S-Ata connections unreliable

[pointertovoid]

Hello everybody!

 

I experience unreliable S-ata connections, month after month. I do connect different internal disks from time to time, change their positions on the ports, but not very frequently nor brutally. It's still not very clear to me; the connections improve when I replace the cables.

 

Some disks or adapters have a cable latch, others don't, apparently this isn't the cause.

 

All disk and mobo connectors allow for some movements of the cables' connectors, something I didn't expect.

 

Possibly the cables or the contacts are sensitive to roll, more than to pitch and yaw. A bit obscure still.

 

I'm very disappointed and upset, because I didn't have such worries with P-ata, and the older Usb cables and connectors (which served as a model for serial links like S-ata) are very reliable despite being manoeuvred thousand times more often and being exposed to harsh treatment at a computer's back.

 

So I'd like to hear from your experience, for instance:

- Are the cables destroyed internally? Or is it a bad contact between the connectors?

- What are the kind of movements to avoid, if any?

- Are there bad brands or models of S-ata cables? The ones I got with Gigabyte's mobo failed as well.

- Other explanations?

 

Thank you!

[Kelsenellenelvian]

I've never had one fail

[jaclaz]

Well, to be fair, the SATA connector has been designed for 50 connections/reconnections

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/resources/drivecompatibility/

 

In real life the connectors should last much longer than what the specs allow, still it is not a good idea to insert/remove frequently the SATA connector.

 

The "right angle" ones (WITH clips) are said to be more reliable, but cannot really say, but whenever possible I would use the "latching" ones, straight or right angle.

 

It is now a rather common issue, or at least it happened to me more than once (when you move, or send a PC through a courier, etc.) that on destination the PC doesn't boot up and on inspection the issue is the SATA connector on the cable, usually on the hard disk end, has come loose, and i have seen more than a few  "mail-ordered OEM" PC's arriving with a bit of "hot glue" or "silicon" over the connector on the hard disk to keep it steady or even with an elastic band to prevent them from getting loose.

 

As always having the contacts (on the hard disk and motherboard/card ) cleaned possibly using a specific product helps as I believe that such issues are due to the actual "springy effect" in the (cable side) connector losing some strength.

 

jaclaz

[Tripredacus]

I've certainly gone beyond the 50 connections on many cables. I definately have had them go bad... but never diagnosed where the fault was. Only that with "this" cable the hdd has problems/isn't detected and "that" one works, was the most testing done.

 

I prefer to use the ones with the clips. The most reliable to me that I use in testing are the red ones with straight connectors with clips. They are more rigid that some other ones I've seen. One I have handy has this written on it:

 

E164571-KS * AWM 2725 60c 30VSerial ATA Cable 26AWG  VW-1 BizLink TechnologyE92245-001 BIZLINK 13 08

 

This example cable is the ones that come with Intel boxed motherboards. I am not certain if they also come with the BLK sku. The * in the quote is a symbol:

 

 

I will say that the cables themselves is not a big gripe to me. They are plentiful and cheap, so easy to replace. It is the sockets on the drives that tend to be a problem. I have a couple HDDs here where the plastic bit that the clip catches on has broken off, meaning the cable has more of a free-floating connection.

[pointertovoid]

Now I'm nearly sure that the bad contact is between the connectors, not within a cable.

 

Also, I've seen brand new cables make erratic contacts.

 

I can't tell whether the generic design of S-Ata connectors is spoiled or if the manufacturers botched it, but I know that Usb cables and connectors do work from the first to the N*100th use. Engineers are not equally good.

[Glenn9999]

When I was reading things trying to solve my other problem, I did read reports of people cleaning cable plugs and drive sockets (for lack of a better term).  Basically, as it was described, it reminded me a lot of the old Nintendo cartridges and the cleaning kits that they sold for those for the connection problems there.  I also noticed myself how "unstable" the plugs are (short description of what was wrong with my "other problem").  It's always good practice anyway to reseat any cables if you run into problems, and check for dirt in them, and if worse comes to worse, rubbing alcohol on a cotton swab followed up by pressurized air to make sure it's dry and the cotton is gone.

[submix8c]

1 - Cables can be bad

2 - Cable connections (cable and where they connect) can go bad

3 - "Latch" cables are best because they don't work loose

4 - Even good connections will require being away from any other items that generate EMF or you'll get transfer errors

From my own experience...