External Enclosure for 2.5" IDE HD at 3.3v

[ThinkBrad]

Hi guys,

I'm looking for an enclosure for the HD in my X41 tablet - it's the Hitachi style 1.8" PATA HD which connects on its long side with a 2.5" 44-pin IDE connector, but draws only 3.3v through the X41t.

All the enclosures I can find for a 44-pin IDE interface provide the standard 5v for a 2.5" HD, and none specify a 3.3v mode of operation since the combination of a 44-pin IDE on a 1.8" 3.3v HD is so rare.

Does anyone know if I can use a standard 5v enclosure with this HD, or would I need to use a stepdown converter between the HD and enclosure to reduce the 5v signal to 3.3v? (I highly doubt there is a specialized enclosure with a 44-pin IDE interface which provides only the 3.3v needed for a 1.8" HD, but please correct me if I'm wrong.)

[RealBlackStuff]

When you hook it up to an X41, it will already (and only) provide 3.3V.
So any adapter without voltage regulator would be OK.
You'll need to remove any 5V-->3.3V regulator, because the incoming 3.3V would otherwise be reduced to ~1V.
See also here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 82#p470282

[ThinkBrad]

Thanks RBS. I'm actually trying to operate the HD outside of my computer, (for imaging/cloning/accessing the HD contents from my desktop, etc...e.g. right now my x41T is dead with a faulty DC-in module). So I'm looking for an external USB enclosure, but all the off-the-shelf ones seem to provide 5v for standard 2.5" IDE drives.

Can the 1.8" Hitachi Travelstar accept a 5v power supply or would I need to insert a voltage regulator inline between the HD and the enclosure's 44-pin connection?

[RealBlackStuff]

I don't know that drive.
If you want to use a 3.3V drive in a case that will be fed by 5V from another PC/laptop, then you WILL need a regulator.

[ThinkBrad]

Digging out the actual HD I see right on the label that it looks like it operates with both 3.3v and 5v inputs, am I reading that correctly?

Pic - 640x480

[twistero]

AFAIK the original HDD for X41 does operate on 5V just fine. Some Lenovo replacement SSDs only work on 3.3V, and those have a tab sticking out next to the 44 pins.