new SATA cable doesn't work

[Fatfenders]

I want to use a longer SATA cable on this new PC. When I try to use it I get a boot error 'can't find operating system'. Below is an image of the tag on the original SATA cable up top and the cable I purchased below it. Any ideas?

[Grzwacz · Accepted solution]

Greetings,

Welcome back to the forum.

I am not a HP employee.

It looks like you bought a three pack. Did you try all SATA data cables in the three pack?

The BenfeiDirect SATA cables should work if they are functional and connect to the SATA device and motherboard correctly.

BTW, why do you want a longer SATA data cable?

Regards

[Fatfenders]

Grzwacz,

Thanks for the reply. I figured out what the problem was. Seems HP, in their infinite wisdom do not use what must be the standard pinout on their SATA cable. Note the drawing below. The cables I purchased are wired straight across between connectors. (Pins 1,4, and 7 are all common (ground I suppose)). Pins 2/3 and 5/6 apparently carry the signal. But today when I determined how the HP cable is connected, pins 2/3 and 5/6 are crossed between the connectors. So I stripped a coupla inches  of  insulation  , snipped 2/3 and 5/6 swapped 'em and connected as shown below. Put it all back together, crossed my fingers, fired it up... worked like a charm.

As to 'why I am doing this'... For years I have been using Acronis to clone my 'C' drive for backup and I wanted to keep doing it that way. I kinda impulsively purchased this 'all-in-one' desktop, not considering the effort to open it up to get at the hard drive. By having the power and signal cable extended outside the unit  I can now clone my 'C' drive, and when I want to boot with the backup drive (to insure it works) its no big deal to unplug the primary, plug in the backup, and test. Of course, at the start of this adventure I thought it was going to be a simple effort to extend the power cable by splicing, and swap in the new SATA cable, hour job at best... best layed plans of mice and men.    

[TheOldMan]

I looked at your thread yesterday and was in a quandary as to what the problem might be.  After reading the solution, I am amazed that you were able to solve it.

I noticed the same thread a Cnet.com/forums and was wondering if it was the same person.  Turns out it was.  Congratulations on finding the solution.  I did not know about the proprietary SATA cable.

[krzemien]

Proprietary SATA cables? Really?

Mind truly boggles...

[Grzwacz]

Hi Fatfenders,

Good troubleshooting.

I was not thinking along proprietary cabling lines either.

You should give yourself the solution.

I also use Acronis. I don't have an AIO. But I do images on external SATA SSDs.

I use a SATA to USB 3.0 cable (Link) to image the internal drive. You can clone drives using this method. 

The adapters work with 2.5 inch SATA devices. HDD docking stations would work with larger SATA HDDS.

You would not need the longer SATA cable and would not have to open the AIO to do a clone

Regards

[Fatfenders]

GRrwacz,

Thanks for the update. But maybe I didn't make my case for the extended cables clear. I realized that I don't need the extended cables for the clone operation (I use a "Blacx" USB docking station with the original AIO 3.5" HD for the backup copy.) Its when I want to boot using the backup copy  that I wanted access to the cables without opening up the AIO.  I backup my primary on a regular basis but every once in a while I like to boot with the backup so I am absolutly positively sure its works.

[Fatfenders]

Crzemien,

My thoughts exactly.  In fact, when I decided to check the paths those 7 wires took, and found that the HP cables had those wires crossed, at first I was sure I had not checked them correctly (you know, flipped one connector the wrong way  or something). I actually checked them both several times... even shut everything down for the night so I could check them the next morning. (I am by no means any kind of an electronics expert... just a hack). Of course, I finally convinced myself I was right.     

[Fatfenders]

TheOldMan,

Like I just stated in a reply to another poster... I am just a hack when it comes to this sort of thing. I like to think my solution employed the KISS principle. After trying all 3 of the new cables with no joy, I just picked one up and looked at it for a while and thought... there are obviouly no electronics buried in the connectors or the cable so maybe all a SATA cable is, is just two connectors with some wires in between... thats it. Thats when I grabbed my multi-meter and began testing each pin on one connector and where it ended up on the other connector.  Pretty simple stuff actually.

I did find it interesting that pins 1, 4, and 7 are common (ground) and that they are all bare solid wire. Each pair of 3/4 and 5/6 (my assignments) are insulated wire with each pair aluminum foil wrapped together. I suppose there is a reason why pins 1-4-7 are common and each has its own bare wire when a single wire would seem to suffuce. But who am I to question that sort of thing?