[nzlug] USB2-SATA 3.5" drive case

[Robert Coup]

Karl. wrote:
> I need to buy an external USB2 case for a 3.5" SATA hard drive.  
> Something that is known to work reliably!  
>
> I tried a "Shining Diamond Star" case (from a reputable supplier, even 
> if the brand name does sound 'cheap').  This worked flawlessly on some 
> computers, but was unreliable on others.  Tested with both linux and 
> winxp - under linux I got errors like this:
> scsi 4:0:0:0: rejecting I/O to dead device
> EXT3-fs error (device sda2): ext3_find_entry: reading directory #10356023 offset 0
>
> The drive itself seems to work reliably, and the failures are 
> consistently on the same computers.
>   
Try changing the USB cable. It may be as simple as that. Thicker the better
> Apart from the errors, the power supply is ungrounded and has 87VAC on 
> the USB connector shell - makes a pretty little spark when you touch it 
> to the earthed computer case during plugging-in.  Some computers get 
> upset by this!
>   
Yay for cheap switched-mode power supplies :)
> Anyone got any suggestions on *known good* models of case?
>   
We've been using the Cooler Master X Craft (~$90 from Ascent), and after 
I changed USB leads they've worked flawlessly. Beware: the case has a 
grill on the bottom of the drive, so it may not be suitable for dusty 
environments.

When I was debugging it did not help to have a dodgy HDD in there which 
was causing its own issues :(

HTH,

Rob