Nil wrote:
On 26 Aug 2013, Flasherly wrote in
alt.comp.hardware.pc-homebuilt:

I've an all-in-1 USB Kingston adaptor for all sorts of micro-memory
cards. Pretty fancy. Plugged in alone, I end up with half a dozen
drive letter -assignments- whether slotted, populated with a memory
card or not. So, yes, that is a possibility with USB although not
necessarily an eventuality.

I was hoping that at least the LED would light up, just so I'd know
that the adapter was receiving power.

As for the rest sounds like you've you're hands full with 1.8"
drives;- can't say -- as I'm a full-factor, LCD, most-common-parts PC
builder these days -- it's to the point to where I don't even like
laptops anymore. Rather, I'm better not going there. (Got a *hunch*
those drives may not be bad ... ooops, it slipped out.)

I now have two of the same drive. It's unlikely that both are
defective, but possible, of course.

I suspect that the drives are both good, and that it's some other
electronic component in the iPod that's bad. And I suspect that the
adapter is also bad. But I only have my gut instinct as evidence.

I'm trying to spend as little money on this project as possible - the
iPod was rescued from the trash, and I'm not likely to have any future
use for these drives or for the adapter. If I knew that the drives were
good, I might sell them and trash the rest of the iPod. I just wanna
know, y'know? Curiosity is itching.

I've also contacted the Chinese seller of the adapter to ask for
advice, but I don't expect to learn much from them.

(Previously posted links)

Toshiba MK2004GAL:

http://storage.toshiba.eu/cms/en/hdd...p?productid=21

USB adapter

http://www.ebay.com/itm/370505925607

*******

The picture on Ebay, shows a 3.3V regulator on the underside
of your adapter. And your Toshiba link shows the 20GB drive
is powered at 3.3V. They match on that aspect.

I would start by verifying the 3.3V regulator is actually delivering.
It will have a current limit. The Toshiba drive draws up to 1.4W.
That is 420ma at the 3.3V level. The USB port is good for at least
500mA and usually more than that (test with a desktop computer
rather than a laptop, as your USB connection).

I would take a multimeter, check the three pins on the regulator.
One should be at USB VBUS (5V or a bit less, depending on drop).
One pin should be at ground potential (same as chassis ground
of the desktop computer). And the output of the regulator
should be at 3.3V. The drive should stop trying after
a short time, so if there is an overload, the overload
should stop if you wait.

If you don't have a multimeter, use your finger to check the
temperature of the regulator.

If the regulator is burning hot, perhaps it is being overloaded.
The regulator will have thermal protection, and will stop
delivering power if too hot. By burning hot, I mean you'll
be taking your finger off it!

If the regulator is ice cold, that means the drive is not
drawing any current.

If the regulator is moderately warm, things are probably OK.

In the past, there were a few old drives where they needed
a "spin-up command" to start them. I hope that isn't the issue
here, that the drive has some special starting conditions.
ATA has some power management features, that could result
in the drive conserving power until called on by the controller.
It could be the iPod knows to deliver the command.

The LED indicator, could be tied to a bus activity bit,
or it could be connected to the controller chip directly.
The controller chip doesn't have a lot of pins on it,
so there might not be room for a lot of fancy stuff
hanging off it.

You can listen for drive noises, but I expect you've already
done that.

Paul