coming over from PSU thread-

[bencho]

Hey,

I'm looking to make a quick set of switches to turn internal sata hdd's on and off.
Now this website: http://www.adpmods.com/case-modding/...les-sp-26.html says the red is 5v and yellow is 12v. Which one do I need to hook up to a switch? 5v? 12v? or both? I plan to mount something that will look like a fan controller in a 5.25" bay that will turn on hdd's individually. Would routing the psu molex end into a protoboard and then routing the power wires into the switch work well? Or are there other suggestions?

Thanks

Guys over at PSU section said to look into Spin-Down...

 

[epimetheus]

You definitely need to switch both the 5V (red) and the 12V (yellow). Personally I would not physically switch the power to a hard drive though. What are you looking to do? If you're just looking for power savings then set the Windows Power Options to turn off your hard disks sooner. Another option would be to use a hot-swap hard drive bay. You can find a hot-swap bay that has a built in power switch. I've got a couple of Athena 3-in-2 bays from Fry's that have an individual power switch for each drive.

 

[bencho]

Is that not what happens when you turn on an external? Or when you plug in a 2.5" external? You're just physically switching on the power, right?

 

[RandysWay]

Is that not what happens when you turn on an external? Or when you plug in a 2.5" external? You're just physically switching on the power, right?

I've been following your thread from the PSU sub-forum and I honestly can't see any difference from this and an external enclosure, as well as hot swapping. One thing I don't get though, is... why?

-R

 

[bencho]

[RandysWay]

1 - MultiBay hdd enclosures run way too high in $$$
2 - I used to have several separate external enclosures running around

So I threw together some bay converters and put a bunch of hard drives together and am powering them with an old psu that I did the "paperclip short" trick on. I got them hooked up to through sata-usb2 adapters and regular sata cables right to my mobo. It's working fine now by just turning on the psu but I want to refine it some more and be able to turn on the ones i need and the ones that i don't need. And I can learn more with some hands on cutting and soldering of sata cables and whatnot.