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by Peter A. Belmont / 2013-01-25
© 2013 Peter Belmont
Basically, this Sabrent enclosure behaved very well, was easy to use (but read about problem, below), and seemed up-to-snuff.
An “HDD enclosure” is a box for enclosing a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) which allows one to use that HDD as an external disk, connecting the enclosure to a computer (here a desktop) via a USB 2.0 cable. The Sabrent has a fan to cool the HDD, which might otherwise heat up a bit during extended use, harming the HDD. This model would work with a 3.5” HDD in either IDE or SATA mode. Mine was SATA. This enclosure has its own power-supply and provides both SATA data and power cables, and IDE data and power cables.
At the same time I bought the Sabrent, I also bought a Western Digital HDD for use with my desktop (Linux O/S). My intention was, first, to partition the new Hard Disk and then copy all the files from my internal disk to the external disk; and, then, to exchange the HDDs so that the new HDD would become the internal HDD, and the old (and aging!) HDD could be used for backup—until it died!
All this worked very well. The partitioning and file copying was done using an old Linux (Ubuntu) “Live CD” which allowed easy partitioning of the new HDD and also allowed the files on the internal disk to be copied whilst inactive—apparently necessary in order to do such extensive copying.
What I did was not strictly “cloning” since I changed the size and number of partitions, but instructions for cloning the hard disk were very helpful. (Windows users will have to find their own way through this thicket.)
The Problem
The problem I had was a small one, and Sabrent’s Tech Support told me they’d never heard of it before. I must suppose that I made a mistake. Still, a re-design would eliminate this possibility.
When I went to remove the HDD from the enclosure, I found that it was stuck inside and would not come out.
It turned out that the problem was that the SATA data cable connector, or the SATA power cable connector, not sure which, had been twisted a bit during installation so that when the HDD was pressed down into the enclosure (see the instructions: PDF), the twisted connector occupied the space which should have been available, later, for sliding the HDD forward preparatory to removing it from the enclosure.
In short, the HDD was jammed into the enclosure. It required some small work with a screwdriver in a good light to see what the problem was and then to fix it. When the connector had been un-twisted, the HDD came out like a charm, as it was supposed to do—and as Sabrent told me it had done, without problem, for thousands of customers.
Suggestion for Re-Design
There is no reason for any user to have the problem I had, and there is no reason for the IDE and SATA data cables and power cables to be required to occupy the absolutely minimal space. The space could be larger and all problems eliminated, for very little cost.
Sabrent should [1] manufacture the enclosure with the space for the HDD a bit longer, say 1/4” longer, and [2] provide a hold-down for the end of the HDD near the cables, the hold-down to hold the inserted HDD in place, and the hold-down itself to be held in place by screws on both enclosure sides.
In this way, there’d be lots of space for both the IDE cables and the SATA cables, no crowding, no need for specially adept fingers, no likelihood of twisting the cable-connectors (which might damage either the enclosure, or, most seriously, the HDD itself).
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