WD Easystore External Discussion

i am using them in a norco 4224 and opening case is not a simple solution. is there a none destructive way to block it on disks? also what a prick design
The easiest way would be to simply convert to molex and then back using these:
https://www.startech.com/Cables/Com...SATA-LP4-Power-Cable-Adapter-12in~LP4SATAFM12
https://www.startech.com/Cables/Com...Molex-to-SATA-Power-Cable-Adapter~SATAPOWADAP

Actually, I just discovered it's even easier--just find an sata power extension with only 4 wires or cut the orange one:
https://www.overclock.net/forum/31-...-feature-newer-sata-specs-5.html#post26514248
 
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A 4224 has a backplane and no way to delete the 3.3v since it's actually produced on the backplane which is already fed by molex.

Scotch tape is weak compared to kapton and may easily scrape off and get stuck in the connector.

Whatever tape you use it's important for it to wrap around the edge of the connector so physics assists in keeping it in place.
 
A trick the guys on the STH used was just to use a black marker and color over the connector and it works until you plug and unplug it a few times.
 
I just pulled the 3.3V pin out of the connector on the PSU end of the power cable. Seemed like the easiest and most foolproof solution.
 
I just pulled the 3.3V pin out of the connector on the PSU end of the power cable. Seemed like the easiest and most foolproof solution.
This isn't a bad thing as I do it all the time with the pwm pin on fans I want to just stay floored, but make sure to tape up that removed pin or insulated it some other way as in the wrong scenario it would send voltage places it shouldn't go. (y)
 
I just remove the pin in question from the SATA connector of the drive - takes two seconds. No screwing around with taping that may fail at some point with reinsertions.
 
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I just remove the pin in question from the SATA connector of these drives - takes two seconds.
Do you have a link to a tutorial for this? I haven't had to do it yet, but in case I do it would be good to know exactly how. (y)
 
I just remove the pin in question from the SATA connector of the drive - takes two seconds. No screwing around with taping that may fail at some point with reinsertions.

I've got six of these in an unraid server, all of them have the 3.3v pin covered with Kapton tape. Works fine and the only reason these drives would ever get unplugged is if one failed. I might do things different if I knew I'd be swapping drives frequently, but for most people, Kapton tape is cheap and works great as a non-permanent modification.
 
I've got six of these in an unraid server, all of them have the 3.3v pin covered with Kapton tape. Works fine and the only reason these drives would ever get unplugged is if one failed. I might do things different if I knew I'd be swapping drives frequently, but for most people, Kapton tape is cheap and works great as a non-permanent modification.

Sure, but that's 6 pins you need to cover vs. one pin that needs to be removed. I've just taped the pin to the cable while it's out of the connector, so it would be a simple matter of putting it back in. It's not permanent.
 
Sure, but that's 6 pins you need to cover vs. one pin that needs to be removed. I've just taped the pin to the cable while it's out of the connector, so it would be a simple matter of putting it back in. It's not permanent.

I was specifically referring to removing the pin off the drive. That would be a last resort thing for me.
 
I just use these drives, with no modifications, in my file server. Is modification something that's needed for for NAS only?
 
:eek: I don't think anyone is doing that.

This guy I quoted is doing that.

"I just remove the pin in question from the SATA connector of the drive"

It's probably the least common method, but spend some time in r/datahoarder and you'll see people doing it.
 
I just use these drives, with no modifications, in my file server. Is modification something that's needed for for NAS only?
Not really--just some power supplies don't provide the right voltage at the right time on that pin so the drive never spins up.
 
This guy I quoted is doing that.

"I just remove the pin in question from the SATA connector of the drive"

It's probably the least common method, but spend some time in r/datahoarder and you'll see people doing it.
Wow, just wow. I bet WD will definitely deny warranty on a drive with a missing power pin. :eek:
 
Wow, just wow. I bet WD will definitely deny warranty on a drive with a missing power pin. :eek:
Your most likely over the warranty for shucking the drive anyways. Some have said they got lucky but don't think its the norm. I have not been patient enough with
the enclosures to not destroy them so, hopefully the need never comes up.
 
Wow, just wow. I bet WD will definitely deny warranty on a drive with a missing power pin. :eek:
Not an issue. Could RMA if I wanted to, could put pin pack if it made any diff, but I happen to know WD ultimately wouldn't care. I've been running Hitachi Deskstars since about 2006 (which these "WD" drives are just the latest incarnations of), back when many ignorant plebs were still parroting the "lol Deathstars" line, and by 2007 the strength of them as better than everything else became clear. I've put thousands into service and they always outlive their warranties.

That, and the price delta between the internal SKU'd drive vs shucking an external for cheaper, and even breaking tabs on enclosure I don't care, because the math works out to it being cheaper doing your own "warranty" replacement by stocking your own cold spares with the cost savings.

But I realize someone with only a handful of drives might find the idea of removing a non-essential pin terrifying.
 
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Your most likely over the warranty for shucking the drive anyways. Some have said they got lucky but don't think its the norm. I have not been patient enough with
the enclosures to not destroy them so, hopefully the need never comes up.
Yeah, I've seen people talk about the warranty not being a big deal, but when working with WD on a legit warranty claim and them having issues with the pop, I could see them denying a claim for any shucked or altered drive.
 
