl;dw: many of these adapters are so poorly made they might catch on fire. They put the (insulated) wires in and then pour in something kind of like hot-melt glue around them (to hold them in place, and/or for extra insulation, not sure). Sometimes the wires are well separated within that medium, but sometimes they're touching, and possibly the wire's own insulation is melted by the glue. There also seems to be some contaminants in the glue, and possibly corrosion from the way it was soldered. At the end, he shows a better kind where crimped wires are put into hard plastic channels, which reliably keeps them in place without the same risk of compromising their insulation.
kobalsky 5y ago
could you explain why it's a bad idea to use molex to sata? did your guys use shitty injection molded connectors that melted or is there another reason?
- branon 5y ago
  I didn't really know why until I read scottlamb's comment, and yours. I think this is the only plausible explanation - someone had a bad experience with a really crappy connector and it stuck.
uhradone 5y ago
Any SATA connector that is powering the drive has little pins and can be not well made and cause fire. Yes, on the Molex site is a big amount of amperes that can go through. But you hardly find a PSU with 24 direct outputs for HDDs.

by branon 5y ago

tjoff 5y ago

That's a weird mantra, molex to sata is perfectly fine.

scottlamb 5y ago
I'd never heard of it either but found this interesting youtube video: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyy_WOSdVc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAyy_WOSdVc>. tl;dw: many of these adapters are so poorly made they might catch on fire. They put the (insulated) wires in and then pour in something kind of like hot-melt glue around them (to hold them in place, and/or for extra insulation, not sure). Sometimes the wires are well separated within that medium, but sometimes they're touching, and possibly the wire's own insulation is melted by the glue. There also seems to be some contaminants in the glue, and possibly corrosion from the way it was soldered. At the end, he shows a better kind where crimped wires are put into hard plastic channels, which reliably keeps them in place without the same risk of compromising their insulation.

kobalsky 5y ago

could you explain why it's a bad idea to use molex to sata? did your guys use shitty injection molded connectors that melted or is there another reason?

branon 5y ago
I didn't really know why until I read scottlamb's comment, and yours. I think this is the only plausible explanation - someone had a bad experience with a really crappy connector and it stuck.

uhradone 5y ago

Any SATA connector that is powering the drive has little pins and can be not well made and cause fire. Yes, on the Molex site is a big amount of amperes that can go through. But you hardly find a PSU with 24 direct outputs for HDDs.