Hi
I have a sata external 300gb hard drive (3GB capable) with a "I" connector (3GB) and I have a pci card that has a sata (1.5GB) output with a "L" connector (1.5GB). The hard drive has the faster capability. Can I just get a adaptor sata plug with a "I" on one end and a "L" on the other. Or does anyone have any Ideas??
Regards,
Russ

There are no SATA drives capable of a 1.5GB (GB=Gigabyte) transfer speed, let alone 3GB

I assume you mean 1.5Gb (Gb=Gigabit) and 3Gb.

Aside from that, I assume you mean that you have an external drive with an eSATA input, and a controller that only supports SATA (1.5Gb and 3Gb are irrelevent).

While you can possibly get hold of a cable to link the two, the signalling voltages are different and the internal style connector lacks shielding.

This *could* cause data loss due to interference.


Cable here

Hi Darkstar:
You are correct it is 1.5Gb and 3.0Gb. Will the shielding be an issue considering I want to go from the computer and controller operation at 1.5Gb to the External harddrive capable of operating at 3.0Gb? The hard drive is a Seagate 320 GB SATA hard drive ST3320620AS which is also capable of the 3.0Gb. The External drive case is also 3.0 Gb capable.
The Bigger issue is the signaling voltages being different.
I guess I will have to see if there is a external case that operates at 1.5Gb or do you have any suggestions?
Regards,
Russ

Hi Again:
I was reading on another site the following, can anyone comment on the information?

"eSATA enclosures will use eSATA cables. If it uses a SATA cable it is not eSATA, but external SATA (kind of a big difference).

the signal is the same whether it be eSATA or SATA (4 signal pins, etc) but the voltage (both transmit and receive) voltages as well as upper and lower limits of voltage accepted were increased with the eSATA specification to allow for the longer lengths.

With most NEWER SATA chipsets (Sil 3132, NF4 and more) you can simply plug a eSATA adapter into them as they meet the voltage requirements. First generation SATA chipsets may or may not work, depending on the acceptable signal voltage range and peak transmit voltage of the chipset."

The controller I have was manufactured in June of 2006 so it might be O.K. maybe??
Any help would be appreciated this is way above my head.
Russ