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Bad molex -> Sata connector, now TWO ssds are fried -- help?

V

Validatorian

Junior Member
So I just got one of these bad boys:
OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-240G 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

And it was working fine... but I was using the older SATA cables, not the SATA III type -- so I got a new SATA III cable, and an additional power cable:
IO Crest SY-CAB40018 12? Molex 4-Pin to 2x 15-Pin Right Angle SATA Power Cable

And all of a sudden, the drive was no longer recognized. I tried hooking the power cable up to my existing Intel M2 80GB SSD -- and then that wasn't recognized... I thought, "Oh, power must be bad... I'll order another one" so I reconnected the old power to my new SSD... not recognized... This is when I started to worry. I tried my old SSD... the one with the last 2 years of my work on it... not recognized.

I can RMA the OCZ, but likely not the Intel -- but I'm more concerned about the data on the intel. Anyone know what likely happened, or more importantly, is there anything I can do to resolve it?
 
Welcome to the forum.

You're not the first and you certainly won't be the last to connect nearly $1000 worth of equipment with a $2 cable, then wonder why things went wrong.

What you have should done was bought a new PSU with enough SATA power connectors to meet your needs.

You won't be able to RMA either of the SSDs, that is to say, when they check them it will be very easy to tell that the power supplied to these SSDs was wrong, and they will reject the RMA. After all it wasn't OCZ or Intels fault that this happened.

Sorry that I can't be more positive. 🙂
 
How were you powering the Vertex in the first place? They don't come with a molex. Or have I missed something?
 
I had one additional SATA power -- I stopped powering my old SSD while setting up the new one, then got the molex -> sata adapter to connect them both.
 
I see. Bit of a shocker if that lead has blown both SSDs.

You could do with finding a way to test if that lead is faulty or not. Find a way of testing each voltage from each contact point.

If you find something astray, you may get some ammo for going back to the supplier.

Edit:

imgB230047.jpg


If this is a straight through SATA male connector (confirm by testing continuity on each contact point one at a time) get one and plug your new lead into it and test the volages on each contact point.
 
Last edited:
Validatorian said:
So I just got one of these bad boys:
OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-240G 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

And it was working fine... but I was using the older SATA cables, not the SATA III type -- so I got a new SATA III cable, and an additional power cable:
IO Crest SY-CAB40018 12? Molex 4-Pin to 2x 15-Pin Right Angle SATA Power Cable

And all of a sudden, the drive was no longer recognized. I tried hooking the power cable up to my existing Intel M2 80GB SSD -- and then that wasn't recognized... I thought, "Oh, power must be bad... I'll order another one" so I reconnected the old power to my new SSD... not recognized... This is when I started to worry. I tried my old SSD... the one with the last 2 years of my work on it... not recognized.

I can RMA the OCZ, but likely not the Intel -- but I'm more concerned about the data on the intel. Anyone know what likely happened, or more importantly, is there anything I can do to resolve it?
Click to expand...

Something I don't quite understand, maybe you could help me here. You said it was working fine, and then you changed the cables.

Why would you change your cables if it's working fine?
 
janas19 said:
Something I don't quite understand, maybe you could help me here. You said it was working fine, and then you changed the cables.

Why would you change your cables if it's working fine?
Click to expand...


Because I was using the older SATA cables, not the SATA III cables, which offer improved performance. Also, I wanted to be able to connect both SSDs at the same time, so this would have happened anyhow.
 
There is no such thing as a SATA II or SATA III power cable. The connector is just the connector. The data cable has SATA II (3Gbps) and SATA III (6Gbps) versions.
 
Validatorian said:
Because I was using the older SATA cables, not the SATA III cables, which offer improved performance. Also, I wanted to be able to connect both SSDs at the same time, so this would have happened anyhow.
Click to expand...

Well, if you bought name-brand cables from a retail store, I wouldn't be mad at you. But if you bought generic no-name cables from China off Amazon... which it looks like you did... this may be a hard-learned lesson in not to buy cheap cables to support an expensive piece of hardware like the SSD drive. But I hope you find a fix.
 
janas19 said:
Well, if you bought name-brand cables from a retail store, I wouldn't be mad at you. But if you bought generic no-name cables from China off Amazon... which it looks like you did... this may be a hard-learned lesson in not to buy cheap cables to support an expensive piece of hardware like the SSD drive. But I hope you find a fix.
Click to expand...
Still pretty harsh though if theres a short in his cable which has blown his SSDs. It all comes from China. I've collected plenty of these molex to SATA leads in my spares box and I wouldn't have tested one before using it.
 
Coup27 said:
There is no such thing as a SATA II or SATA III power cable. The connector is just the connector. The data cable has SATA II (3Gbps) and SATA III (6Gbps) versions.
Click to expand...

Sorry for not being clear.

Let me explain: I was previously using one of those joint power + data cables, which was SATA II -- it was basically molex -> sata power and SATA II data (like this)

But I wanted to connect my other SATA as well, so I got an SATA III data cable, as well as the molex -> sata power cable. The latter turned out the be the instigator in this whole ordeal.

Yes, lesson learned. I had no idea that this was even a remote possibility, and had I know, I would have gone with name-brand cables. I've just gotten so used to the whole 'cables are cables' thing with HDMI, for example, with the whole "monster cable" thing. I guess that doesn't apply here.

Anyone know if there's any hope at all of recovering the data off of the Intel SSD?
 
Ah I see now. The chances are its the power circuits in your SSD which have been fried and the NAND is still intact. There are companies (google NAND recovery) which will be able to retrieve the data but I have no idea how much these companies charge.

Try the SSDs in another couple of machines if possible to confirm they are toast and theres not something funky going on with your rig or PSU.

If they are toast, I would get one of those SATA male straight through adapters and a SATA power connector drawing and test the voltages. If your cable has fried two SSDs it's worth pursuing, especially if you bought it from Amazon.
 
Coup27 said:
Ah I see now. The chances are its the power circuits in your SSD which have been fried and the NAND is still intact. There are companies (google NAND recovery) which will be able to retrieve the data but I have no idea how much these companies charge.

Try the SSDs in another couple of machines if possible to confirm they are toast and theres not something funky going on with your rig or PSU.

If they are toast, I would get one of those SATA male straight through adapters and a SATA power connector drawing and test the voltages. If your cable has fried two SSDs it's worth pursuing, especially if you bought it from Amazon.
Click to expand...

+1
 
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