Serial ATA (SATA) data cable lengths

SATA Data Cable Lengths Serial ATA cables are available in many lengths up to 1 meter. Minimum cable length is 12 inches, using shorter cables can cause timing, or noise interference on the cable. The same conditions apply to cables that are too long. Though the Serial ATA specification calls out supporting cable lengths up to 1 meter or 39.37 inches, PCB traces from the cable connection to the host and drive controllers ASIC, adds length to the bus.

Example: SATA drive installed with a 40 inch cable. PCB trace from Serial host connector to the serial hosts ASIC = 3 inches. The same 3 inch PCB trace applies to the hard disk. This configuration gives you a bus length of about 46 inches. If you are having performance or data corruption issues, try using a shorter cable or different manufacturer of cable. Cable quality can vary between vendors.

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Windows file systems and Mac File Systems

Windows file Systems And Mac File Systems This article provides a brief history and description of Windows file systems and Mac file systems.

File Systems
A file system organizes large numbers of files on some sort of recording medium (most commonly a disk drive or cd-rom). Mac and PC computers use different primary file systems which is why a program like TransMac is necessary.

The two common versions of Mac file systems (or volume formats) are standard HFS and Mac OS Extended (or HFS+). HFS came about early on in the life of the Macintosh line when disks had relatively small capacities. Limitations appeared in this format when disk drives grew very large in size. Mac OS Extended (or HFS+ as it was originally called) is similar to HFS but some of its internal structures were changed to accommodate the changing needs of modern personal computing. The major differences between the two are outlined below. HFS is best for small volumes or those that may be used on older systems (before OS 8.1). Mac OS Extended is best for larger volumes as long as they will not be used on older systems.

Standard HFS:

  • Compatible with all Mac OS versions
  • File names limited to 31 characters
  • File sizes limited to 2GB
  • Large volumes with small files waste a lot of space.

Mac OS Extended (HFS+):

  • Compatible with Mac OS 8.1 and later
  • 255 character Unicode file names
  • No file size limit
  • Less wasted space

Windows uses two primary types of file systems FAT (File Allocation Table) and NTFS (New Technology File System).

FAT:
There are three variations of the FAT file system: FAT12, FAT16 and FAT32. FAT12 and FAT16 originated in the DOS days. They had the same sort of problems HFS had due to growing  disk sizes. FAT32 was created to alleviate some of these problems, but it still has limitations like a maximum file size of 4GB.

NTFS:
NTFS was created for Windows NT. It does not have as many limitations as the FAT systems and also includes much needed security and reliability features. Recent versions of Windows (NT, 2000, XP, etc.) support both file system types, but older versions of Windows (95, 98, Me) do not natively support NTFS.

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2060-701640-001 WD PCB Circuit Board

HDD Printed circuit board (PCB) with board number 2060-701640-001 is usually used on these Western Digital hard disk drives: WD10EAVS-98M4B0, DCM DHNNNV2MHB, Western Digital 1TB SATA 3.5 Hard Drive; WD10EADS-65M2B0, DCM HGNCNT2MHB, Western Digital 1TB SATA 3.5 Hard Drive; WD6400AACS-00M3B0, DCM HHRCNV2MGB, Western Digital 640GB SATA 3.5 Hard Drive; WD10EVDS-63U8B0, DCM HANNHV2MBB, Western Digital 1TB…

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Seagate HDD Firmware Download

Here you can download Seagate firmware collections, you can make use of them as donor for your damaged hard drives or your seagate harddisk firmware update!

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Can I boot my computer from SCSI drive?

SCSI Drive Will my new SCSI drive boot my computer? or error message:

no ROM BIOS?

The drive will need to be partitioned and formatted for your computer’s operating system before it can be used as the boot drive. Follow the instructions in the operating system or computer manual for installing a new hard drive and loading the operating system.

SCSI boots from BIOS. Most SCSI controllers feature on-board ROM BIOS to controll the disk drive. Older SCSI controllers may use jumpers or a start up disk to access BIOS. Enable SCSI BIOS for the active partition, C:\, to be recognized. Using more than one SCSI controller? Choose only one to start up. Typically only one active partition is allowed each drive. If BIOS has support for removable disks as hard drives, choose:All Disks. Consult your SCSI controller or system guides.

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