[SGVLUG] anyone have experience with a USB laptop HDD enclosure?

[Michael Proctor-Smith]

On Nov 6, 2007 7:10 PM, Emerson, Tom (*IC) <Tom.Emerson at wbconsultant.com> wrote:
> -----Original Message----- Of Munjal Thakkar
>
> ... I have a dead laptop and an enclosure ... can anyone elaborate on
> which way the enclosure adapter pin out goes? It fits either way, and
> the last thing I need is to the have the power pins in the wrong place
> and frying the hard drive.....
> ============================================
>
> I absolutely DETEST the practice of saving that millicent or two by
> going with a "non-keyed" connector and presuming the end user will "get
> it right", but regardless of MY wants, "the almighty buck speaketh", and
> companies do what they will ;)
>
> Ok, rant ended -- GENERALLY, I've found that the end of the connector
> that holds "pin 1" is usually placed CLOSEST to the power connector.
> (on the back of the drive, that is)

You did not help at all sense there is no power connector on a laptop
harddrive. That is why Munjal is worried sense the drive is powered by
the 44pin laptop connector. But sense there is only 5V for power and
ide signaling is also 5V I am not sure that pluging it in backwards
would hurt anything. But Tom is right most laptop enclosure I have
seen there is only one way to screw the hard drive down and have the
cable/connector connect. Unless it is not an encloser and just a bare
USB to IDE bridge then there is usable a little tab on the top side of
the connector that goes with the top side(the one with the label) of
the harddrive.

> For this "enclosure", is there an identifiable/recognizable "top" vs.
> "bottom" of the enclosure?  (and further presuming the connector INSIDE
> the enclosure is fixed in it's orientation)  Again, I believe it is the
> usual case for the drive to be "right side up" in these situations
>