Mac Pro SATA harness power

[spence4]

Hi all,

I'm starting my Mac Pro case mod and have everything I need to do it right- except a custom PCB for the rear I/O but we can worry about that later. I have the SATA harness and the appropriate adapter/cable to plug the sas connector into 4 SATA ports on my mobo, but I still need to get power to the harness. I plan on splicing in 2 4-pin molex connectors, not splice but use a micro fit 3.0 plug as Mooner suggested, but all eight of the cables in the harness power line are black. Can anyone tell me which are the grounds, the 5Vs and the 12Vs? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[neilhart]

Go to post # 48 on mooners thread: http://www.tonymacx86.com/case-mods/20826-mooners-hackpro-gigabyte-z68mx-ud2h-b3-mac-pro-case-5.html.

I do not recall that this was any problem when I did mine and I followed mooners lead.

neil

 

[spence4]

Go to post # 48 on mooners thread: http://www.tonymacx86.com/case-mods/20826-mooners-hackpro-gigabyte-z68mx-ud2h-b3-mac-pro-case-5.html.

I do not recall that this was any problem when I did mine and I followed mooners lead.

neil

Hi Neil, thanks for the response. From the diagraming that post it appears that ptmays had an actual SATA power connector coming out of his harness into which he spliced to standard 4 pin molex plugs. The power to my SATA harness is not a standard SATA power plug, it is what appears to be an 8 circuit molex micro fit plug. There are eight wires, 2 rows of 4, going into the plug but they are all black. I assume that there are two grounds, a 12 and a 5 in each row, but I do not know how to tell if they are in the standard order if Apple swapped them like in ptmays post with one black and the red switched. When you wired yours up, did the power cable end in a micro fit molex or regular SATA power plug.

Let me know if I am overlooking something incredibly obvious. Thanks.

 

[neilhart]

My thought was using the illustration, a continuity light and access to the 8 pin connector and access to the 4 SATA power receptacles, it would not be too difficult to map the 8 wires.

neil

 

[spence4]

My thought was using the illustration, a continuity light and access to the 8 pin connector and access to the 4 SATA power receptacles, it would not be too difficult to map the 8 wires.

neil

What is a continuity light?

 

[neilhart]

I buzzed out the spare cable that I have. If you look head on into the 8 pin connector and orient the latch on the top ( so you have two row of 4 pin horizontally ). The lower left pin is pin 1 (this is marked on the connecter housing). I am counting pin 1 to the right is pin 2,3, and 4.
Then on the top row from left to right is pin 5, 6, 7, 8.

The Apple harness connects the right most two SATA power connectors to pins 1 through 4; and the left most two SATA power connectors to pins 5 through 8.

Pin 1 and Pin 5 are 12Volts.
Pin 2, 3 6, and 7 are ground.
Pin 4 and Pin 8 are 5Volts.

I hope that this helps.
neil

 

[spence4]

I buzzed out the spare cable that I have. If you look head on into the 8 pin connector and orient the latch on the top ( so you have two row of 4 pin horizontally ). The lower left pin is pin 1 (this is marked on the connecter housing). I am counting pin 1 to the right is pin 2,3, and 4.
Then on the top row from left to right is pin 5, 6, 7, 8.

The Apple harness connects the right most two SATA power connectors to pins 1 through 4; and the left most two SATA power connectors to pins 5 through 8.

Pin 1 and Pin 5 are 12Volts.
Pin 2, 3 6, and 7 are ground.
Pin 4 and Pin 8 are 5Volts.

I hope that this helps.
neil

As always Neil, you are incredibly helpful. Do they give year end awards on here for rock star members? You definitely have my vote. Seems that the micro fit plug is in the same layout as a standard 4 pin molex connector which makes it easy.

I have decided to lengthen my psu to mobo cables by splicing in sections of the original Mac Pro cables- they are black, flexible, and obviously long enough. Cheaper than buying the Kobra or NZXT extenders, but I think I am in for something like 80 or 90 solder joints which should make for a fun afternoon!

Unfortunately it looks like I need to remove the old standoffs that would be under the mATX motherboard. Any recommendations for doing this without using the dremel? I would like to avoid having a bunch of metal shavings/filings flying around. I tried using the wire cutter portion of a pair of pliers and quickly realized I was a moron. Bolt cutters maybe? Do they exist in a form factor that would let met get in there? The only ones I have seen are the movie style ones used for breaking into locked warehouses.

 

[neilhart]

Spense4 - the original Apple standoffs are easily removed using standard pliers. As it turns out the standoffs release fairly easily when you use a force to tilt them off vertical. If you go through enough of the G5 Resource thread you should find a photo showing this action.

neil

 

[spence4]

Popped right off. Thanks!