PC Hardware in a Nutshell, 3rd Edition

Physical Installation

In terms of physical installation, the only differences between PATA and SATA drives are that they use different cables and connectors, that you don’t need to set Master/Slave jumpers on SATA drives, and that each SATA drive connects to a dedicated interface port. To install an SATA hard drive, take the following steps:

1. If the motherboard does not include an embedded SATA controller, install a PCI SATA host adapter card, such as those made by Promise Technology, Inc. (http://www.promise.com) and SIIG, Inc. (http://www.siig.com).

   Tip

   A PCI SATA host adapter may require driver software supplied with the card.

2. Connect one end of the SATA data cable to the SATA connector on the motherboard or SATA host adapter. Remember that SATA uses a point-to-point topology, so each drive is connected to a dedicated interface connector using an individual data cable. The data cable connectors are identical on both ends, so it doesn’t matter which end of the cable connects to the SATA interface. The data cable is keyed to make it impossible to attach incorrectly.

3. Secure the drive to the chassis using four mounting screws of the proper size (usually UNC 6-32), driving the screws through the side or bottom mounting holes. If the screws were not supplied with the drive, make sure they are not too long. Excessively long mounting screws can damage the drive. If you’re unsure, test the screws by screwing them into the mounting holes using only your fingers. If the screws seat fully without ...