Modern SATA 6 HDDs not fitting in external docks?

Sammy888 said:

Thanks. I'll look out for them. Do you recommend any docks or USB3 SATA adapters?

See the Amazon.com link in post #8
I would get one of the ones, like at that link... where you can "get to" the connectors. ^^
With these tiny fragile connectors, in computer stuff... I like to be able to "see" if they're dirty, or broken, or don't line up... etc.


The top link in post #8 is just for a single drive dock.
The bottom link is for all Sabrent docks.




If I wasn't on a fixed income... I'd get one of these bad boys...
I have tons of WD Black 3.5" hard drives, that still work perfectly.

SABRENT 5 bay dock

About this item

USB 3.2 Type-C port with up to 10Gbps transfer speed.
5 x SATA 6Gbit/s 3.5” hard drive bays.
High-quality aluminum for optimal heat dissipation and structural integrity.
Hot-Swappable with 5 independent ON/OFF power switches.
Locking key to prevent accidental bay opening, fully tray-less design.

The two, four, five and ten bay docks, all have fans.





In post #6, I put a picture with companies that have been making docks, etc... for decades.

USB 3 to SATA hard drive adapters...

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=USB3+to+S...ref=nb_sb_noss



If you're just gonna use an adapter... get some double stick tape as well.
3.5" drives spin at 7200 rpm. There'll be a lot of torque when they first spin up.
In other words... they will move around, if they're not attached to something.

Sammy888 said:

If you notice, Sabrent only makes a 2.5 inch adapter, not 3.5 inch. The "favorite" best seller doesn't even have a power source and clearly you need one because the USB power is inadequate, at least for a 3.5 inch HDD.

A Unitek one apparently caused a reviewer's HDD to smoke.

Here...

Amazon.com: FIDECO USB 3.0 to SATA or IDE Adapter, Hard Drive Adapter Cable Universal for 2.5/3.5 inch SATA HDD/SSD & IDE HDD with 12V/2A Power Adapter : Electronics

Sammy888 said:

Thanks. I bought that years ago. Returned it because it was false advertising claiming it was compatible with IDE. Plus it wasn't stable when connected to a SATA HDD.

I appreciate your efforts, but it appears I may be SOL on this. I suppose when I get a new PC I'll be able to use the two Seagate 2 TB HDDs then, but that won't be any time soon.

Here...

Amazon.com





Me... I'm going to sleep. It's 3:30 am here.

Since the drive is some 5mm thinner, it seems quite possible that this prevents the electrical connectors built into the housing from lining up. It all depends on whether the vertical location of the connectors is specified from the top or bottom of the drive (I don't know). Have you tried inserting the drive with both it and the housing upside down, so gravity pushes the drive the other way? Failing that, can you see (or ideally, get) inside the housing to confirm the location of the connectors?

Update: This document shows the connector location spec - a bottom mounted device is shown in fig 23. It now seems highly unlikely to me that Seagate would get this wrong., so my above suggestion is probably silly.

I have a 2-drive case similar to what @Ghot shows in #11 but it's a NAS [Network Attached Storage] drive, hooks to my Router and any computer can Map a folder on it. I set mine as RAID 1 mirroring. The 2 drives are identical.

Those USB cable adapters will be fine USB 3 is capable of 100W over 20V a hard drive only needs less than 10W over 5V