I will do the tape thing first since there is no way to remove 3.3v power on my norco and i dont want to remove pins for warranty reasons.

I am starting to debate on pulling out my Norco 4220 and getting another intel SAS expander and starting to Stripe all my drives for 2x6TB logical drives to speed up SnapRAID and make it faster and more managable since getting 12TB drives is a long ways down the road. (I am running like 2:1 in Data: Parity so I am not really worried.)
 
I will do the tape thing first since there is no way to remove 3.3v power on my norco and i dont want to remove pins for warranty reasons.

I am starting to debate on pulling out my Norco 4220 and getting another intel SAS expander and starting to Stripe all my drives for 2x6TB logical drives to speed up SnapRAID and make it faster and more managable since getting 12TB drives is a long ways down the road. (I am running like 2:1 in Data: Parity so I am not really worried.)
You could also try the extension cables and just removing/cutting the extra wire on those.

Striping will definitely help with speed depending on the read and write overhead. However, it seems that drive manufacturers have switched to 8TB drives as being the 'base' bulk storage drive design and are starting to price them as such too. I think certain 8TB drives may start to approach $100 by the end of the year. And the enterprise drives prices are also falling at the 16TB drives come into the market.
 
You could also try the extension cables and just removing/cutting the extra wire on those.

Striping will definitely help with speed depending on the read and write overhead. However, it seems that drive manufacturers have switched to 8TB drives as being the 'base' bulk storage drive design and are starting to price them as such too. I think certain 8TB drives may start to approach $100 by the end of the year. And the enterprise drives prices are also falling at the 16TB drives come into the market.

This, I bought a bunch of molex to sata adapters, and for the rest of my disks sata to sata extensions and clipped the 5th 3.3v wire.
I also got sata to molex and then used more molex to sata but those became too much of a mess.
 
You could also try the extension cables and just removing/cutting the extra wire on those.

Striping will definitely help with speed depending on the read and write overhead. However, it seems that drive manufacturers have switched to 8TB drives as being the 'base' bulk storage drive design and are starting to price them as such too. I think certain 8TB drives may start to approach $100 by the end of the year. And the enterprise drives prices are also falling at the 16TB drives come into the market.
that would to be a pain to put those into the backplane then the drives would justg be floating around my desk with no cooling whgich would be a bad idea considering they will be writing/reading for 7 straight days. I'll just wait for tape. I only need to use these for a few days
 
that would to be a pain to put those into the backplane then the drives would justg be floating around my desk with no cooling whgich would be a bad idea considering they will be writing/reading for 7 straight days. I'll just wait for tape. I only need to use these for a few days
Ah, yes that would be super messy with a backplane. Can you modify the power to the backplane or change to a different backplane ? All the newer drives have 3.3 as a common option, so when looking for cheap drives, this problem is going to only get worse.
 
Ah, yes that would be super messy with a backplane. Can you modify the power to the backplane or change to a different backplane ? All the newer drives have 3.3 as a common option, so when looking for cheap drives, this problem is going to only get worse.


Are these 3.3 issues only for the drives pulled from externals? Meaning, drives bought as Internal do not have this issue?
 
Are these 3.3 issues only for the drives pulled from externals? Meaning, drives bought as Internal do not have this issue?

You can't really say it is an "issue" per se. The drives are functioning as intended. This is by design and conforms to the latest version of the SATA spec where an optional feature on the old spec that was rarely used is now a mandatory one. It's just that adhering to the new spec makes your drives, strictly speaking, incompatible with the old spec. It is super easy to work around though, as you can see.
 
Are these 3.3 issues only for the drives pulled from externals? Meaning, drives bought as Internal do not have this issue?

Found this on Tom's Hardware that explained the feature quite well: "Speaking of the PWDIS feature in the 3.3 and 3.2+ SATA specifications, its purpose is to allow users to manage the power consumption of SATA devices remotely and also provides the ability to hard-reset the drive from a distance in case you need to power cycle it. This feature is mainly designed with business environments in mind, where the HDDs are installed in storage enclosures located in remote facilities."

Which tells me that "normal" internal HDDs purchase for desktop use would not make use of this feature. So to answer the question I would say "yes" drives bought as internal desktop storage drives will probably not have this feature. Hard to say for sure though, but I cannot imagine the HDD manufactures enabling this feature for standard desktop use.

Link to article for credit: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/hdd-sata-power-disable-feature,36146.html
 
Are these 3.3 issues only for the drives pulled from externals? Meaning, drives bought as Internal do not have this issue?
No, you can run across these on internal drives too depending on the model number. WDC/HGST has it listed as an option on the spec sheets of many of their enterprise series drives. (I haven't checked the consumer ones.)
 
so do I only cover the 3rd pin or can i cover the first 3? It doesnt seem to work with the kapton tap

EDIT: nm rebooting is making them show up....guess you cant hot swap them?
 
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so do I only cover the 3rd pin or can i cover the first 3? It doesnt seem to work with the kapton tap

EDIT: nm rebooting is making them show up....guess you cant hot swap them?
I wouldn't think hot-swapping would be an issue, but if a reboot solves it, then that's simple enough even if annoying. (y)
 
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