SATA signaling pin frequency

E

EnderW

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Sep 25, 2003
Messages
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I have 2 Icy Dock flexiDOCK MB524SP-B and have noticed the blue power lights are very dim or fluctuate when Samsung SSDs are used. I have noticed this on both of my units on all bays with at least 3 different Samsung models and across 2 different computers. With Intel brand SSDs and hard drives the power lights show a constant bright blue.

I emailed Icy Dock and they stated "As for the blue lights and different behavior between different drives, one factor is regarding the frequency of the signaling pin on the drives. Since drive manufacturers do not have a set standard on frequency for the signaling pin, some drives may function fine, but the LED may not display. From your usage, this seems to be the case."

Does this make any sense? I've never heard of such a thing.
 
Pin 11 on the SATA power connector is an activity signal controlled by the drive. The controller can either just uses turns on or off an LED based on the status of that pin (if it does anything at all).

Your dock is set up to turn off the power led to indicate activity. So the Intel drives do not send an activity signal, while the Samsung drives send a very rapid one.


EDIT: Motherboard HDD headers don't have access to the SATA power connector, so they have to indicate activity some other way.
 
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